NYC Guide: Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Although the city that never sleeps is best known for its towering skyscrapers and bustling streets, New York City is also home to some beautiful, natural oases like the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) in Park Slope. My love for gardens and flowers has flourished since my childhood days where all I knew was Central Park, and I’ve been dying to bask in the glory of Brooklyn’s finest flora. Morgan and I met on the 2 train and caught up as we made the 45 minute ride to the Brooklyn Museum stop (another place I need to add to my to-do list). On Saturdays, the gardens are free before noon and we happened to make it with three minutes to spare.

brooklyn botanic garden

We followed the path that guided us under pergolas heaped with shrubbery towards the Cranford Rose Garden.

I kept gravitating towards roses in shades of orange and bright reds.

I fell in love with this trellis window that framed the garden so that it felt like watching a Monet painting.

After taking way too many pictures (thanks for putting up with me Mo), we continued to wander around exploring every garden, pond and bridge.

We smelled familiar scents in the Herb Garden.

And admired perfectly pruned bonsai trees, giant lilypads and desert-loving succulents and cacti in the greenhouse.

We arrived at the Lily Poll Terrace made up of ponds filled with lilypads with colorful flowers along with the beautiful exterior of a greenhouse and a whimsical fish fountain.

There was a lovely ode to Shakespeare where quotes from his plays are featured alongside the plants they highlighted. Shakespeare was fasciated by botany and incorporated references throughout his works.

The Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden had traditional Japanese features including striking pops of red against the lush greenery.

After gushing over all the adorable trinkets in the BBG gift shop, we walked to the nearby Park Slope Flea and Smorgasburg Jr. We browsed antiques and decided to share a Nutella taco from a new booth called Goa Taco. The “taco” was more like a hybrid between the Indian chapati bread and a crepe. It was warm, flakey and and deliciously filled with Nutella, peanuts and mascarpone and came in a cute envelope package which was hand-delivered to us by the lovely woman running it.

On our way to the subway, we spotted a lovely brownstone with stairs were lined with colorful flower pots (as if we didn’t already have our fill of flowers).

 

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