One of my favorite T-shirts says, “Sorry, I have plants this weekend.”
But if my weekend involves a trip to the New York Botanical Garden, the shirt needs a rewrite: “Sorry, I have trains this weekend.” Or better yet: “Sorry, I’m busy admiring New York landmarks — made entirely of plants — with model trains zipping through and around them.”
NYBG’s Holiday Train Show is back for its 34th year, filling the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory with miniature magic. Created by artist and landscape architect Paul Busse, the show is now carried on by his design firm, Applied Imagination, led by his daughter Laura Busse Dolan.
Inside the conservatory, nearly 200 New York landmarks and 25 model trains wind through more than 1,000 plants and trees — a mix of evergreens, seasonal specimens, and treasures from NYBG’s permanent collection. While the trains — complete with “NYBG” emblazoned on their sides — delight children as they pop around bends and through tunnels, it’s the handcrafted landmarks that are truly enchanting. Visitors instinctively lean in to marvel at the tiny architectural details.
To design each building, the artists began with photographs and architectural plans of historic originals. Every handmade structure started as a foamboard shell, then was layered with natural materials — seedpods, leaves, branches, acorns, berries, and other botanicals gathered from forests near their Kentucky studio. Moss becomes window trim; twigs, basket reed, and red willow form window casings; and miniature statues and carved stonework add the finishing touches. Each building is finally sealed with a protective coat of resin.
“The Holiday Train Show brings together horticulture, history, design, and a sense of wonder,” said Kenia Pittman, NYBG’s Director of Exhibition Design & Operations. “Each year, we’re proud to showcase extraordinary botanical artistry alongside our living collections, creating an experience that resonates with visitors of all ages. These landmark replicas are not only feats of craftsmanship — they also celebrate New York City’s architectural heritage in a setting only the Garden can provide.”
That artistry is immediately apparent as visitors enter the exhibition. The show opens with a gallery of historic Hudson Valley homes. Visitors pass grand estates such as Washington Irving’s Sunnyside, Philipsburg Manor in Sleepy Hollow, Lyndhurst in Tarrytown, and the Rockefeller estate Kykuit, before arriving at a breathtaking recreation of Penn Station.
From there, the path leads into New York City, where landmarks from all five boroughs appear. From Central Park alone, you’ll find miniature versions of the Delacorte Theater (a new addition this year), Bethesda Terrace, Naumburg Bandshell, the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater, and Belvedere Castle.
Along Museum Mile, take in the American Museum of Natural History — whose columns are formed with cinnamon curls — and the Guggenheim Museum, recreated with shelf fungus. Other iconic structures include Gracie Mansion, the New Amsterdam Theater, the Washington Square Arch, the Brooklyn Bridge, the George Washington Bridge, and the Little Red Lighthouse.
The NY Public Library, Radio City Music Hall, the Apollo Theater, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral join the lineup, as do lost treasures like the long-demolished Eden Musee — a wax museum and one of the nation’s first movie theaters. The Whitney Museum (new this year) and Rockefeller Center are woven into the rhythmic route of the model trains.
Landmarks from Staten Island, Brooklyn, and the Bronx appear as well, including Yankee Stadium, Edgar Allan Poe’s Cottage, and Coney Island’s Luna Park. Even a model of the New York Botanical Garden’s Haupt Conservatory itself appears.
A playlist curated by 106.7 fills the Conservatory with seasonal pop favorites and holiday classics, the perfect soundtrack for wandering — or bopping — through the display.
Docents are stationed throughout to highlight botanical details. For example, citrus maxima, or pomelo, dangles over Lower East Side brownstones. The plant, part of the Garden’s permanent collection, is the parent of many hybrid citrus fruits including tangerines and lemons, according to docent David Wood, a retired advertising executive who studied horticulture—and who, he admitted, has never (yet) sampled one of NYBG’s fallen citrus fruits.
“I love all the questions people have about the show and the plants,” said Wood. “A lot of my docent colleagues who are plant enthusiasts say this isn’t their favorite show because it’s really about the trains and landmarks, not the plants,” he confided.
Then, with a grin, he added, “But this show has something for everyone. Trains for the kids, trains for some of the grown men, history for the New Yorkers, and — every so often — someone who actually likes plants.” Before moving on, he recommended stopping in the train- and landmark-free vine room just before the exit.
For those leaving the kids at home, the exhibit offers a nighttime twist: Holiday Train Nights with twinkling lights and seasonal cocktails and mocktails. Guests can visit the Bar Car for cocktail experience at the Hudson Garden Grill patio and enjoy the Conservatory in a new, magical light.
The show runs through January 11. Visit NYBG.org for tickets and details.
