Brooklyn Botanic Garden

First off, this post was very hard to write because I wanted to include so many pictures. It was hard to cut it down to the ones below, even though there are still so many of them. So, just a warning, this post is a photo dump of awesomeness.

Saturday was a beautiful day. It was slightly overcast with patches of blue sky and periods where the sun would break through and warm everything up nicely. We chose to visit the Brooklyn  Botanic Gardens, something I've had on our NY bucket list since we got here. It's only taken us 2 1/2 years to make it, but the wait was well worth it. I had so much fun, saw so many cool and beautiful plants, that I can't wait to go back. There were plants there that I had seen before but almost didn't recognize them because of their size and others that I know about, but only through pictures and books in school. It was incredible.

We had an incident free subway ride down to Prospect Park in Brooklyn, of which the Gardens are a part. I loved the garden-themed tile art in the subway station.

We could tell where we were headed out of the subway stairwell because there was a blooming dogwood on the corner of the Garden's entrance. 

First thing past the ticket booth I began to see awesome things. This bush was beautiful. It had no leaves, just these strands of tiny bell shaped flowers hanging off each branch. It was gorgeous, and I want one.

We headed to the conservatory where they have large rooms full of tropical, warm climate plants. 

  

 The aquatic room was very cool and very warm and humid. There were all kinds of orchid plants growing in there. Although only a few were blooming, they were still very interesting. They had tons of epiphytic orchids hanging from grates above our heads. These types of orchids do not require soil to grow. They grow naturally in or on the branches of trees, where their roots absorb moisture from the humidity in the air. The root systems of the plants there were two or three feet long!

They also had potted orchids, or terrestrial type orchids, that require soil. I loved these ones especially because the leaves were spotted and the bottom part of the flower was a cup.

There was also a pond in the room where carnivorous plants were growing. These pitcher plants lure insects in with their tubes full of nectar or water. Once inside, the insect is trapped and cannot get out because of the texture of the plant's inner walls.

 Growing next to the pitcher plants was a tree belonging to the bean family. I didn't recognize the scientific name and they didn't have a common name on the tag, so I'm not sure what it is exactly, but I though the base of the trunk was beautiful.

From the aquatic room we visited the desert room which was full of cacti, succulents and other plants native to arid climates. This room felt very cool and dry compared to the previous room.

I love all of the colors, textures and forms of cacti and succulents, so I really enjoyed this room.

The tropical room was really awesome. I loved the colorful croton plant.

We found so many interesting and new plants that we stayed in this room awhile. Along with seeing a pepper tree with green pepper corns (when ripe they make black pepper) and a coffee tree loaded with ripening coffee beans, we found this unique plant. It is called Yellow Shrimp Plant because the flowers look like shrim tails. It was cool.

 This room was also humid and very warm. Everything was so green and lush!

There were warning signs posted throughout the conservatory asking the public to not touch the plants, but I couldn't help myself. There may have been some smelling and touching along with looking. 

The last room we visited in the conservator was the Bonsai room. This was amazing. The trees were beautiful and I could have stayed here all day.

My favorite of all the bonsai trees on display was hands down the ornamental cherry tree that was in bloom. It was gorgeous and I wanted to just pick it up and take it home. I'm sure I could find the perfect place for it in my apartment!

There were more than one elm bonsai and I couldn't get over how tiny the leaves were. They were just beginning to emerge and they were miniature replicas of fully grown elm leaves. They were perfectly formed and smaller than the fingernail on my pinky finger. Plants are just amazing.

There were lots of maple bonsai trees and junipers. They looked like perfect miniature trees. Some of the trees they had on display were 95 years or older.

This is the remainder of an 800 year old bonsai tree. It was brought to the U.S. in the 1970's and died a few years later. The picture doesn't really do it justice. The wood had grey, and brown striations along the bark and it was very smooth. It was a sargent juniper and the creator named it Fudo.

Outside we walked by the empty lily pool terrace (again we want to go back when it is full of blooming lilies and lotus flowers) and I fell in love with the nearby beds of tulips. 

The magnolia trees were in full bloom and it was heaven! The air was heavy with their fragrance and it felt like we were surrounded by clouds while walking along the pathway. I love magnolias, and have been watching the tree outside the building neighboring ours, waiting for it to bloom. This was spectacular. 

 

They have a large planting of daffodils that they call daffodil hill. It was so cute. There were tons of people crawling over the rope fence and standing or sitting among the daffodils getting their pictures taken. I was really annoyed by that because they were tromping down the flowers and they left behind big trodden down spots. :(

We wandered down cherry walk located by the cherry esplanade. This area contains myriads of flowering cherry trees. The trees weren't in bloom yet, but I could see the buds swelling. We are definitely going to go back once all those trees bloom. \

If any of you know Brian well, you'll know that he is a big fan of the Japanese culture, so he was especially excited to visit their Japanese Garden. It was marked off from the rest of the garden by a wooden fence.

The Japanese Garden was beautiful of course, but it was very peaceful and serene as well. We had a good time walking slowing down the twisting paths, soaking in the stillness.

We stopped in the middle of a bridge to watch the Koi fish swimming in the pond. There were some really big ones, as big as trout. It was fun to watch them bob up to the water's surface and open their mouths wide for food. There were also lots of turtles in the same pond, mostly sitting out on rocks and logs enjoying the sun's warmth.

We took a very long time in the Japanese Gardens. Every few feet there would be a spectacular view that we wanted to stop, enjoy and take pictures of.

The cherry trees planted around the large pond were blooming and they were gorgeous. I couldn't get enough of them and I kept taking picture after picture of their blooms.

  

 

 

 Saturday was definitely a day well spent. It feels good to be getting out and about again to see the sights.