The New York Botanical Garden

Contrary to how things look here, the NYBG was hopping when I visited on October 30th.

Well, maybe not the nursery at the gift shop (it was late in the season after all), but trust me, you'll see evidence that New Yorkers love this garden.

I loved this cranberry, Vaccinium macrocarpon.

Inside the gift shop thre were lots of plants to tempt.

Including another fabulous cryptanthus.

Out in the garden a beautiful autumn day was unfolding.

The Ladies' Border, yes that's really what it's called: "Extending the length of the southern end of the Conservatory, this garden was originally designed in the 1930s by leading landscape architect Ellen Biddle Shipman and got its name from the Women’s Auxiliary Committee – a group of women who were instrumental in establishing many of the Garden’s most beautiful collections. In the 21st century Shipman’s legacy has been carried on here by landscape designer Lynden B. Miller, who re-imagined the border in 2002. Her vision included tender plants not normally grown in New York, from South African bulbs and Japanese apricot to paperbush and Peruvian lilies. The sheltered, south-facing site allows these plants to thrive. These tender rarities give the border a character unlike any other corner of the Garden"

This sign seemed so East Coast to my West Coast sensibilities.

Sabal minor, dwarf palmetto.

Oh! Lookie there, a fine pair of Yucca rostrata.

And a view of the backside of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, which we'll be thoroughly investigating on Wednesday.

My only photo of the Herb Garden...

Now we're in the Perennial Garden...

Just to the left of the conservatory, that's a Poncirus trifoliata trimmed into a meatball. I posted this obscenity on Instagram and heard from many that; they liked it, understood it as a design element, or simply wondered why I was bothered.

I am not one who minds seeing plants trimmed into shapes, I get it. It's a design element that I tend to appreciate. It's that this particular plant was trimmed into a ball that I don't understand. Seeing it reminded me of the time I saw an Arbutus unedo (strawberry tree) trimmed into a cube. Why do this to a plant that makes interesting fruit—or in the case of the poncirus has those interesting thorns?

I love me some blood-red dahlias.

Cornus sanguinea 'Compressa', Ricinus communis (castor bean) and Gomphocarpus physocarpus. I do not know what the small dark leaves are.

I saw a lot of Gomphocarpus physocarpus in New York, it must grow better there than in Portland?

Abutilon 'Red Tiger'

Y'all know I'm a sucker for a container garden. How fun to see this collection of containers.

Ananas comosus, the pineapple. My friend Lance (Garden Riots) gave me his pineapple last summer as he's moved to Eastern Oregon where it's a lot colder. It kind of sulked in my garden this summer, but I am hoping it will perk up next year.

It's been awhile since I've grown papyrus, maybe it's time again.

The Perrenial Garden was pretty fabulous, and of course the views of the conservatory in the distance help take things up a notch or two.

The entrance to the conservatory was the scene of much excitement with pumpkin carving.

On the lawn adjacent there were pumpkins, gourds, haybales and corn set up for those needing the perfect photo backdrop.

After visiting the conservatory (I'll take you there on Wednesday) I hightailed it over to the Rock Garden area...

An agave! Finally—Agave parryi in case you were wondering.

Heading into this vacation I was really worried that our trip had been pushed back so far that the weather would be awful and the gardens would have experienced a killing freeze. I needn't have worried.