In the heart of Brooklyn, a borough in the City of New York, one can find the oasis known as the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Established in 1910, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a 52-acre sprawl of land that is home to some 10,000 species of plants and trees.
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden attracts some 700,000 visitors every year, the visitors keen on discovering nature and plant life, gathering tips for their own gardens at home, or just looking forward to a tranquil moment amidst the chaos that is everyday life in a city as bustling as New York City.
The chief attractions of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden include the following:
Steinhardt Conservatory
The Steinhardt Conservatory is a huge greenhouse complex that hosts the indoor plant collection of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Among the collections of plants housed in the Steinhardt Conservatory are the orchids, the aquatic and tropical plants, the palms and the desert plants. A visitor will also find there the Steinhardt Conservatory Gallery, which hosts artworks and exhibits. The Bonsai Museum can also be found there.
Cranford Rose Garden. The Cranford Rose Garden is home to 5,000 bushes of roses belonging to 1,700 varieties, including those of the All-American Rose Selection. These roses can be found laid out on formal beds, or wantonly climbing walls and lattices, or flowing along arches.
Alice Recknagel Ireys Fragrance Garden. The Alice Recknagel Ireys Fragrance Garden is a collection of herbs and other plants that are meant to tantalize all the senses other than sight. Created by the landscape architect after whom it is named, the Alice Recknagel Ireys Fragrance Garden was designed originally for the sight-impaired, with Braille labels marking each plant species. Some of the plants here are placed at a level where people in wheelchairs can look and touch them.
Shakespeare Garden. The Shakespeare Garden is a lovely little garden set on an oval brick path in the English cottage-garden style. It features over 80 of the plants mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare. It is a peaceful spot that tries to evoke the look and feel of a cottage garden during the times of Elizabethan England.
Children’s Garden. Built within the Brooklyn Botanical Garden some 90 years ago, the Children’s Garden is the first ever gardening and nature study program ever established in a botanical garden; it is also the oldest of its kind in the entire world. Here, children three to thirteen years of age can participate in planting activities, structured playtime, arts and crafts, and storytelling.
Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden. The Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden is the oldest Japanese-inspired garden ever to be created outside Japan. It is also considered to be one of the most beautiful. Just like in any garden of its kind, the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden contains the elements of simplicity and harmony in asymmetry, as Japanese gardens are supposed to be mirrors of nature.
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a haven of delights, a sanctuary for those who want peace and quiet. Make sure you drop by this garden of gardens when you visit New York City next.
