Brooklyn Botanic Garden, A delightful getaway in NYC
Written: Apr 09 '04 (Updated Jul 05 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Has incredible beauty in all seasons.
Cons: The .......charges .50 for extra hot water after paying $1.00 for a cup of tea.
The Bottom Line: In any season you can enjoy the beauty of these gardens.
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| popsrocks's Full Review: Brooklyn Botanic Garden |
By hopping on a subway from Manhattan you can be at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens in twenty minutes. It's here where you can get away from it all and enjoy natures beauty.
My wife and I have visited these gardens many times over the years. I went as a student on a field trip. When we were first married my wife and I used to go for romantic walks there. As years went on we would stop there after a visit to the Brooklyn Museum of Art that is right next door. I have arranged entertainment in one of the glass enclosures called the Palm House where private social functions are held. We continue to visit.
This week my wife is off from school due to the Passover and Easter Holidays. She checked out the museums web site and we knew that the gardens were open so off we went to check out both the museum and the gardens.
Unfortunately, it seems we did not read the museums web site carefully. We arrived on Tuesday and were told that the museum is closed both Mondays and Tuesdays. The good news was that it was a sunny day and Tues at the Gardens happens to be free admission. Believe me, my wife donated a fair amount of money through the products she purchased in the gift shop.
GETTING AROUND
The first thing I would like to suggest is wear comfortable walking shoes. There is a lot of ground you can cover.
From Manhattan the quickest and easiest way to get there is by subway. Four lines make their way there. The B and Q make stops at the Prospect Park Station and the 2 and 3 lines stop on Eastern Parkway. Because of ongoing construction of the stations and the nearby museum, please check details of all stations.
The gardens has a very detailed and informative web site.
http://www.bbg.org/
Because I live on Long Island we happen to take a car into Brooklyn. There is a parking lot behind the museum that is for both the museum and the gardens. The parking price is reasonable at $3.00 for the first hour and $2.00 thereafter. Even if there is free parking on the streets, I recommend the secured parking lot. In saying that I also must state that walking around the immediate neighborhood seems to be perfectly safe to me.
Signs will direct you to the entrance and to the Visitors Center. It is here you can get a map and further park information. Depending on the time of year you will be directed in through one of two ways. Either will get you to the center.
MAP IN HAND
With your map in hand you get an overall look at the park. There is also a diorama in the Visitors Center with the whole park laid out so you can see it in a three-D, birds eye view.
The park is laid out and landscaped in different sections. There are twenty seven of them to be exact. If you enter at Magnolia Plaza where the Visitors Center is you are pretty much centrally located and you can start your self guided tour in any direction. It's still early in the blooming season but many Magnolias and Cherry Trees were already in bloom as were the Daffodils on Daffodil Hill.
Seeing the park at different times of the year brings you to witness the growing and blooming season of many different kinds of flowers and plants.
Fragrance Garden
Going to the right after entering we, in season, enjoy the Fragrance Garden. This garden was specially designed many years ago and is a favorite of many handicapped persons. The scents are wonderful and each of the plants and flowers are described in English and Braille. Most of the plants are also on raised beds so anyone in a wheel chair is eye level with the flowers. I enjoy walking slowly through this section and letting my senses of touch and smell join that of sight in the experience of these small gifts from God.
Just steps away is the Shakespeare Garden that contains many of the plants he mentions in his writings. That was just being planted for the season when we were there.
The Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden
One section that is open all year and always shows its beauty is the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden. This large area has many tranquil spots to just sit and enjoy the peaceful designs that are worked into the landscape. We spent about an hour walking this area the other day. It is probably the area we visit most often. In the pond are fish over a foot and a half long that are always looking for food to be dropped to them. Turtles are found sunning on rocks throughout the garden. Paths take you up hills, over small bridges and to private little spots.
While there are moments of peacefulness, there is also the play of children running around the area playing all sorts of hide and seek games. This happens throughout the park. Sometimes you will be alone and then suddenly crowds of children on field trips will break the silence of the moment. I look for the best in both. I find peacefulness one moment and in the next the joyous innocence in the laughter of the children.
Nearby is the Herb garden. This is best in the late spring to fall.
Cherry Walk and Esplanade
Unfortunately we were too early for the full bloom of the cherry trees in the Cherry Walk and Cherry Esplanade. We may come back in a few weeks to check out the museum so we will be sure to give this a look. Outside of Washington DC it is said to be the best Cherry Tree Bloom areas in the US. May 1 and 2 is the official Cherry Tree festival. There are also many cherry trees surrounding the Japanese Pond area. If you can come anytime between the last week in April and the second week in May you will be amply rewarded with this incredible show.
This area is the only place where you may sit on the ground and enjoy the surroundings. They are very restrictive in the gardens. No blankets are permitted, no picnicking, and no ball playing of any sort is allowed.
SO MUCH TO SEE
I have just touched on the areas that are open to experience. In all the years I have been to this garden I still cannot tell you about it all. There are sections like the Osborne Garden Native Flora and the Garden Home Composting exhibit, that I have never looked at in detail. I have been to the Overlook. This walk gives a different perspective of the gardens.
The Cranford Rose Garden starts blooming in the spring and continues through to the fall with peek time in June if I recall. This area is striking and is among the best of north American displays.
The Blue Bell Wood comes alive just as the Cherry Blossoms pass their peek. Thousands and thousands of these little flowering plants cover the ground in a form of a huge blanket under oak, beech and birch trees.
In the far reaches of the park you will delighted with many surprises. In another month or so the gardens dahlias will be starting to bloom. I have never seen such beautiful displays anywhere else. The are amazing! I hope to be back to see them this year. When the butterfly bushes are in bloom in the fall they are covered with the multi-coloured winged insects. The southern end of the park also has the Children's Garden, Discovery Garden and a beautiful Rock Garden.
The Lily Pool Terrace
There are two lily pools on the grounds. These are formal rectangular shaped concrete pools. It was too early in the year to see any foliage but there was a show with a lazy bird that was feeding on the fish in the pond. I was told the bird was a Black-capped-night heron. On one dip in with its beak it came up with a big fish that took nearly ten minutes to get down through its gullet. The kids were screaming sadly to their parents , "The fish is going to die!" as they watched the fish's tail swing back and forth. It was a educational moment of real life for many of the children.
Steinhardt Conservatory
This is a multilevel atrium area that houses many environments. You can visit the park anytime of year and the seasons inside never change. This is divided into many sections. The Aquatic House and Orchid Collection is one of them and well worth seeing. One of my favorites is the Bonsai Museum. These miniature trees are amazing to me. Some are well over a hundred years old. I was just thinking that some have aged 30 years since I first saw them. They are looking as healthy and strong as ever. I can't quite say the same thing about my body. This display, one of the worlds best, is rivaled only those that are in Japan.
Going downstairs you will see the Desert Pavilion, Tropical Pavilion, and Warm Temperate Pavilion. All are temperature controlled. We did get to see some flowering cacti and other succulents. The blast of hot humid air from the tropical area made us feel like we just walked out of a plane in one of the Caribbean Islands. There are small waterfalls and natural settings in here. The warm temperature area was much like were I live in the summer.
One thing that is very interesting about these pavilions is that the ground level of the plants is subterranean and the glass structures rise well above ground level and from the street level you can look down into them. I hope you understood what I just tried to explain. Just have faith in me. It's very cool.
East Meets West
In the subterranean area is a court where many shows are displayed. We witnessed the East Meets West at Brooklyn Botanic Garden March 2–May 31. My wife and I enjoyed half hour of "playing" in a hands-on section designed for children. Dress up was encouraged and my wife donned a Kimona outfit. We both played the taiko drums and my wife took pictures of me kneeling down on pillows at a table with tea and sushi in front of me.(all make believe otherwise that platter would have been empty by the time I left.)
My wife an art teacher was trying her hand at Japanese symbol writing and we both enjoyed watching the children play.
There was a painting exhibit as part of this show in the open downstairs gallery. We did have to get timed tickets to enter the children's play area. These were distributed at the Visitors Center.
Terrace Cafe
The area downstairs, from what I gathered, is also used as a cafe during the winter. I have never used it. Once April comes along the area between the exposed glass houses of the Steinhardt Conservatory is made into an open air cafe. Tables with umbrellas, set for four, with comfortable seats are available at a first come first served basis. The food at the self service counter is quite good and offers a full menu of gourmet lunches. Wraps, bruschettas, and some nice salads were on the menu. We had a tuna and walnut sandwich on a homemade bread that was excellent. Most offerings were about $6.00. Simple hot dogs for the kids were $3.00. Burgers were also available as was chili and crab soup and many other choices. My wife was a bit annoyed with the concession in that after purchasing a tea for a dollar she returned later with the empty cup and teabag and asked for half a cup of hot water. They wanted to charge her .50 for the water. It's that kind of aggressive capitalism that can give a place a bad name.
The Gift Shop
We can never leave a place without my wife checking out the gift shop. This time was no different. The shop had displays of seed packs. Inside were many gardening tools that were specialized for Bonsai.
Jewelry, books, pictures and the like were also available. My wife came out with two shopping bags. One held a new rose plant for our garden. I never did find out what was in the other bag.
IN CLOSING
Rest rooms are found in the Visitors Center and the conservatory. They were VERY clean and well stocked.
These year round gardens are especially colourful in the spring and summer, however, it can be viewed at any time of year. The gardens cover a vast area so it really is hard to see everything in detail in one day. It is said that if you follow the main trails on the self guided map, without stopping, you can see all the gardens in just two hours. We haven't and with so much to look at closely we would find that close to impossible.
I suggest take your time, enjoy what you can and remember there can always be another day at the park.
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