New York’s Botanical Garden might be well-known for its exquisite flora displays and its yearly Holiday Train Show, but in recent years it has expanded its holiday motif and entered the eerie world of All Hallows Eve. From intricately detailed pumpkin and gourd carvings by prominent carving artists to fun-filled family events, inclusive of pumpkin carving lessons and the Spooky Nighttime Adventures Trial, there is something for everyone to do and admire, regardless of one’s age.

This year, renowned artist Ray Villafane, along with a few of his friends, put on a show like no other, with creepy creatures encircling a 2,032 pound Venus flytrap centerpiece, displayed in the Haunted Pumpkin Garden and drawing the viewer in like a spider netting its prey. However, this exhibit isn’t just glamorous due to its record breaking size and weight. Having been closed last year due to Hurricane Sandy, the show encompasses the strength and creativity of the New York community.

“Last year, we started off The Haunted Pumpkin Garden with a bang but had to close it early due to Hurricane Sandy. This year’s event is also fun and festive — though we do check the weather forecast often, making sure there aren’t any storms heading up the coast. It looks like we’ll make it through Halloween this year!” says Karen Daubmann, associate vice president of exhibitions and public engagement at NYBG.

With this year’s theme being carnivorous plants (befitting of a botanical garden), it makes one wonder what lies in the darkened corners of the Garden’s shrubberies. Here to take us on a brief tour of the festivities surrounding this year’s exhibit, a few NYBG staff members shared their thoughts and experiences surrounding the jungle-like monstrosities that have invaded their various pavilions.

New York’s Botanical Garden apprentice carver, Hannah Knox and associate vice president of exhibitions and public engagement, Karen Daubmann, share the types of pumpkin carvings that can be found in the Haunted Pumpkin Garden:

HK: Throughout the month I have been carving over 30 smaller, live sugar pumpkin 3D designs and jack-o-lanterns to show off along with the annual “funkin” displays and sculptures. My collection varies week to week, of course, as the pumpkins are plants after all and don’t last very long. Among the pieces I have done, my favorites are a fishbowl design that showed a piranha chasing smaller fish, and a traditional skull design which translated very well as a jack-o-lantern. In the coming week, I think viewers can expect things to get a little spookier as we get closer to Halloween. I will be creating more animal or monster-like 3D sculpted designs, as well as some more intricately carved jack-o-lanterns.


Video Courtesy of: NYBG

KD: For the carving weekend kick-off event at Grand Central Terminal on October 18, we partnered with Maniac Pumpkin Carvers of Brooklyn. They worked with Master Carver Ray Villafane’s carnivorous plant concept and created the logo pumpkin for our event, embellishing it with some ferocious carnivorous plant teeth. This pumpkin is currently on view in The Garden’s Leon Levy Visitor Center. For the Giant Pumpkin Carving Weekend, October 19-20 we partnered with Villafane Studios. Ray Villafane brought two carvers with him — Sue Beatrice and Chris Vierra. They had many pumpkins at their disposal including several giant pumpkins, and many sizes of field pumpkins, as well as heirloom squash and gourds. Their display is constructed in the Clay Picnic Pavilions.

Pictured: Artist Ray Villafane is seen carving away at one of the pumpkins on display at the New York Botanical Garden. Photo Credit: Victor Chu. Photo Courtesy of: The New York Botanical Garden.

Pictured: Artist Ray Villafane is seen carving away at one of the pumpkins on display at the New York Botanical Garden. Photo Credit: Victor Chu. Photo Courtesy of: The New York Botanical Garden.

On whether Ray Villafane will be coming back again next year and the experience of working with him:

KD: Yes, Ray Villafane will be with us next year. He typically brings a few of his colleagues with him each year. In his first year he worked solo, but last year he brought Andy Bergholtz, Alfred Paredes, Chris Vierra, and Trevor Grove. We don’t yet know who he will bring next year but we always know it will be someone whose skill complements Ray’s. We talk with Ray several times throughout the year –first, just following the pumpkin carving weekend to share feedback and wrap up the event. In early spring, we begin tossing around ideas for the display. Ray and his team have many, many great ideas and the Garden planning team has ideas, too. Ray then prepares sketches, and we decide on the final concept. The concept prevails, but sometimes when the pumpkins arrive, the carving will change slightly to accommodate an odd sized or shaped pumpkin. During the carving weekend, Ray is a lot of fun. He offers a special carving class for our members, does a meet-and-greet with the students in our budding masters program, and is available for a Q&A session several times throughout the weekend.

Pictured: Chris Vierra, Ray Villafane and Sue Beatrice in front of the Venus flytrap centerpiece at NYBG. Photo Credit: Victor Chu. Photo Courtesy of: The New York Botanical Garden.

Pictured: Chris Vierra, Ray Villafane and Sue Beatrice in front of the Venus flytrap centerpiece at NYBG. Photo Credit: Victor Chu. Photo Courtesy of: The New York Botanical Garden.

On the inspiration behind this year’s carnivorous plants theme and whether this is the only prevalent Halloween theme that can be found throughout the New York Botanical Garden:

KD: Many ideas were tossed around regarding zombies, werewolves, and other favorites from Halloween. We thought about the event, the people who would visit and the location of the Clay Picnic Pavilions, and decided we needed to have a carnivorous plant display this year. We talked to Ray regarding reference materials — Nepenthes, Sarracenia, Drosera, and Dionaea — and he really liked the idea. The concept sketches came back and we were thrilled to have our own larger-than-life Venus flytrap! Once Ray’s theme was confirmed, it spread out to the other carvers including the Maniacs, who carved the pumpkin for the Grand Central kick-off event. We have carvers daily in the global greenhouse at the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, and the theme there changes up frequently.

A look at the centerpiece inside the Haunted Pumpkin Garden. Photo Credit: Victor Chu. Photo Courtesy of: The New York Botanical Garden.

A look at the centerpiece inside the Haunted Pumpkin Garden. Photo Credit: Victor Chu. Photo Courtesy of: The New York Botanical Garden.

Apart from the Haunted Pumpkin Garden, the Botanical Garden also has an event called Spooky Nighttime Adventures, which allows one to explore the gardens and pumpkin carvings in the dark, flashlight in hand. Gayle Schmidt, associate director of public education at The New York Botanical Garden, explains why families could only enjoy this event on October 25th and 26th, and not on the actual holiday.

GS: With so much else going on at the Botanical Garden, we have chosen to highlight four special evening events that include extra special activities, including spooky storytelling on the Wetland Trail, costumed characters created by a local artist and mask maker, and edible Halloween treats. After night falls at the Garden, it becomes an even more magical place and additional staff and volunteers are called in en masse to give the visitors the most personalized experience possible. The Haunted Pumpkin Garden remains open through Halloween, and the activities of parades, story readings, owl pellet dissection, fall fruit collection, and seed sorting continue daily.

Pictured: Artist Chris Vierra is seen carving away at one of the pumpkins on display at the New York Botanical Garden. Photo Credit: Victor Chu. Photo Courtesy of: The New York Botanical Garden.

Pictured: Artist Chris Vierra is seen carving away at one of the pumpkins on display at the New York Botanical Garden. Photo Credit: Victor Chu. Photo Courtesy of: The New York Botanical Garden.

On what will happen to the pumpkin carvings after Halloween — whether they will or will not be used for compost:

KD: After Halloween, we dismantle The Haunted Pumpkin Garden, and all of the organic materials are composted. We often save the bales of straw for projects around the garden throughout the year. The rest of the materials are stored in the warehouse.

Pictured: Artist Ray Villafane is seen carving away at one of the pumpkins on display at the New York Botanical Garden. Photo Credit: Victor Chu. Photo Courtesy of: The New York Botanical Garden.

Pictured: Artist Ray Villafane is seen carving away at one of the pumpkins on display at the New York Botanical Garden. Photo Credit: Victor Chu. Photo Courtesy of: The New York Botanical Garden.

Daubmann discusses the 2,000 pound pumpkin that was carved and used as the centerpiece by Ray Villafane:

KD: The world record pumpkin was grown by Tim and Susan Mathison of Napa, CA and weighs 2032 pounds! It is used as the centerpiece for Ray’s carnivorous plant carving tableau. In years past, the largest pumpkin had been cut up to make the display. This year, we wanted to make sure that our visitors could still see the large pumpkin and that the display somehow incorporated the large pumpkin. When Ray arrived at the Garden, he wanted to see the large pumpkin in person. It is from viewing it that he had the idea of vines emerging from the folds of the pumpkin, encircling it, and rising up to the big mouth of the Venus flytrap. When he saw our bins of specialty gourds, he was immediately attracted to the Turks Turban pumpkins, cutting into them immediately to make prototypes of the wasps that dangle around the display.

Pictured: Artist Ray Villafane is seen carving away at one of the pumpkins on display at the New York Botanical Garden. Photo Credit: Victor Chu. Photo Courtesy of: The New York Botanical Garden.

Pictured: Artist Ray Villafane is seen carving away at one of the pumpkins on display at the New York Botanical Garden. Photo Credit: Victor Chu. Photo Courtesy of: The New York Botanical Garden.

On the other fruits and vegetables that were used for carving and display purposes, such as watermelons and gourds:

KD: The Great Pumpkin Commonwealth is our partner in The Haunted Pumpkin Garden. Their weigh-offs, now numbering nearly 100 around the globe, feature all sorts of categories, including pumpkin, long gourd, watermelon, field pumpkin and tomato. We love to display and carve the giant pumpkins, but we have also been able to display fruit from some of the other categories. This year we are displaying the world record watermelon, grown by Chris Kent of Sevierville, TN. It weighs 350 ½ lbs! Also on view is a 139 ¼” long gourd, a world record, grown by Fred Ansems, of Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada. The watermelon and long gourd have not been carved; they are on display for visitors to see. Once the event ends, we will harvest the seeds and send them back to the growers so that they can grow their next generation of giants.

The Venus flytrap centerpiece at the Haunted Pumpkin Garden in NYBG. Photo Credit: Victor Chu. Photo Courtesy of: The New York Botanical Garden.

The Venus flytrap centerpiece at the Haunted Pumpkin Garden in NYBG. Photo Credit: Victor Chu. Photo Courtesy of: The New York Botanical Garden.

The Haunted Pumpkin Garden will be open through October 31 at the New York Botanical Garden, located at 2900 Southern Blvd, Bronx, NY 10458. For more information, visit http://www.nybg.org/ or call 718-817-8700.