Brooklyn Botanic Garden
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Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) is a
botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
in the
borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...
of
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. It was founded in 1910 using land from
Mount Prospect Park Mount Prospect Park is a park in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It includes Mount Prospect, the second highest point in Brooklyn. It is located on Eastern Parkway near Underhill Avenue, close to Grand Army Pl ...
in central Brooklyn, adjacent to Prospect Park and the
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...
. The garden holds over 14,000 taxa of plants and has nearly a million visitors each year. It includes a number of specialty "gardens within the Garden", plant collections, the Steinhardt Conservatory that houses the
C. V. Starr Cornelius Vander Starr (October 15, 1892 – December 20, 1968), sometimes known as Neil Starr, was an American businessman and founder of C.V. Starr & Co. (later known as Starr Companies) in Shanghai, China, which became AIG. AIG grew from an ...
Bonsai Museum, three climate-themed plant pavilions, a white cast-iron-and-glass
aquatic plant Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments (saltwater or freshwater). They are also referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes to distinguish them from algae and other microphytes. A macrophyte is a plant that ...
house, and an art gallery.


History


Site

The impetus to build Prospect Park stemmed from an April 18, 1859, act of the
New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...
that empowered a twelve-member commission to recommend sites for parks in the City of Brooklyn. In February 1860, a group of fifteen commissioners submitted suggestions for park locations in Brooklyn, including a plot centered on present-day
Mount Prospect Park Mount Prospect Park is a park in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It includes Mount Prospect, the second highest point in Brooklyn. It is located on Eastern Parkway near Underhill Avenue, close to Grand Army Pl ...
and bounded by Warren Street to the north; Vanderbilt, Ninth, and Tenth Avenues to the west; Third and Ninth Streets to the south; and
Washington Avenue Washington Avenue may refer to: United States * Washington Avenue (Miami Beach) in Miami Beach, Florida * Washington Avenue (Milford Mill, Maryland) * Washington Avenue (Towson, Maryland) * Washington Avenue (Minneapolis), a major street in Minne ...
to the east. Egbert Viele began drawing plans for the park, which was to straddle
Flatbush Avenue Flatbush Avenue is a major avenue in the New York City Borough of Brooklyn. It runs from the Manhattan Bridge south-southeastward to Jamaica Bay, where it joins the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, which connects Brooklyn to the R ...
and include Prospect Hill and the land now occupied by the
Brooklyn Public Library The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is the public library system of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the sixteenth largest public library system in the United States by holding and the seventh by number of visitors. Like the two othe ...
, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and the
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...
. The onset of the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
stopped further activity. Early in 1865,
Calvert Vaux Calvert Vaux (; December 20, 1824 – November 19, 1895) was an English-American architect and landscape designer, best known as the co-designer, along with his protégé and junior partner Frederick Law Olmsted, of what would become New York Ci ...
was hired to review Viele's plans. Vaux took issue with Flatbush Avenue's division of the park. Vaux's February 1865 proposal excluded parcels of land east of Flatbush Avenue, including Prospect Hill, that were already purchased. The northeast portion served as an
ash dump Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non-gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash i ...
.


Creation

In 1897, as the city moved toward consolidation, legislation reserved 39 acres (16 ha) for a botanic garden, which was founded in 1910. Initially known as the Institute Park, the garden was run under the auspices of the
Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...
, which until the 1970s included
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...
,
Brooklyn Children's Museum The Brooklyn Children's Museum is a children's museum in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City. Founded in 1899, it is the first children's museum in the United States – and according to some, the first one worldwide. It ...
, and
Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...
. The garden opened as the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on May 13, 1911, with the Native Flora Garden as the first established section.
Harold Caparn Harold may refer to: People * Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Harold (surname), surname in the English language * András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold" Arts ...
was appointed as the landscape architect in 1912; over the next three decades he designed most of the remaining grounds, including the Osborne Garden, Cranford Rose Garden, Magnolia Plaza, and Plant Collection. Construction of the Laboratory Building and Conservatory began that year and the building was dedicated in 1917. William M. Kendall designed the building, in the Tuscan Revival style for
McKim, Mead & White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm that came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in fin de siècle New York. The firm's founding partners Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), Wil ...
. Later renamed the Laboratory Administration Building, it was designated a
New York City Landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
in 2007.


Later history

Under BBG president Judith Zuk, who assumed the role in 1990, several of its gardens were renovated, including the Children's, Japanese Hill-and-Pond, Fragrance, Osborne, and Cranford Gardens; the lily pool terrace; and the magnolia plaza, In 1996, the garden began charging admission of $3 per adult after cuts in public and private funding and increases in operating costs. A voluntary donation to enter had, for the past twenty years, failed to return adequate revenue. Community groups protested by presenting a "Poison Ivy Award" for having "given little consideration to the impact this fee would have on ... the immediate neighborhood, which is primarily
working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...
." In October 2019, the BBG hosted an exhibition called "Fight for Sunlight" to bring more attention to a proposed development adjacent to the Garden at 960 Franklin Avenue, saying that contrary to the developers' statements, its conservatories "would face catastrophic events".


Specialty gardens and collections


Cherry trees

Brooklyn Botanic Garden has more than 200
cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...
trees of forty-two Asian species and cultivated varieties, making it one of the foremost cherry-blossom-viewing sites outside Japan. The first cherry trees, a gift from the Japanese government, were planted at the garden after
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Each spring, a month-long cherry blossom viewing festival called ''
Hanami is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the transient beauty of flowers; in this case almost always refer to those of the or, less frequently, trees. From the end of March to early May, cherry trees bloom all over Japan, and around ...
'' is held at the Cherry Esplanade, culminating in a weekend celebration called '' Sakura Matsuri''. The esplanade features two rows of cherry trees with trails and seating areas on the side. Visitors may also sit on the grass between the rows of trees. BBG also has the Cherry Walk in the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden and there are also cherry trees in many other locations in the Garden. Depending on weather conditions, the Asian flowering cherries bloom from late March or early April to mid-May. The many species flower at slightly different times and the sequence is tracked on Cherry Watch on the BBG website.


Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden

BBG's Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden was one of the first
Japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desig ...
s to be created in an American botanic garden, and reportedly the first one to be accessible free of charge. It was constructed between 1914 and 1915 at a cost of $13,000, a gift of early BBG benefactor and trustee
Alfred Tredway White Alfred Tredway White (May 28, 1846 – January 29, 1921) was an American housing reformer and philanthropist, and was known as "Brooklyn's first citizen." He developed the Home Buildings (1877), Tower Buildings (1879, now Cobble Hill Towers) ...
, and it first opened to the public in June 1915. The garden was created by Japanese landscape designer
Takeo Shiota was a Japanese-American landscape architect, best known for his design of the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Biography Shiota was born about 40 miles (60 km) outside of Tokyo on July 13, 1881. He came to the ...
(1881–1943). The garden is a blend of the ancient hill-and-pond style and the more modern stroll-garden styles in which landscape features are gradually revealed along winding paths. Its contain three hills signifying earth, heaven, and humanity; a waterfall; a pond resembling the Japanese character for "heart"; and an island, all of which were artificially constructed. There are also carefully placed rocks. Among the architectural elements of the garden are wooden bridges,
stone lantern are a type of traditional East Asian lantern made of stone, wood, or metal. Originating in China, stone lanterns spread to Japan, Korea and Vietnam, though they are most commonly found in both China – extant in Buddhist temples and traditional ...
s, a viewing pavilion, a ''
torii A is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred. The presence of a ''torii'' at the entrance is usually the simplest ...
'' (gateway), and a
Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...
shrine. The pond is filled with hundreds of Japanese
koi fish or more specifically , are colored varieties of the Amur carp ('' Cyprinus rubrofuscus'') that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor koi ponds or water gardens. Koi is an informal name for the colored variants of ''C. rubrofuscus'' kep ...
that visitors can view at the torii or along the garden's trail. There is also a Japanese temple dedicated to
Inari Inari may refer to: Shinto * Inari Ōkami, a Shinto spirit ** Mount Inari in Japan, site of Fushimi Inari-taisha, the main Shinto shrine to Inari ** Inari Shrine, shrines to the Shinto god Inari * Inari-zushi, a type of sushi Places * Inari, ...
, the fox
kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...
. The brook from this garden leads through several other parts of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, terminating at the Water Garden. The shrine was destroyed by
arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...
in 1939 and rebuilt in 1950. The viewing pavilion, burned down in 1948, was rebuilt in 1963. The Japanese Garden was renamed the Oriental Garden during World War II and restored in 1950. The Japanese Garden was restored again in 2000 for $3 million; the project was recognized with the New York Landmark Conservancy's 2001 Preservation Award.


Cranford Rose Garden

In 1927, Walter V. Cranford, a construction engineer whose firm built many of Brooklyn's subway tunnels, donated $15,000 to BBG for a rose garden. An excavation revealed a cobblestone road below the surface and tons of glacial rock, which had to be carted away on horse-drawn barges. The Cranford Rose Garden was designed by landscape architect
Harold Caparn Harold may refer to: People * Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Harold (surname), surname in the English language * András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold" Arts ...
and Montague Free, the BBG's horticulturist. Many of the original plants were still in the garden in 2019. The rose garden has over 5,000 bushes of nearly 1,400 kinds of roses, including wild species, old garden roses, hybrid tea roses, grandifloras, and polyanthas. The garden also includes a stone statue.


Native Flora Garden

The Native Flora Garden was the first section of the garden to be established and opened in 1911. It was the first of its kind in North America. It was originally a wildflower planting but was redesigned in 1931 as a woodland habitat with plants native to the New York metropolitan area. The Native Flora Garden was closed from 1963 to 1983 due to a lack of funding. In 2013, the Native Flora Garden was expanded with a new landscape that was designed by Darrel Morrison. The expansion provides new habitats for local plants that would be shaded out by the mature canopy in the original garden. The expansion has a
tallgrass prairie The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America. Historically, natural and anthropogenic fire, as well as grazing by large mammals (primarily bison) provided periodic disturbances to these ecosystems, limiting the encroach ...
, dry meadow,
pine barrens Pine barrens, pine plains, sand plains, or pineland areas occur throughout the U.S. from Florida to Maine (see Atlantic coastal pine barrens) as well as the Midwest, West, and Canada and parts of Eurasia. Perhaps the most well known pine-barre ...
,
kettle pond A kettle (also known as a kettle lake, kettle hole, or pothole) is a depression/hole in an outwash plain formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters. The kettles are formed as a result of blocks of dead ice left behind by retreating gla ...
, and a wooden bridge.


Shakespeare Garden

A donation from
Henry Clay Folger Henry Clay Folger Jr. (June 18, 1857 – June 11, 1930) was president and later chairman of Standard Oil of New York, a collector of Shakespeareana, and founder of the Folger Shakespeare Library. Early life Henry Clay Folger Jr. was born in New ...
, founder of the
Folger Shakespeare Library The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare material ...
in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, led to the construction of BBG's original Shakespeare Garden in 1925; since then it has been moved to another location in the Garden. This English
cottage garden The cottage garden is a distinct style that uses informal design, traditional materials, dense plantings, and a mixture of ornamental and edible plants. English in origin, it depends on grace and charm rather than grandeur and formal structure. Ho ...
has more than 80 plants that are mentioned in
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's plays and poems. Plants are labeled with their labels common, Latin and Shakespearean names, relevant quotations, and in some cases a graphic representation of the plant.


Alice Recknagel Ireys Fragrance Garden

Next to the Shakespeare Garden is the Fragrance Garden, which has
braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are Blindness, blind, Deafblindness, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on Paper embossing, embossed paper ...
information signs for visitors with impaired vision. It was created in 1955 by landscape architect Alice Recknagel Ireys and was the first garden in the country to be designed for the vision-impaired. Visitors are encouraged to rub the fragrant or pleasingly textured leaves of the plants between their fingers. There are four themed sections in the garden; plants to touch, plants with scented leaves, plants with fragrant flowers, and kitchen herbs. The garden is wheelchair-accessible and all planting beds are at an appropriate height for people in wheelchairs. A fountain provides a calming sound and a place to wash one's hands after touching the plants.


Children's Garden

The BBG Children's Garden is the world's oldest continually operating children's garden within a botanic garden. It was opened in 1914 under the direction of BBG educator Ellen Eddy Shaw and operates as a
community garden A community garden is a piece of land gardened or cultivated by a group of people individually or collectively. Normally in community gardens, the land is divided into individual plots. Each individual gardener is responsible for their own plo ...
for children. Hundreds of children register each year for plots on the site. This Children's Garden is also open for GAP interns, who get an allocated plot in which they can grow vegetables and flowers to harvest later in the year. It also has a
compost Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by decomposing plant, food waste, recycling organic materials and manure. The resulting m ...
area that is maintained by the GAP interns and staff. The BBG Children's Garden has served as a model for similar gardens around the world.


Water Garden

A signature feature in the south garden landscape, the Shelby White and Leon Levy Water Garden is a
wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
and
riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ar ...
environment with numerous sustainability features. It contains a pond that serves as the terminus of the brook that flows from the Japanese Garden. The Water Garden, which was designed by landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, highlights the beauty of BBG's water elements with a restored and expanded pond-and-brook system and around 20,000 new plants. The Water Garden was completed in 2016; prior to the garden's redesign, the pond was known as Terminal Pond.


Other gardens

Other specialty gardens at BBG include the Discovery Garden designed for young children; the Herb Garden; the Lily Pool Terrace that has two large display pools of lilies and koi fish and is surrounded by annual and perennial borders; the Osborne Garden, a , Italian-style garden that features pergolas and a stone fountain, and the Rock Garden, built around 18 boulders left behind by glaciers during the
Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...
. A Celebrity Path honors famous Brooklynites such as
Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...
,
Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
, and
Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...
with a trail of engraved paving stones that lead to the Alfred T. White Amphitheater, which hosts concerts and performances. The Plant Family Collection, which comprises about a third of BBG's area, includes plants and trees arranged by
family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
to show their evolution. Although recent studies of
plant genetics Plant genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity specifically in plants.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is generally considered a field of biology and botany, but intersects frequently with many other life sciences and is strongly ...
have changed the classification of individual plants, the groupings are a good introduction to the many plant families and their constituent species. The groupings include primitive plants (ferns and conifers) and composite plants. The Steinhardt Conservatory houses BBG's extensive indoor plant collection in three climate-controlled pavilions for tropical, warm temperate, and desert flora. Also located here is the C.V. Starr Bonsai Museum, one of the oldest collections of the dwarf potted trees in the country; an art gallery; the Robert W. Wilson Aquatic House with its collections of tropical water plants, insect-eating plants, and
orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...
s; and the Stephen K-M. Tim Trail of Evolution, which traces the history of plant evolution and the effects of climate change over 3½ billion years. BBG also has an Overlook above the Cherry Esplanade that allows visitors a holistic view of the Cherry Esplanade and Garden. The Overlook is also used for bird watching and observing other wildlife in the Garden.


Programs


Education programs

BBG runs diverse programs in youth education, conservation, and community horticulture. The Garden's education department runs a full range of adult and children's classes and events, and also educates thousands of school and camp groups throughout the year. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a founding partner of the
Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment, or BASE, is one of four public high schools in the Prospect Heights Educational Campus (formerly Prospect Heights High School). BASE was established in 2003: a partnership among the Prospect Park ...
(BASE), a small public high school dedicated to science, environmental studies, and urban ecology that was launched in 2003. A Field Studies course is offered alongside Living Environment for incoming freshmen where students spend time at BBG developing scientific skills and doing outdoor scientific study. The school is operated by a partnership between BBG, Prospect Park Alliance, and the
New York City Department of Education The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is the department of the government of New York City that manages the city's public school system. The City School District of the City of New York (or the New York City Public Schools) is t ...
. Students are also connected with scientists and horticulturists who serve as mentors for advanced research studies students develop. BASE graduated its first class in 2007 and has attained its fourth Gates Millennium Scholar in 2013. BBG's Garden Apprentice Program (GAP) provides internships for students in grades 8 through 12 in gardening, science education, and environmental issues. The program offers students training and volunteer placements with increasing levels of responsibility for up to four years. Many are hired for employment after completing the four-year program. The Discovery Garden hosts weekly workshops for children. It has interactive exhibits and a small plot with a variety of vegetables. The Garden is currently being expanded.
Project Green Reach {{Primarysources, article, date=October 2008 Project Green Reach (PGR) is a science-focused school outreach program for teachers and students that is designed specifically to work with Brooklyn's Title I schools. It is an entity within the educa ...
is a science-focused school outreach program that annually reaches nearly 2,500 students and teachers in schools in under-served neighborhoods.


Plant science and conservation

Between 1990 and 2010, scientists at Brooklyn Botanic Garden made a comprehensive study of the plants of metropolitan New York City. The study was called the New York Metropolitan Flora project (NYMF); its purpose is to catalog and describe all
vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They al ...
s growing in the region. The BBG Herbarium collection holds over 300,000 specimens of preserved plants, particularly those from the New York metropolitan area. These specimens, some from as early as 1818, aid scientists in tracking species, analyzing the spread of
invasive plant An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...
s, and modeling changes in the metro region's vegetation. There are also holdings from the western United States, the Galapagos Islands, Bolivia, and Mauritius. The BBG Library, which is housed in the McKim, Mead & White Administration Building, holds a collection of books on horticulture and botany that is available to home gardeners, professionals, and staff. This building houses a Rare Book Room that holds valuable and historic botanical literature and also features classrooms, auditorium, a rotunda, and offices.


Community horticulture

Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Community Greening program (formerly known as Brooklyn GreenBridge) offers residential and commercial gardening programs to
block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...
associations,
community garden A community garden is a piece of land gardened or cultivated by a group of people individually or collectively. Normally in community gardens, the land is divided into individual plots. Each individual gardener is responsible for their own plo ...
s,
community center Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...
s, and other groups. The annual Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest encourages neighborhood beautification by offering classes in planting window boxes, planters, and tree pits, and recognizing outstanding efforts. The Urban Composting Project supported by the
New York City Department of Sanitation The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for garbage collection, recycling collection, street cleaning, and snow removal. The DSNY motto "New York's Strongest" was coined ...
offers composting assistance and resources to community gardens and institutions, and information on composting in residential backyards to individuals.


Information


Garden publications

The BBG has been publishing books since 1945, when it launched its popular series of gardening handbooks. Today, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's ''Guides to a Greener Planet'' contain information on garden design, sustainability, and native plants. BBG's website features events, classes, and information on its gardens and collections. It also publishes a Garden News Blog and practical gardening advice. New features are added every week. BBG's collection of historic photographs and
lantern slide The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name , is an early type of image projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lenses, and a light source. Because a sin ...
s is also available online.


Visitor information and gardening resources

The BBG has two gift shops, a visitor center, and a Gardener's Resource Center that provides reference services to home gardeners, staff, and the professional horticultural community. Both centers are both located in the
McKim, Mead and White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm that came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in fin de siècle New York. The firm's founding partners Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), ...
Administration Building. A new visitor center at the BBG designed by
Weiss/Manfredi Weiss/Manfredi is a multidisciplinary New York City-based design practice that combines landscape, architecture, infrastructure, and art. The firm's notable projects include the Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Park, the Brooklyn Botanic Ga ...
was opened on May 16, 2012. It has a
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...
(LEED) Gold certification for its sustainable and environmental features: The center has a
green roof A green roof or living roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage ...
, geothermal wells,
rainwater harvesting Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the collection and storage of rain, rather than allowing it to run off. Rainwater is collected from a roof-like surface and redirected to a tank, cistern, deep pit (well, shaft, or borehole), aquifer, or a reservoir w ...
and recycled wooden panels in its event space. , membership of BBG starts at $65 for individuals; benefits of membership include events in the spring and summer months, including themed sunset picnic nights. The Palm House, a Beaux Arts-style conservatory, is used as a wedding and events venue catering for up to 300.
Group tour A package tour, package vacation, or package holiday comprises transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided such as a rental car, activities or outings during the ho ...
s are also available. The adjacent Terrace Cafe offers meals and snacks. During the winter, the cafe is relocated indoors to the Steinhardt Conservatory. The BBG has about 165 full-time and 90 part-time employees, and 600 volunteers. Its annual operating budget is $16.2 million.


Signs and plaques

* The boundary line between the City of Brooklyn and the Township of Flatbush can be found in the park. The brass marker from 1934 describes the spot and reads "This brass line in the walk shows the boundary between the old City of Brooklyn and the Township of Flatbush." * The Sandstone Boulder plaque reads, "Boulder of sandstone geological age, Triassic. Transported by continental glacier during the ice age from near Paterson NJ." * The Diabase Boulder plaque reads, "Boulder of Diabase geological age, Triassic. Transported by continental glacier during the ice age from near Haverstraw, NY." * At the entrance to the park is a sign: "This gate and booth are due to a bequest of Sidney Maddock, 1937" * In the Japanese garden there is a stone lantern plaque which reads "This Japanese lantern was presented to the city of New York by Mr. Bunj Sakuma a controller of Taito Ward Tokyo, in October 1980, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the New York-Tokyo
sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...
affiliation. In 1652,
feudal lord An overlord in the Kingdom of England, English Feudalism in England, feudal system was a lord of the manor, lord of a manor who had Subinfeudation, subinfeudated a particular Manorialism, manor, Estate in land, estate or fief, fee, to a Leaseho ...
Naito Bunzen-no Kami Nobuteru dedicated this 10 foot high, 3 ton, komatsu stone lantern to the
Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...
." * The Liberty Oaks Memorial is a line of oak trees and a 9/11 memorial. The boulder at the start of the line reads, "In Remembrance Of The Events Of September 11, 2001 And To Those Who Lost Their Lives That Day. The
Norway Maple ''Acer platanoides'', commonly known as the Norway maple, is a species of maple native to eastern and central Europe and western Asia, from Spain east to Russia, north to southern Scandinavia and southeast to northern Iran. It was introduced to ...
s That Grew As The First Generation Of Trees On This Site Were Planted In November 1918 To Commemorate The WW1 Armistice."


See also

*
List of botanical gardens in the United States This list is intended to include all significant botanical gardens and arboretums in the United States.List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City New York City is home to hundreds of cultural institutions and historic sites, many of which are internationally known. This list contains the most famous or well-regarded organizations, based on their mission. Museums Also included are non-prof ...


References


External links


Brooklyn Botanic Garden website

Brooklyn Botanic Garden at Google Cultural Institute
{{authority control Art museums and galleries in Brooklyn Botanical gardens in New York City Environmental organizations based in New York City Japanese gardens in the United States Japanese-American culture in New York City Museums in Brooklyn Prospect Park (Brooklyn)