Plants & Gardens Blog - Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Plant Profiles | BBG Gardens & Collections

Rose Hips: Behold the Fruit of the Rose Plant

Roses are famous for their blooms, but they also produce fruits! They may be round or bottle-shaped, smooth or prickly, orange, red, or even black.

By Sarah Owens

A woman with a wheelbarrow stands in front of a construction site.

Urban Gardening

Coastal Gardening Post-Sandy

Brooklyn gardeners from Coney Island to Canarsie are still feeling the impact of Hurricane Sandy. Here are some tips for mitigating damage and creating resilient coastal gardens for the future.

By Brooklyn Botanic Garden Staff

Two gardeners ride bikes on a path at the Garden.

Ecological Gardening | The Climate Crisis

Bikes at BBG

You'll see and hear fewer motor vehicles on the paths as BBG continues to increase its fleet of cycles.

By BBG Staff

red lettuce growing in a tall pyramid shape

Growing Food | BBG Gardens & Collections

Look What’s Growing in the Herb Garden

The Herb Garden is in its late-summer glory now. Enjoy the photos, but be sure to visit to see the rest of the season unfold!

By BBG Staff

Native Groundcovers: Sustainable Choices for Sun and Shade

Two of the most common groundcovers, English ivy and periwinkle, are invasive. But there are many native plants that make wonderful and sustainable alternatives.

By Claire Sawyers

Urban Gardening | Ecological Gardening

Drought-Resistant Plants for Pots

Choose the right plants and you can have a container garden that will require little, or even no, watering.

By Ellen Zachos

Urban Gardening

Weed of the Month: Queen Anne’s Lace

This parsley relative is everywhere in August. Be sure to look for small red spots in the center of the flower clusters. Their presence accounts for the plant's common name, but why are they there?

By Saara Nafici

A seedling is sprouting in the crook of its parent tree.

BBG Gardens & Collections

The Age of a Tree

How old is that tree? The answer to this question isn't as simple as you might think.

By

Pansies growing next to a London Plane tree stump in a sidewalk bed.

Urban Gardening | The Climate Crisis

Restorative Gardening on Brooklyn’s Coast

From the overflowing window boxes of Bay Ridge to the patchwork of urban farms in East New York, gardening in Brooklyn means tradition, therapy, discipline, beauty, and can-do resilience. But when the second spring since Sandy came this year, many gardeners in coastal Brooklyn did not see the buds and blooms they were used to.

By Claudia Navas