During New York City’s expansion in the 1800s, the legislature set aside some land for a public garden to ensure that the city still had green space. The original allotment of 39 acres in 1897 became the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and has grown to 52 acres today. It was delightful to visit even though everything outside was brown, so I bet it’s stunning in the spring.
The Japanese garden was added in 1915, one of the first public Japanese gardens in the United States. I was fascinated by the ice in the lake. (I was fascinated by frozen water the whole trip, actually, frequently stopping to tap the ice on ponds, in gutters, and on leaky fire hydrants with the toe of my boot.)
This was originally the laboratory building (it’s now the administration building) and was dedicated in 1917. The plaza out front is full of magnolia trees that were added in 1933. (The Brooklyn Botanic Garden developed the first yellow magnolia flower in 1977.)
The garden’s bonsai collection dates back to 1925 when someone donated 32 bonsai trees.
Originally the conservatory (also dedicated in 1917), this is now the Palm House where the climate-controlled plants displays are.
I’d heard about the Brooklyn Botanic Garden because their corpse flower was in the news. (It bloomed a few days before I got there, so it was withered when I saw it, but I thought it was pretty cool to have seen a corpse flower at all.)
By