Earth Day festivities at the New York Botanical Garden beckon families all weekend long, with a behind-the-scenes open house, indigenous plant tours, and of course the stunning blossoms of early spring. 

Indigenous Plants & People Walk
Saturday, April 22, 2023; 11:30am
Meet at the Leon Levy Visitor Center Reflecting Pool Join a guided tour with Moskehtu Consulting, a Native American-owned cultural and heritage preservation firm, to learn more about native plants, birds, and people.

Earth Day Weekend Open House
April 22 & 23, 2023; 11am–2pm
Learn what work is done behind-the-scenes at The New York Botanical Garden and how NYBG’s collections are cared for and how botanical research is conducted. The Open House includes hands-on activities and opportunities to learn from NYBG staff.

• Meet the Scientists who explore, understand, and conserve the Earth’s vast botanical diversity and learn about their unique projects currently underway. Connect with the LuEsther T. Mertz Library Collections representing over a century of commitment to botanical and environmental research, then sign up for a Mertz Library Card or take home a coloring book featuring some of the Library’s favorite illustrations from its rare books related to botany, landscape design, and horticulture.
• Participate in Herbarium Hoopla by visiting the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium, a National Systematics Research Resource Center containing approximately 7.8 million specimens, making it the second-largest herbarium in the world, and learn how these specimens are collected, preserved, mounted, and categorized with NYBG’s Herbarium team. Watch a mounting demonstration, and create a specimen to take home.
• On Saturday and Sunday, meet at the Arthur and Janet Ross Gallery for a Steere Herbarium Tour.
• On Saturday, stop by the Composting with Bronx Green-Up table at the Solar Pavilions near the Mosholu Entrance to discover the various ways food scraps can be turned into compost in New York City, learn about the Master Composter Certificate Course, check out composting worms, and pick up a reusable bag.

Food for Thought
April 22 & 23, 2023; 12–3pm
In the Leon Levy Visitor Center
A series of demonstrations by local chefs introduce healthy and affordable ways to make your diet more sustainable—such as reducing consumption of processed foods, buying in-season and local, and eating more plants.