The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is practically in my back yard (to be honest, it's actually a couple of blocks away) and one of my favorite places to visit in all seasons—but especially in Spring.
Spring came a bit early this year, after a winter that favored Brooklyn with only one day of noticeable snow. One day in mid-April, it felt as if green was in the air, tiny hints of buds sensed but not quite seen. And two days later, all the street and yard trees and all the hedges in the neighborhood were suddenly green, as if they hadn't seen winter at all.
On an afternoon walk through the garden, I was clearly not alone in coming out for the occasion, and it was also clear that the Garden staff had been busy, setting out beds of tulips, starting early planting in the Children's Garden, and getting set for warmer weather (although it was unexpectedly shirtsleeve weather for my visit).
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a center for research and cultivation of magnolias (yes, way up north here), but only a portion of the magnificent Magnolia Court was in bloom that day, promise of more to come.
Families were out in force, strolling the grounds and introducing children to the Garden and its flowers.
The area around the Garden's lily ponds is surrounded, in season, with an amazing variety of tulips in different shades and even shapes. Sadly, though, too early for lilies in the pond... another treat for later!
More to see throughout the Garden, although I skipped some later-blooming areas including the large Rose Garden and the long alley of cherry trees. When the cherries are in bloom, the Garden can become almost a madhouse of fans seeking blossoms; an early morning visit avoids the crowds.
A Japanese hill-and-pond garden is a BBG feature, and on this visit it gave spectacular color and form along its shores.
Just a few more samples of why I never tire of my backyard Botanic Garden!
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