Unleash Secrets of Creating A Bespoke Fragrance With Essential Oils

Creating an Artful & Therapeutic Signature Fragrance 

If you are even close to being as plant-obsessed as I am it might not come as too much of a surprise to learn that I’ve long wanted to create a unique, signature fragrance -- a Duchess perfume - so named from my garden design and entertaining and tablescape passions that I operate as Duchess Designs.

My vision for the fragrance has always been to see it as a natural extension of my passion for the botanical arts.

Moreover, it will be a kind of tribute to my adored father, George, who bestowed that Duchess nickname upon me when I was a child. Hard to believe my Father left this world 10 years ago...
He was and always will be my inspired, creative muse - in no small part because he taught us kids how to look at the majesty of nature, to take regular forest walks and hikes with him - careful to observe/not disturb, to look at the glory of the sky and ephemeral shape-shifting clouds, to stop and smell the roses - and other pretty flowers and, well -- always and completely embrace the seasons, natural habitats, and the artful aesthetics of an arcadia that delights all our senses.



So you see, I’ve long been smitten with an aspiration to design a true -- and affordable luxury -- to create and share a fragrance that tells a natural - and personal story…

You may be tempted to ask, “How can a fragrance tell a story?”

And just like that - I can tell you that, of our five senses, smell is the one that evokes memory the greatest.

Did you know that our limbic system - that portion of our brain that connects our neurons to our brains and its three key functions of memory, emotion, and arousal, mood and memory -- is directly impacted by our sense of smell.

Limbic System in our Brain 

As an example of memory and fragrance - here’s a story. During my tenure as Director and Vice President at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, we’d pointedly note to our guests as we rounded a bend on a garden tour while approaching the Lilac Collection - we would advocate guests to “follow your nose,” (in fact, arriving at the lilacs long before you actually get there) and asked what’s the first thing you think of. This exercise helped explain the association between Mothers and lilacs (Syringa vulgaris - in the olive family) as a natural one, as the shrub blooms around Mother’s Day. So most everyone thinks of their mother when they smell a lilac.

Most every home featured a lilac shrub or two - so the combination of the enduring scent and mothers is quite evocative. That’s just one example of how scent and memory are linked.

My dream for the Duchess perfume would be to embrace and capture not only the pure organic oils (vs. the chemicals abundant in most commercial fragrances) - but to also blend with the essence of certain scented elements of nature with those memory-stimulating scents that are important to me and my memories or dreams...

I’ve made no secret of my desire to design a custom, branded perfume that will combine my favorite floral scents - some exotic from afar and some personal, local, and historically forgotten; along with the healing and therapeutic - and re-discovered - healing properties of plants’ essential oils.

The history of perfume itself is a swoon-worthy field of study all its own. Lust, love, and culture blend into heady scents, romantic legends, and powerful dramas filled with emotion.

Add in the artful and vintage decanters and atomizers perched on a beguiling, romantically-arranged vanity or table -- along with elegant, mobile perfume alembics -

Alembic example -Photo: Met Museum

Combined with the simple, sensual application of the perfume on our pulse points to make us happy -- and to attract subtle attention -- is what makes fragrance so darn sexy. And an enduring seduction that is at once personal and yet popular.

I learned of a perfume making program in Grasse, France - the acknowledged, historial, world capital of perfume-making. I researched -- and am most excited to plan next year’s student experience.

But in a kind of prelude -- I signed on for The New York Botanical Garden’s “Essential Oil Perfume Workshop” as a kind of training wheel, scent-making class. I could learn some basics and see if I had a talent or faculty for this artisanal endeavor…

The day of the workshop was a beautiful August day -- and I was not only excited to spend a morning learning about perfume but also was to meet a favorite friend post class, for a “Ladies Who Lunch” - with one of my most treasured friends, Joanne. It was one of those rare, perfect days.

The Class:
According to the class description we were to learn:

• The history of perfume
• What are essential oils
• Essential oil uses
• Discussion of specific essential oils
• Carrier oils and their properties
• How to create scents
• How to create solid perfumes, roll-on perfumes, and aromatherapy sprays
• We were also going to learn blending techniques -- and key: how to identify and keep perfume “notes.” 
• Safety tips. 
• Recommends using latex gloves (I didn’t!) 

How was the class?  As the French say - Encroyable! The morning sped by - the instruction and hands-on workshop was fascinating and fun - and all of us students left with three fragrances we created ourselves, made with carrier and essential oils: a solid, wax-based one, a roll on, and an aromatherapy room spray.
While I love to learn most anything -- I daresay I could study these elements exclusively for the next decade or more...

The course offered an overview of how perfume could be traced back thousands of years to an ancient Egyptian tradition, beloved by Cleopatra -- a great dame if there ever was one. We learned ancient folks used flowers, bark, and roots boiled in water to create fragrance. Centuries later, the French refined the extraction methods. Madame Pompadour - member of the French court, art patron, and mistress of Louis XV is a legend - said to have first used perfume as part of her seduction thereby making fragrance popular and forever a key part of romancing.

Today, distillation remains the main way we get essential oils - which is concentrated plant oils from those roots, seeds, bark, flowers, and leaves. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Before we got to the hands-on part of the workshop, our instructor, Karine Gordineer - a knowledgeable, experienced, and supportive, self-described “green girl,” a master herbalist, plant spirit, and a healing and shamanic practitioner. She had everything set up for the students; first reviewing a handout brimming with a list of more than three pages of essential oils and their descriptions - from Amber to Ylang Ylang - along with their plant pedigree and their historical uses.

We learned what essential oils and carrier oils and their properties are. You can too. You can reference Gordineer, take a class, research, and/or as she recommends, read the books: The A to Z of Essential Oils by E. Joy Bowles.



And Kaitlin Stone’s book, Organic Perfume: 55 Ultimate Recipes for Beginners



Tips:

• Look for Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils
• Some essential oils are quite expensive so be mindful of what you’re buying. You can use some blends to stretch your investment and creative fragrance-making. 
• Start with a few Essential Oils - don’t buy everything that strikes your fancy
• Work with the oils in a well-ventilated room
• When creating or making your fragrance, add the Essential Oils one drop at a time - Build your Fragrance
• Black Pepper Essential Oil can be a “fixer” - tying together other scents
• Use airtight Essential Oil bottles with screw tops. Air will diminish oil scent. 
• Keep Essential Oil bottles away from light.
• You should date your oil bottles 
• Write down the number of drops you add when creating a blend
• When blending, mix Base and Middle Notes, then stir. Give it some time. Smell, stir, then add the Top Notes one drop at a time. 
• Creating scents is a little like music - the different notes interact with one another creating something new and different

A variety of Essential Oils were set up for us to experience and use 

Notes:

The Notes are the Anatomy of a Fragrance

Base Notes: Simple is best. Three essential oils as Base is maximum. Makes up 50% of a blend. Approximately 25 essential oil drops. The Base is the foundation and the heavier element that will linger on the skin.

Examples of Base Notes:

• Amber
• Cedarwood
• Cinnamon
• Clove
• Frankincense
• Musk
• Patchouli
• Sandalwood
• Vetiver

Middle Notes: Makes up to 20% of a blend. Approximately 15 drops. These are the love notes - they make their appearance after the top note(s) evaporate. The Middle Notes interact with your body, combined and tied with the Base to sustain the scent. Usually the Middle Notes are floral.

Examples of Middle Notes:

• Black Pepper
• Chamomile
• Coriander
• Gardenia
• Geranium
• Jasmine
• Lavender
• Neroli
• Nutmeg

Top Notes: 3-5 drops. This is a fragrance’s first impression - it attracts you. It will dissipate before the other two notes - usually after 30 to 60 minutes because they are lighter notes that are meant to evaporate sooner.

Examples of Top Notes:

• Anise
• Bergamont
• Clary Sage
• Eucalyptus
• Grapefruit
• Lemon
• Lime
• Orange 

I loved all three of the fragrances I made in class that day - but especially the solid fragrance. Even the instructor seemed impressed. Further, everyone I share it with does too. Very exciting. I liked the bright yet smoky, yet powdery mix of scent - and I think it works for all genders. It’s sexy and alluring…

My first fragrance blending up

I used quite a variety of essential oils including, Oak Moss (love this EO), Amber, Ylang Ylang (intensely floral and uplifting, similar to Jasmine, Ylang Ylang has aphrodisiac qualities) White Gardenia, Clary Sage, Orange Oil Sweet, and more.

Taking Notes of the Fragrance Notes! 

Quick method to making an Aromatherapy Spray
Materials needed:

2-ounce dark colored glass spray bottle with spray top

1 ½ ounces distilled water

¾ ounce witch hazel

15-20 drops of essential oil blend

Glass to mix oils

Funnel

Method: 

Place water and witch hazel into the glass bottle

Blend your essential oils

Add to the bottle

Shake

Store away from light and heat



I hope you enjoy creating your own, natural, organic fragrances and perfumes. It’s an affordable luxury - and a very personal one too. That’s glamorous…

And so was the walk through Rockefeller Center to meet Joanne.

Ahh, the sweet smell of success...

The New York Botanical Garden Unveils Commissioned Installations by Renowned Belgian Floral Artist, Daniel Ost, for their 16th Annual Orchid Show Launching March 3

Yesterday was the annual Press Preview for The New York Botanical Garden’s (NYBG) premiere exhibit, the Orchid Show. Orchids are the “eye candy” of the plant world and I’d be hard-pressed to name a single soul that doesn’t find them completely irresistible.

Their dazzling colors, shapes, “faces,” fragrance, mystery, and sheer beauty have captivated cultures around the world, as well as plant explorers, writers, fine artists -- painters and photographers and jewelry makers - - and of course, visitors to this annual blockbuster.

We just can’t get enough of orchids.

I for one, just recently trekked up to the Ecuadorian Cloud Forest (from where I was working at Hacienda Cusin in San Pablo, near Otavalo) where there are more orchids than anywhere due to the country’s biological diversity. This Andean paradise boasts more than 30,000 wild orchids so far identified -- almost 25% percent of Ecuador’s flora. I’ll provide a complete cloud forest and orchid discovery posting about that soon.

Closer to home, the annual Orchid Show at NYBG has gained a much-deserved reputation for strutting the orchid’s glamorous good looks as well as teaching us about the orchid plant’s diversity and cultural significance to a number of countries, including last year’s inspiring Thailand-themed exhibit or previously, the dazzling and “uplifting” chandelier installations that compelled you to look up in 2015 or the take-your-breath away beauty of the 2013 show .

This year, it was quite evident how much professional respect and love and mutual admiration there is between the NYBG Horticultural staff and the revered Daniel Ost and his team.



Todd Forrest, Arthur Ross Vice President for Horticulture and Living Collections & Daniel Ost at press preview

Scores of the press in attendance were swooning over Ost and past features they’ve been honored to write.

I saw that my botanical artist friend, Ellen Hovercamp (I own three of her fabulous pieces, featured in our bedroom; Ellen collaborates with horticultural expert, designer, and author, Ken Druse, most notably in the book, Natural Companions ) had retrieved Ost’s book Floral Art and The Beauty of Impermanence - a stunning compilation of the artist’s unparalleled floral designs.

Botanical Artist Ellen Hovercamp with her Daniel Ost book ready for autograph 

No less CBS has described him as "the world's leading flower designer," while the New York Times says that "to call him a master flower designer is akin to calling Annie Leibovitz a shutterbug.”

NYBG notes “Ost is celebrated worldwide for his eye-catching installations in private and public spaces, working with both living and cut flowers.

His large-scale artwork has drawn comparison to that of renowned sculptors Anish Kapoor, Claes Oldenburg, and Andy Goldsworthy. In Belgium he has been called “the Picasso of flower arranging,” and in France he was touted as “the international star of floral decoration.” Daniel Ost lives and works in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium, where he was born and raised.

Mr. Ost’s recent YouTube interview for the Garden helps explain his approach to the installation. Many orchids are epiphytes -- meaning they grow on the surface of another plant or tree, getting their nutrients from the air, rain, and water. And Ost says he was very much drawn to the orchid’s ability to grow like this.

He also explains why he chose the clear, plastic tubes that the orchid blossoms are attached to “like vines,” he says - throughout the three key installations in the show.

There is a huge funnel-like structure in the Palms of the World Gallery, right near the entrance to the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory where the Orchid event is located at NYBG.

Rather than seeing a breathtaking display reflected in the moody black water of the pool here - the towering design in the Conservatory’s Palms of the World Gallery, is an 18-foot-tall sculpture by Ost that is meant to complement the height of the 90-foot-tall dome overhead.




“In the Seasonal Exhibition Galleries, his designs speak to the architecture of the glasshouse.”

There are two more site specific living art installations: a bamboo dome that holds an array of color-coordinated fiery yellows, oranges and red orchids.




The other is a hanging bamboo structure that runs the length of the central axis and is filled with Kodedama -- hanging orchids planted in moss.



I do love these and have been successfully growing one made by floral designer and landscape architect, EunYoung Sebazco and graduate of the Gardens School of Professional Horticulture, that I got at the “Nature in Art” show I curated not too long ago.

Within this area there are also kaleidoscopes of drop-dead gorgeous orchids and companion plants. These “orchid companions” include croton, dracaena, and more.

I especially liked the unique kalanchoe - Kalanchoe, Vrisea, Phormium on display that picked up the soft, subtle greens and flamingo pinks of the orchids.


We were told that Ost spotted these within the Garden’s Collection and insisted he wanted to have them in the installation. What a great eye for harmony the master has ...



I do recommend you go to see and experience the Orchid Show - and moreover, all the special collateral, orchid-themed events the Garden has lined up.

This show underscores the fact that art is provocative - it moves us and touches each of us in unique and profound ways. For me, I didn’t care for the clear tubes woven in and about the orchids like so many skeins of yarn. It looked like life support tubes in a medical environment and detracted from the simple elegance and sheer beauty of the orchid plants. I know. I know. I get the narrative and the artful back story. I have more than respect for Ost and his informed and impressive floral art installation. I write this with hesitation. I don’t want to be arbitrary or a spoiler. But I must be honest. It’s just that I prefer to see the orchids. In a more pristine or pretty design.  This appears “messy” to me.
I had a challenge getting past the plastic tubes...

When I got on the subway this morning I saw an image that was reminiscent of the installation's tubes ...



Don’t hate me because I see the link with the Ost orchid tubes …

In years’ past, the orchids help tell the story of a culture or environmental diversity but at the same time were set in a tableau or “living picture” that was more sensual and inviting. And well, to be frank and honest, it was more glamorous and elegant.

Though, I do like the artist’s dreamy rendering: (there was just a lot more tubing in the final look).


Floral Artist Daniel Ost A Daniel Ost conceptual rendering for The Orchid Show

I’m sure that evenings in the show will be spectacular and help to showcase the blooms.

During “Orchid Evenings throughout the run of the exhibition, visitors experience music, tours, and special performances, with cash bars offering for purchase beer, wine, and cocktails, including the Dancing Lady, especially created for Orchid Evenings by Edible Bronx’s head mixologist.” The Garden notes “You can warm up around fire pits on Conservatory Plaza, then head into the glasshouse to explore the exhibition. Live performers add extra flair to the stunning displays of orchids, while curated music by a live DJ creates the perfect atmosphere to explore The Orchid Show. Alice Farkey’s whimsical Orchid Ladies roam the Conservatory.

Orchid Evenings are from 6:30– 9:30 p.m. on March 17, 24, and 31, April 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, and 21, and are for adults 21 and over.

Back to the floral art displays. We were told the clear tubes capture the sunlight and reflect… But I thought it was a bit of the Emperor’s New Clothes… There was the inarguable fact that there is a lot of plastic tubing to look at. I don’t like plastic. I was doomed.

The Ost-designed installations were also disappointing to me because while there were three, they are similar in style using clear tubing and bamboo as structural elements with the orchids featured on that. No reveal or aha or heart-clutching mystery…

While there are more orchids on display this year I was told, it didn’t create that impact or visual...

Let me know what you think after you experience the show.

The overwhelming element is: the orchids are sublime. 

Go for the plants!





This year, NYBG’s 16th Annual Orchid Show Runs from March 3 through April 22, 2018

News on the show from the NYBG team: “The 2018 edition of The Orchid Show at The New York Botanical Garden, exhibiting commissioned works by Daniel Ost, opens on March 3 and runs through April 22, 2018. Entering its16th year, the popular exhibition, showcasing thousands of dramatically displayed orchids in the Botanical Garden’s historic Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.

One of the world’s leading floral designers, Ost uses flowers as a means of expression. He identifies himself as a bloembinder, the Dutch term for an artist who works with flowers. His large-scale artworks have been tailored to the unique environment of the landmark Victorian- style Haupt Conservatory, complementing the architecture of the building while creating a transformative, dazzling spectacle of color, form, and texture. Bamboo arranged in grids and calling to mind the glass grids of the Conservatory, and clear tubing meant to both evoke water and connect to the Conservatory’s glass, are among the materials employed in his artful installations to which individual orchids are attached so that each flower and form can be seen and appreciated. The works pay homage to his training in ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging. In ikebana, artists value the ideas of wabi-sabi, a philosophy that finds beauty in imperfection, asymmetry, and impermanence.

Ost trained in Belgium and the Netherlands before visiting Japan for the first time in 1983 where he befriended Noboru Kurisaki, one of the most prominent grand masters of ikebana, who became his mentor and teacher. He taught Ost that a single flower used the right way can be more impactful than thousands of flowers used en masse. This concept is particularly evident in one of Ost’s designs on view in The Orchid Show.

The Hudson Garden Grill is open for meals and light bits before Orchid Evening festivities.

Dining options include Hudson Garden Grill, NYBG’s full-service restaurant, and at the Pine Tree Café.

Orchid Show visitors may select from thousands of top-quality orchids, from exotic, hard-to- find specimens for connoisseurs to elegant yet easy-to-grow varieties for beginners, available for purchase at NYBG Shop, along with orchid products and books. Along with plenty of other, plant-inspired objets d’art, tablescape accessories, fashion, fragrance, and hostess gifts.

Orchids are eternally fascinating and have so much to teach us. Adult Education at NYBG gas thoughtfully produced and curated a number of classes you’ll enjoy participating in. See the lineup here:

PHALAENOPSIS CARE
Myths abound about how hard it is to care for this ever-popular orchid. Jim Freeman dispels those myths with plenty of sensible advice on how to treat your phalaenopsis so that it blooms year after year. Light, water, nutrients, repotting, and root care are all key. Walk away feeling confident and equipped with the knowledge to make your orchids thrive.

Saturday, March 17; 11 a.m.–2 p.m., NYBG Instructor: Jim Freeman



ORCHIDS: DIVIDE, REPOT, REJUVENATE!

Frank Guida, beloved Botanical Art teacher and orchid aficionado, shows you what he’s learned from years of helping out in NYBG’s Nolen Greenhouses, demonstrating when and how to divide and repot your orchids without trauma (to you or the plants!). Learn about different types of containers and potting media and making your own bark mix.

Saturday, March 24; 10 a.m.–12:30 p.m., NYBG Instructor: Frank Guida



ORCHID MOUNTING (image from orchids made easy)

Show off the exquisite beauty of an orchid by mounting it on cork. Not only is this a showstopping piece of living décor, it is also healthy for the plant, mimicking the way epiphytic orchids grow in nature. Frank Guida, botanical artist and orchid aficionado, will discuss which species thrive on mounts and how to care for your newly mounted orchid.

aturday, March 24; 2–4:30 p.m., NYBG Instructor: Frank Guida

FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY: THE ORCHID SHOW
Get an exclusive opportunity to photograph The Orchid Show using your DSLR 100- 300mm telephoto lens, and dedicated speedlights. Master techniques to achieve

the best lighting and exposure for these vibrant flowers without the use of tripods or monopods. Afterward, return to the classroom for a review and critique of your images.

Required Equipment: DSLR, zoom telephoto lens (100-300mm focal length), other lenses if you desire, lens hood, dedicated speedlight, brackets, hotshoe cable or remote, and lunch.

Tuesday, April 3; 9 a.m.–3 p.m., NYBG Instructor: Jeffrey Falk


LIVING DÉCOR: TERRARIUMS WITH AIR PLANTS & ORCHIDS! (image from wanelo.co)


Create a mini rainforest with air plants and orchids in an open-style terrarium. Maria Colletti, author of Terrariums, will guide you as you design your own, and provide instruction on the care and maintenance of your miniature plant world.

Wednesday, April 4; 6:30–8:30 p.m., NYBG Monday, May 21; 6:30–8:30 p.m., Midtown Center Instructor: Maria Colletti

DESKTOP ORCHIDS
Get pro tips on how to care for orchids in less than optimal environments. Barbara Schmidt, award-winning exhibitor at the Philadelphia Flower Show and author of Orchid Care: For the Beginner, will walk you through which orchid genus will fare best in your indoor environment, as well as how to ensure your orchids have what they need to grow and bloom. Optional: Bring Your Own Orchid so Barbara can help you identify and/or troubleshoot its problems.

Saturday, April 14; 11 a.m.–1 p.m., NYBG Instructor: Barbara Schmidt

Register for classes at www.nybg.org/adulted

For more information about The Orchid Show and to purchase tickets, please visit the Garden’s Web site, www.nybg.org




Some last minute prep by the Hort staff proved to almost be the best part of the orchid show. 

Thank you.

The New York Botanical Garden and Garden Glamour announce Winner of Botanical Garden Quiz

The New York Botanical Garden’s (NYBG) Adult Education team recently hosted a fun, informative, and “lucrative” botanical garden quiz with Garden Glamour. 

While garden enthusiasts are plant nerds at heart and love and enjoy the sport of knowing their botanical nomenclature and showing their Linnaean prowess, the winner was also able to win $25 prize toward a NYBG class or lecture. 

Garden Glamour readers and social media fans (Twitter: @gardenglamour, Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/gardenglamour/ and Instagram: http://instagram.com/chefsgardens ) - especially plant lovers, horticulturists, and garden designers, were invited to take a botanical garden quiz prepared by the Garden’s botanists.

The green quiz consisted of a plant identification and answering four multiple choice horticulture questions about the mystery plant. 

Garden Quiz Winner

Jean Galle is named the winner of the quiz contest!

Jean is a garden landscape designer, garden artist and serious plant enthusiast. 

Jean’s New York-metro area landscape design business is: Landscape Artistry by JGalle  

Jean Galle, Landscape Artistry by JGalle & Garden Glamour - NYBG Botanical Garden Quiz Winner

Jean earned a Master of Science in Landscape Design, Columbia University and a Certificate in Horticulture from The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG).

Jean earned a Master of Science in Landscape Design, Columbia University and a Certificate in Horticulture from The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG).

She belongs to several, key, horticultural professional associations, including the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD), the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and Metro Hort: an association of horticulture professionals in the Tri-State area.

Recently, one of her “mini-scape” designs was recognized with an “Excellence” award by the Long Island Nursery & Landscape Association  (LINLA) 
http://www.linla.org/index.php/linla-programs/landscape-awards-program

A former fashion designer, Jean designs artful and colorful gardens, as well as botanical art.

Garden Karma

Jean also possesses a special “Plant Pedigree,” if you will.

Her uncle is Fred C. Galle, an esteemed horticulturalist who also wrote the definitive, textbook compendium of native azalea plants, Azaleas.

http://www.abebooks.com/Azaleas-Revised-Enlarged-Edition-Galle-Fred/5376228118/bd

The book details all the species of azaleas – more than 6,000 cultivars – and tips on growing these charming plants in the garden, landscaping with them and companion plants.

So it seems that her ability to ID the plant featured in the Garden Glamour/NYBG botanical quiz is equal parts acquired plant knowledge gleaned from careful hort study, as well as some romantic element that has its roots in the Lowland area of the South, where her uncle discovered and wrote about growing azalea…

Landscape Artistry by JGalle
646-239-1082

http://jgallelandscapeartistry.wordpress.com

Special Mention “winner” is Mel.  Mel doesn’t win a prize except for our grateful, garden appreciation!  And a green salute to his “Honest Abe” mirth.

Check out Mel’s great garden designs:

Zone4 Landscapes Ltd.


P.O. Box 244, Andes, NY  13731


845-676-4994  
zone4landscapes.com
mel@zone4landscapes.com

Garden Glamour Botanical Quiz

To recap, these were the questions, followed here, by the correct answers.  Enjoy!

1. What is the scientific name of this plant? You can include the common name if you wish but we are looking for the scientific name.

1. Answer:  Oconee Bells, Shortia galacifolia  

  

2. Name one state to which the plant is native. (North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia)

2. Answer: This delicate tiny plant is an evergreen - Native of North Carolina but also found in Georgia and South Carolina

3. Does it thrive in sunny sites or shady sites?

3. Answer: Shade

4. Would it grow best in a dry, arid environment, or moist one?

4. Answer: on slopes and likes it moist - thrives even by stream banks-very rare

    5. When does this plant bloom?

•     A. Early spring

•     B. Early summer

•     C. Mid-summer

•     D. Late summer

•     E. Autumn

5. Answer: Bloom time spring - Late March/Early April

NYBG Classes

   Check out these suggested class offerings. And just follow the link to enroll.

Fundamentals of Gardening      

http://conted.nybg.org:8080/WebModule/jsp/ed2df.jsp?df1=slayout:144GAR301A

Integrated Pest Management

 http://conted.nybg.org:8080/WebModule/jsp/ed2df.jsp?df1=slayout:144GAR322A

Container Gardening 

http://conted.nybg.org:8080/WebModule/jsp/ed2df.jsp?df1=slayout:143GAR327B

You can browse all classes at http://www.nybg.org/adulted/

The New York Botanical Garden has just released a new season of classes for Spring- Summer 2014.  

And the butterfly collage on the website and catalog cover sets the tone.

NYBG is on a mission to help people garden more efficiently and sustainably and to train you to be the best gardener you can be.  

This term, NYBG is renewing their focus on eco-friendly gardening practices, with classes on sustainable pest control, watering smartly, planting pollinator-friendly and native plants in the garden, and more.