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Plant People

New York Botanical Garden

Plant People explores the ways our relationships with plants are tied to current environmental issues, and how art and culture reflect our connection to the ecosystems we rely on to thrive. 

Through lively stories and conversations with scientists, gardeners, artists, and experts, join the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) for deep dives into everything from food systems and horticulture to botanical breakthroughs in the lab and the field, and the many ways our daily lives are sustained by plants. Then stay for discussions on how we can return the favor, protecting what we have—and cultivating what we need—to ensure plants and people continue to support each other for future generations. 

Host Jennifer Bernstein, NYBG’s President & CEO, guides you through the role of humans in caring for our shared planet, whether you’re in your backyard garden, tending a window sill full of houseplants, or finding your love of nature in a concrete jungle. Let NYBG—rooted in NYC’s cultural fabric for over 130 years and a beloved respite in the heart of the Bronx, the city’s greenest borough—be your anchor for understanding how plants make a difference in your life, and our world, every single day—in ways both big and small.

© 2024 The New York Botanical Garden

Plant People explores the ways our relationships with plants are tied to current environmental issues, and how art and culture reflect our connection to the ecosystems we rely on to thrive. 

Through lively stories and conversations with scientists, gardeners, artists, and experts, join the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) for deep dives into everything from food systems and horticulture to botanical breakthroughs in the lab and the field, and the many ways our daily lives are sustained by plants. Then stay for discussions on how we can return the favor, protecting what we have—and cultivating what we need—to ensure plants and people continue to support each other for future generations. 

Host Jennifer Bernstein, NYBG’s President & CEO, guides you through the role of humans in caring for our shared planet, whether you’re in your backyard garden, tending a window sill full of houseplants, or finding your love of nature in a concrete jungle. Let NYBG—rooted in NYC’s cultural fabric for over 130 years and a beloved respite in the heart of the Bronx, the city’s greenest borough—be your anchor for understanding how plants make a difference in your life, and our world, every single day—in ways both big and small.

© 2024 The New York Botanical Garden
16hr
Thumbnail for "Giant Water Lilies with Brie Langley & Vanessa Callahan".
Thumbnail for "Kelp with Dr. April Ridlon".
Thumbnail for "Cycads with Dr. Dennis Stevenson".
Thumbnail for "Cacao with Professor Pathmanathan Umaharan".
Thumbnail for "Pawpaws with Anya Stansell".
Thumbnail for "Pitcher Plants with Dr. Rob Naczi".
Thumbnail for "Ghost Orchid with Dr. Melissa Abdo".
Thumbnail for "The American Chestnut with Michael Goergen".
Thumbnail for "Turkey Tail Fungi with Eugenia Bone".
Thumbnail for "Moss with Robin Wall Kimmerer".
Thumbnail for "Plant People Season 3 Trailer".
Thumbnail for "Special feature from the Smithsonian's Sidedoor podcast: "King of the Herbs"".
Thumbnail for "Ecotourism: Inspiring a Plant-Powered Economy".
Thumbnail for "Let's Botanize".
Thumbnail for "Mangroves: Earth's Coastal Caretakers".
Thumbnail for "The Tree Collectors".
Thumbnail for "Extreme Botany".
Thumbnail for "Moving Past Peat".
Thumbnail for "A River Runs Through The Bronx".
Thumbnail for "Sowing Change".
Thumbnail for "The Periodic Table of Food".
Thumbnail for "Paradise Bronx".
Thumbnail for "Plant People Season 2 Trailer".
Thumbnail for "Decay is an Ally".
Thumbnail for "The African American Garden".
Thumbnail for "Eating To Extinction".
Thumbnail for "Native Plants".
Thumbnail for "What Do Plants Have To Do With Flooding?".
Thumbnail for "Houseplants".
NYBG’s Marc Hachadourian joins us for a chat on the ways conservatory and botanical garden horticulture have influenced our day-to-day lives with plants.
Thumbnail for "Invasive Plants".
Dr. Evelyn Beaury joins us for a look at the state of invasive plant species in the United States, and ways that the everyday person can make a difference in protecting their local ecosystems.
Thumbnail for "Fighting Fire With Fire".
Michael Dockry, Assistant Professor of Forestry Studies at the University of Minnesota and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, explores the state of our forests—and the increased threat of wildfires in today’s climate.
Thumbnail for "Better Lawns".
We're joined by landscape designer Edwina von Gal, founder of Perfect Earth Project, for a chat exploring America's love of grass—and the ways that changing our relationship to our lawns can help suburban landscapes work for the good of our planet.
Thumbnail for "The Importance of Collections".
In Plant People's inaugural episode, get to know Rhonda Evans, Director of NYBG's LuEsther T. Mertz Library, and Dr. Emily Sessa, Director of the Steere Herbarium, as they take us inside the archives of botanical books and plant specimens that represent so much of humanity’s plant knowledge.
Thumbnail for "Plant People Season One Trailer".
Welcome to Plant People!

Giant Water Lilies with Brie Langley & Vanessa Callahan

Thumbnail for "Giant Water Lilies with Brie Langley & Vanessa Callahan".
May 11, 202631min 33sec

On this episode of Plant People, host Jennifer Bernstein—CEO and The William C. Steere Senior President of NYBG, joins Vanessa Callahan of Denver Botanic Gardens and Brie Langley of Royal Botanic Gardens Kew to chat about one of the plant world’s most gargantuan figures: the giant water lily. From its unique leaf structure, which allows its pads to hold well over 100 pounds in some cases, to the 10-foot diameter that some Amazonian specimens can achieve, these larger-than-life plants are some of our planet’s most fascinating lifeforms.

Thumbnail for "Giant Water Lilies with Brie Langley & Vanessa Callahan".
Giant Water Lilies with Brie Langley & Vanessa Callahan
00:00
31:33