Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) is a botanical garden in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, and Park Slope neighborhoods, the 52-acre (21 ha) garden includes a number of specialty "gardens within the Garden," plant collections, and the Steinhardt Conservatory, which houses the C.V. Starr Bonsai Museum, three climate-themed plant pavilions, a white cast-iron and glass aquatic plant house, and an art gallery.

Specialty gardens and collections

Some of the specialty gardens and collections at BBG include:

Cherry trees

Cherry trees are found on the Cherry Esplanade and Cherry Walk, in the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden, and in many other locations in the Garden. BBG's Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden was the first Japanese garden to be created in an American public garden. The Cranford Rose Garden opened in June 1928. Many of the original plants are still in the garden today.

The Shakespeare Garden

A donation from Henry C. Folger, founder of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. paved the way for the construction of BBG's original Shakespeare Garden in 1925. Since moved to a different location in the Garden, this English cottage garden exhibits more than 80 plants mentioned in William Shakespeare's plays and poems. Plant labels give the plants' common or Shakespearean names, their botanical names, relevant quotations, and, in some cases, a graphic representation of the plant.

The Alice Recknagel Ireys Fragrance Garden

There are four sections in the garden, each with a theme: (1) plants to touch, (2) plants with scented leaves, (3) plants with fragrant flowers, and (4) kitchen herbs. The BBG Children's Garden has served as a model for similar gardens around the world.
Other specialty gardens at BBG include: the Discovery Garden, designed for young children; the Herb Garden; the Lily Pool Terrace, which includes two large display pools and annual and perennial borders; the Native Flora garden, the first of its kind in North America; the Osborne Garden, a 3-acre (1.2 ha), Italian-style garden, and the Rock Garden, built around 18 boulders left behind by the glacier during the Ice Age.

Plant science and research

The BBG Herbarium houses about 300,000 specimens of preserved plants, particularly plants from the New York metropolitan area. BBG scientists are conducting research on the evolution and classification of plants, a field called plant systematics. BBG's Garden Apprentice Program (GAP) provides internships for students in grades 8 through 12 in gardening, science education, and environmental issues. GreenBridge, the community horticulture program of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, shares BBG's knowledge and resources with Brooklyn neighborhoods by offering residential and commercial gardening programs to block associations, community gardens, community centers, and other groups.
Today, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden All-Region Guides continue to provide home gardeners with practical information on subjects such as garden design, great plants, and gardening techniques. A recent title, Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants, uses BBG's extensive knowledge of invasive plants to educate gardeners about both the problem of invasive species and garden-worthy native plant alternatives.
BBG's website, bbg.org, showcases the Garden and its programs and offers information for the home gardener in popular features such as Garden Botany and Environmental Gardening.