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Brooklyn Botanic Garden

For intrepid New Yorkers looking for a little nature beyond the lone flower that cracks up through the pavement, the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens offer a refreshing taste of the great outdoors without travelling too far away from home.

Some friends and I made the trip out to the BBG this weekend to see if a midsummer trip was worth the subway ride. For a five dollar fee, we received admission to the park and a map of the 52 acres of sprawling wildlife. The entrance at the Eastern Parkway gate quickly unfolds onto the Osborne Garden, a majestic tree-lined lawn which is flanked by a stone path and ivy covered trellises. Our plan was to follow the main path from the Osborne Garden on, but we were quickly distracted by the charm of the Cranford Rose Garden, a collection of over 5,000 roses which, depending on the particular flower, are in bloom from October to April. Though not all varieties of the roses were in bloom, the garden had a special sort of whimsy, accented by the adorable presence of tiny tan bunnies peeking out from behind the shrubbery.

We came out at the pond at the base of the Cherry Esplanade where, to the delight of the children watching, some small turtles soaked up the sunshine. From there, we were drawn into the very center of the gardens, where a tiny stream weaved its way through a grassy clearing. We paused for a moment, there under a weeping willow tree, taking silly photos and entertaining ourselves by making boats out of tiny logs. After that, we continued on to the Northern end of the park to the Fragrance Garden, a rotunda in which each plant gives off a distinctive scent.

The highlight of the Botanic Gardens in the summer, though, is the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden, featuring beautifully manicured shrubs and trees from Asia, and a pond chock-full of large orange fish swimming close to the surface for our viewing pleasure.

The trip was certainly worth the price of admission. Despite some small regrets that we had missed the Cherry Esplanade or Bluebell Forest in full bloom, as it is in the early spring months, my friends and I found the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to be completely successful in transporting us to a different world. It’s nice to know that, even in the biggest city in the world, there’s a spot of land where cicadas chirping replaces the steady hum of car engines, where the air smells distinctly of flowers, and where one can spend an afternoon completely undisturbed by the noisy hub of the modern world.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden Current Events & Visitor Information