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Peak urban garden meccas
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Posted by nygardener z6 NYC (My Page) on Tue, May 3, 05 at 23:07
| The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is resplendent just now. They're having their annual plant sale during the next few days, but the real stars are the cherry trees, in absolutely gorgeous bloom; the azaleas just coming into flower; seas of tulips; the buttercups lining the waterfall stream; peonies in bud; the herb and Shakespeare gardens leafing out; fragrant lilacs in white, blue, and lavender; and flowering trees seemingly everywhere. Highly recommended for this week, and again in early June when the Cranford Rose Garden blooms.
Any other especially dramatic or inspiring displays of urban greenery that you've encountered recently, or are looking forward to? |
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RE: Peak urban garden meccas
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- Posted by DanaNY Brooklyn, NY (My Page) on
Fri, May 6, 05 at 18:33
| I was there last week just in time to catch the cherry blossoms and magnolias at their peak. I noticed the tulips were quite different from last year. I didn't see the lilacs or azaleas. Perhaps it was too early for azaleas or I wasn't on that side where the lilacs were, but I will be going back next week. I grew up with lilacs in the backyard and miss that wonderful fragrance. Not to be missed is the magnificent display of lotus and waterlilies in July and August at NYBG. It is breathtaking! For roses, a visit to NYBG's Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden in June and September is a must. If you time it right, you can catch both in bloom at the same time. Oh, and there is a spring flower show going on now at NYBG until June 12th. http://www.nybg.org There are other gardens in NY that I haven't been to yet, such as Wave Hill in the Bronx, the Staten Island Botanical Gardens, which I heard has a beautiful Chinese Scholar Garden, and the Queens Botanical Gardens in Flushing. Maybe someone else could share their experience if they've visited any of these gardens? http://www.wavehill.org
http://www.sibg.org
http://www.queensbotanical.org |
RE: Peak urban garden meccas
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| Queens Botantical Gardens has remained the same for as long as I've lived here... 25 years. It's a shame, but true. Almost no new plantings, little imagination, and stale displays. If you don't get there by 7AM, you'll never be able to sit even to tie your shoe, since the elderly locals "camp" on the benches all day long. If you DO arrive by 7AM, you can watch dozens of Asians doing Tai Chi, which is interesting, but not quite what most folks are looking to see at a Botanical Garden. Of course, if you've never been to QBG, it's worth a visit. But nothing on the scale of Brooklyn. pieper |
RE: Peak urban garden meccas
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| Caught the spring flower show today at the NYBG. Lots of lovely stock, forget-me-nots, foxglove, primroses, delphinium, etc., all of which look somehow more delicate than the later-flowering kind. Elsewhere in the garden lilacs, azaleas, and rhododendrons are all in full bloom; the rock and alpine gardens and conifer collection also look great. Not to be missed are the new Nolen Greenhouses, which are just stunning pieces of architecture and technology. The roofs themselves open to the sky and close depending on the weather, and there are evaporative coolers that look like enormous manifolds and misting systems that resemble jet engines turning on and off overhead. From anywhere in the greenhouse you can see most of the rest; there are about ten different growing chambers, each with its own computer-controlled climate. Their repotting room includes benches that adjust in height, plenty of light, machines to mix potting soil (they use about 15 different mixes) and to clean clay pots, and a walk-in fridge for seed stratification. It's just too cool (no, the temperature's just right, but it's all just ... too ... cool). |
RE: Peak urban garden meccas
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- Posted by JimShy z7 Brooklyn, NY (My Page) on
Thu, May 19, 05 at 11:03
| Wave Hill is a gem -- a truly spectacular garden on the slopes of the Hudson, with fantastic vistas and some very imaginative plantings. It has a very good web site so you can get an idea of what's around. The Chinese Scholar's garden is very well down, it's small and can get crowded easily, so sometimes it's hard to get the sense of serenity that the plantings and architecture are meant to invoke, but it's well worth the trip. The SI Botanical Gardern is right nearby, but two years ago when I last visited it was just getting renovated and was still rather small, but still pretty. Also, don't forget the Conservatory Gardens in Central Park at 106th and 5th -- a top destination for wedding pictures! Jim |
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