The ‘Fascinating Landscapes’ of May WAG
byThis month we expand our annual flora and gardens issue to consider the landscapes of “Fascinating Botanicals.” Few have been more intriguing than the…
MAY 2019
Fascinating Botanicals
A paean to the peony
byThe varied peony has become a protean metaphor, including for healing after violence.
A botanical paradise unearthed
byDavid Hosack, MD, America’s first botanist and friend to both Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, has been a footnote in the nation’s history (though he does get a shout-out in “Hamilton.”) Victoria Johnson is looking to change that with her National Book Award finalist “American Eden.”
Artist of eden
byThe New York Botanical Garden celebrates the protean creativity of landscaper/artist Roberto Burle Marx.
Turning the tide
byThe “Hudson Rising” exhibition at the New-York Historical Society Museum & Library in Manhattan examines two centuries along the river. From commerce to art to wildlife, varied elements combine to create a detailed exploration that encompasses ecological change and environmental activism.
Gilded Age gardener
byBeatrice Farrand – the first woman landscape architect, who helped shaped the U.S. landscape at the 20th century’s dawn – is celebrated in a new documentary.
Poppies, for remembrance
byAfter World War I, Georgia’s Moina Michael started the tradition of wearing poppies to honor the dead and serve the living.
A brush with history
byEver try to put on an art show at a national historic landmark? No easy task. Just ask Susan Gilgore and Gail Ingis at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum in Norwalk.
Puttin’ down new roots
byBill Ruhrkraut – a man who likes a good garden – takes over as GM at Bloomingdale’s White Plains.
Beyond fine
byAmy Ray of Indigo Girls cultivates her music – and her garden.
Bloody relations
byHBO’s “Game of Thrones” – which runs through May 19 – has nothing on the Plantagenets, the Rolls-Royce of English royal families.
Branching out
byIn Jackie Battenfield’s world, it’s always springtime. The Brooklyn-based artist – represented by Kenise Barnes Fine Art in Larchmont – has developed a unique process of painting leaves, branches and blooms on Mylar to stunning effect.
Crowning achievement
byThe annual Lyndhurst Flower Show arrived just as the Gothic Revival Mansion kicks off a long landscaping project.
A mother’s legacy of love
byAnn Mara Cacase continues the formidable philanthropy of her mother, Ann T. Mara – matriarch of the New York Football Giants and the First Lady of Football.
Petal-ing through the pages
byTwo new books take readers into the garden, accompanied by two experts, Australian celebrity florist Fleur McHarg and Hamptons-based landscape designer Frederico Azevedo.
Call of the wild
byThe services and benefits of a community nature center go well beyond the delightful aspect of providing a floral form of “eye candy” for visitors. In the case of New Canaan Nature Center (NCNC), the traditional mission is further expanded by educational opportunities for all ages through events and programming.
Incredible edibles
byTouring Gilbertie’s Organic Petite Edibles and Herb Gardens in Easton with legendary wholesale grower Sal Gilbertie.
Flights of fancy
byIn “LandEscape: New Visions of the Landscape from the Early 20th and 21st Centuries,” at the Katonah Museum of Art through June 16, viewers can immerse themselves in works from two seminal moments in art history when painters reimagined an ancient art form that has helped define our identity as a nation.
Art, naturally
byWhen it comes to nature, the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in Manhattan is all in.
Birds ’n’ bees
byAt Tiffany & Co., everything old is new again as the luxe silver and jewelry emporium’s signature tag shape-shifts in an urban garden for its new Return to Tiffany Love Bugs Collection.