Box 135

Bronx River flows through 100 acres of the New York that was--all that's left of the New York the Indians knew. Youngsters here enjoy the historic falls. Wild flowers abound in the surrounding oak-hemlock-ash forest. Native plants displayed with labels can be found in a special garden nearby.

Japanese cherries blooming in April are followed by an exciting succession of flowering trees and shrubs--viburnum, peach, magnolia, dogwood, azalea, rhododendron, lilac, rose, hawthorn, mock orange, catalpa, tulip, stewartia, golden rain and Japanese silk tree.

Daffodils and spring bulbs, tulips, hyacinths and others, make an impressive show in the pine collection or Pinetum at the New York Botanical garden. Visitors to the Garden know that these grounds are for people as well as flowers.

Azalea Valley is the scene of one of the New York Botanical Garden's many shrub collections, lovely in spring flower. Later a whole hillside of rhododendron supplies exciting color. The Garden's shrub collections are also famous for the large group of landscaping conifers and the berried woody plants.

Floral Flyer, a trackless train, takes groups on tours of the New York Botanical Garden's 230 acres on holidays and week-ends and by special arrangement. Main Conservatory behind contains collection of tropical plants.

Main Conservatory tropical jungle brings the tropics to New York City. The acre under glass at the New York Botanical Garden also features desert area, whole greenhouses of ferns and tropical economic plants such as coffee. Special exhibits follow one another through the winter, the most important being at Christmas and Easter.

Waterlily pools contain one of the country's best collections of waterlilies and lotus. One of the giant ponds is for tropical waterlilies and the other for those from cool climes. Flower colors are red, pinks, purples, yellows, blues and white.

Chrysanthemums and asters complete the Garden's outdoor flower displays in fall. Later visitors to the Garden get a second chance to enjoy the chrysanthemums--at the Chrysanthemum Show in the Conservatory, in November.

The Tulip-Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) is the symbol of the New York Botanical Garden. Groves of this tree native to New York were planted in front of the Museum building, where one giant indigenous tree still grows in its original soil--a giant at the time of the New York Botanical Garden's founding in 1891. In photo, the yellow-orange goblets with which the tree flowers.

This series contains black and white pictures that were taken during Steere’s time at the garden. They include aerial photographs of the garden, promotional photographs with captions, and photographs that were taken by T. H. Everett. Many photographs show construction of buildings in the garden, particularly the library building. Of note is a woodcut block that was removed from a Speaking Engagements folder in the Administrative Records series.