Brooklyn Botanic Garden
The Wisconsin Iceberg shaped Long Island, Manhattan, and the Bronx millions of years ago, carving depressions in the soil. This gave the land a terrain of hills and small ponds. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden was founded on land that was once a marshy wasteland, but it has been transformed into one of New York City’s most beautiful parks.
In 1825, Andre Parmentier established a garden in today’s Prospect Heights. This was the first instance of a botanic garden being created in Brooklyn. Over time, Brooklyn would expand, and urban development would replace farmland. Commercial nurseries and greenhouses were mostly established in neighborhoods with little development but lots of open land. They had a significant demand for flowers and unique plants. Beginning in 1859, plans were made to construct Prospect Park, which now contains the Botanic Garden, the Museum, and other attractions. A 12-man group set out to start this task, but it was put on hold for several years due to the American Civil War. The City of Brooklyn acquired the site for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, bounded by Eastern Parkway, Empire Boulevard, Flatbush Avenue and Washington Avenue, as part of the June 15, 1864 purchase of Prospect Park. Brooklyn businessman and philanthropist Alfred Tredway White formed a committee to advocate for a botanic garden near the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Science. The eastside land of the purchase remained unused for several years until the New York State Legislature created the Botanic Garden in 1897. 39 acres were reserved for “a botanic garden and arboretum for the collection and propagation of plants, flowers, shrubs and trees and also for the advancement of knowledge and research pertaining to botanical science, the exhibition of ornamental and decorative horticulture, and for entertainment, recreation and education of the general public,” as the Brooklyn Eagle reported at the time.
Architect William Kendall of the architectural firm McKim, Mead, & White is credited for his design of the garden’s Laboratory Administration Building. Director Gager sent out letters to colleagues asking them for the names of the most important botanists in history. Kendall’s building was modeled after the vernacular churches of Lombardy in Italy. A decorative frieze under the eaves is inscribed with 68 names, two of which are Darwin and Linnaeus. The architectural firm also designed the nearby Brooklyn Museum of Art. When the museum opened in 1902, the site was known as Institute Park. In 1910, the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences was assigned with management of the garden. At that point in their history, the Institute directed the Brooklyn Museum, the Botanic Garden, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. In 1910, the garden was founded, and botanist Charles Stuart Gager was the director. The Olmsted Brothers firm laid out the original plan for the site. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden officially opened on May 13, 1911.
When Brooklyn Botanic Garden was established, New York City was quickly being developed into a city of buildings and paved roads. Creating a public garden was one way to ensure that some green space remained. Today, the Garden represents the very best in urban gardening and horticultural display. BBG’s first garden was designed to display and conserve native plants. The original form was designed by research taxonomist Norman Taylor, BBG’s first director. The Native Flora Garden, founded in 1911, is one of the Brooklyn Botanic’s oldest gardens. In 1912, Harold Caparn was appointed as the Garden’s landscape architect. Caparn would design much of the site over the next three decades. The Children’s Garden, an educational center designed to teach children about plant life, opened in 1914. One of the first programs of its kind, this one-acre vegetable garden gives city children a place to grow their own food plants. Children’s gardens would continue to be created across the country.
Children’s Garden, 1915. Photo by Louis Buhle.
Landscape designer Takeo Shiota completed the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden in 1915 with a $13,000 gift from Arthur T. White, one of the garden’s benefactors who contributed $25,000 towards the development of the Brooklyn Botanic in 1909. The Japanese Garden’s pond is in one of the pools that the Wisconsin Iceberg had formed. It was the first public Japanese garden in the United States.
Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden, 1916. Photo by Louis Buhle.
Japanese Hill and Pond Garden, 2019. Photo by Susan De Vries
In 1925, the Bonsai Collection formed after a gift of 32 bonsai from local plantsman Ernest F. Coe. In 1928, the Cranford Rose Garden was a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Walter V. Cranford. The garden has been renovated several times since then, but several of the original plants remain today. The Cranford Rose Garden features more than 1,000 types of roses, and Magnolia Plaza, established in 1932, has 17 types of magnolias.
Magnolias in bloom in early spring, 2019. Photo by Susan De Vries
In 1938, the Original Herb Garden, a gift of the Auxiliary, was established near the Washington Avenue entrance. It was a Caparn design taken from a 1577 Elizabethan knot garden. Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers did some of the labor. The 1939 Italian-style Osborne Garden was also built with labor from the Civil Works Administration and the WPA. Along the Cherry Esplanad, Kwanzan cherry trees (Prunus serrulata) can be found. These were planted in 1941. Alice Recknagel Ireys designed the Fragrance Garden in 1955, and this was the first public garden made for the visually impaired.
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden separated from the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences in the 1970s. An independent administration now maintains the botanic garden. In 1988, the Steinhardt Conservatory was completed. The Steinhardt Conservatory houses the Bonsai Museum, the Warm Temperate Pavilion, the Tropical Pavilion, the Trail of Evolution, the Aquatic House, the Desert Pavilion and the Palm House.
The C.V. Starr Bonsai Museum in autumn. Photo by Rebecca Bullene.
In 2014, BBG was awarded the National Medal for Museum and Library Service. In 2015, the New Discovery Garden opened. Designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, this one-acre children’s garden features interactive exhibits set in a variety of habitats, including meadows, woodlands, and marshes. In 2016, the Shelby White and Leon Levy Water Garden opened. Designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, this 1.5 garden features wetland plants and provides a basis for the Garden-wide Water Conservation Project. Its pond and brook help the Garden to store excess rainwater, which assists in preventing the city’s storm drains from flooding.
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden houses many gardens including the Cherry Esplanade, Discovery Garden, Fragrance Garden, Herb Garden, Japanese Hill-and-Pond garden, Lily Pool Terrace and Borders, Native Flora Garden, Osborne Garden, Overlook, Plant Family Collection, Rock Garden, Rose Garden, Shakespeare Garden, Water Garden, and Woodland Garden. Some of its popular collections include conifers, flowering cherries, lilacs, a maple grove, orchids, roses, and tree peonies. It also features Bluebell Wood, Celebrity Path, the Composting Exhibit, Daffodil Hill, Ginkgo Allee, Magnolia Plaza, and the Visitor Center.
Today covering 52 acres of land, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is one of the most extensive botanical gardens in the world. The park is located in the center of Brooklyn. There are over 12,000 plant species from other parts of the world, with some dating back as far as three centuries. The park is home to over 200 cherry trees. Today, about a million people visit each year to observe the diverse plants and flowers. Until 1996, entrance to the Botanic Garden was free. However, the garden began charging admission as a result of a lack of funding from the city, state, and other sources. Today, the garden also gets support from membership and fundraising events as well as public and private funding. Plant swaps and sales, and a variety of events, including the annual Hanami Cherry Festival, make the garden one of the busiest public venues in Brooklyn. Non-members have to pay a fee to access the garden on most days, but entrance is free every Friday morning until noon from March to November. From December to February, the garden is free on weekdays, except for Monday. To experience all of the different gardens, spend about 2 to 3 hours at the garden. Other nearby attractions include the Prospect Park Zoo and the Brooklyn Museum.
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“A Brief History of BBG.” Brooklyn Botanic Garden, https://www.bbg.org/about/history. Accessed 1 May 2023.
“Brooklyn Botanic Garden Highlights : NYC Parks.” NYC Parks, https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/brooklyn-botanic-garden/history. Accessed 3 May 2023.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden in New York - Explore 52 Acres of Flora Heaven in Brooklyn. – Go Guides. https://www.hotels.com/go/usa/brooklyn-botanic-garden-new-york. Accessed 3 May 2023.
Gardens & Conservatories - Brooklyn Botanic Garden. https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens. Accessed 3 May 2023.
Spellen, Suzanne. “Eden in Brooklyn: How the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Grew.” Brownstoner, 25 Jan. 2021, https://www.brownstoner.com/history/brooklyn-botanic-garden-history-origins-alfred-tredway-white-institute-of-arts-and-sciences-olmsted-brothers/.