Congratulations and heartfelt thanks to every block in our annual Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest for sowing the seeds of greener, healthier communities! Semifinal judging is July 13–20. The final round is held the week of July 24. Please note: This list does not include blocks still vying for Best…
Chrissy Word is a New York City naturalist and environmental educator. She is the director of education at City Parks Foundation and a cofounder of both the NYC Pollinator Working Group and Butterfly Project NYC.
Arvolyn Hill (she/her) is an outdoor educator and community herbalist. She is the manager of the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden at the New York Botanical Garden and a continuing education instructor at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. She also runs a small batch herbal apothecary called Gold Feather Shop. IG: goldfeather_
BBG members gain access to exclusive events, member discounts at participating businesses, and special deals with other gardens and collections all over the world.
Some areas may be inaccessible while Lightscape is installed. Accordingly, daytime admission is pay-what-you-wish. Please support the Garden by paying what you can.
Being part of the Garden Circle means more than additional benefits—it’s an investment in the future of the Garden. Your significant contribution will help Brooklyn Botanic Garden remain one of New York City’s premier cultural institutions and an urban retreat for thousands of visitors and local residents, now and for years to come.
In thanks for your generous gift to Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Garden Circle members receive enhanced member benefits.
If you are a current Garden Circle member, make sure we have your email address so we can remind you of these special events—email [email protected] with “subscribe” in the subject line and include your name and membership number.
Become a Garden Circle Member
Signature Plants
Signature Plants are a benefit of membership at the Contributor level and above. Plants are hand-selected by BBG’s Horticulture staff for their beauty and ability to thrive in a wide range of hardiness zones and light, soil, and moisture conditions, so you’re sure to find something perfect for your garden.
Signature Plants by Membership Level
Contributor: 1 Plant
Supporter, Patron, and President’s Circle: 2 Plants
Garden Circle members will receive an invitation to select their Signature Plant for pickup in May. Please note that plant pickup is available on designated pickup dates only.
To visit the Garden immediately, purchase a membership on ShowClix or join below and show your confirmation email at the ticket window. Your member welcome packet arrives in 4–6 weeks.
Your membership can have double the impact! When you become a new member or renew at a higher membership level, you’ll help BBG release a $1 million challenge grant by the Robert W. Wilson Charitable Trust.
General Membership Levels
Individual $75
Enjoy admission to BBG, members-only extended hours and events, exclusive members’ News, great discounts, and more.
Membership Benefits
Free general admission for 1 adult for 12 months
Free general admission for children 17 and under
1 BBG membership card
1 single-time-use guest pass for general admission and members-only events (mailed with member packet)
Discounts and special offers for Lightscape and other ticketed events
10% discount on BBG dining and retail
Discounts on adult and children’s classes
Subscription to Plants & Gardens newsletter and members’ News
The Garden Circle is more than additional benefits—it is an investment in the future of the Garden. Your significant contribution will help Brooklyn Botanic Garden remain one of New York City’s premier cultural institutions and an urban retreat for thousands of visitors and local residents, now and for years to come.
Your friends and family can experience the Garden’s beauty all year round with the gift of membership at the Individual level and above. As a bonus, your membership gift serves the community and far beyond.
For more information about membership levels and benefits, including discounts for senior citizens, or to join by phone, call Membership at 718-623-7210 or email [email protected].
Learn hand-building pottery techniques while creating your own planter. During this class, participants will learn the basics of hand-building pottery, including how to add textures, patterns, and decorations with underglaze paints. The workshop does not require any previous experience.
In late winter, when much of the Garden lies dormant, the Warm Temperate Pavilion comes to life in a cascade of scents and colors. As you enter, you may spot a purplish flower whose petals and leaves resemble a heart. That’s Pelargonium cordifolium, or heart-leaved pelargonium, a flowering shrub from the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa.
Pelargonium cordifolium grows to around three feet tall and can be a bit scraggly in shape. In the wild, you might find these blooms poking out through a tangle of companion plants rather than standing alone. For a fuller display, gardeners tend to plant them in groups.
Its purple (or occasionally white) flowers have five petals; the top two petals are larger and marked with dark purple veins, while the three lower petals are smaller and lighter in color. Its heart-shaped leaves are hairy and smell slightly of apple.
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The common name of heart-leaved pelargonium comes from—you guessed it—the plant’s heart-shaped leaves, seen here in their Cape habitat. Photo by Karol Cameron.
Pelargonium hybrids, often known as geraniums, are beloved by gardeners around the world, but their place of origin is rarely highlighted in retail spaces or gardening articles. More than 80 percent of species in the genus hail from southern Africa, with the majority of these found in South Africa.
Geranium or pelargonium?
Most gardeners refer to pelargonium species as “geraniums.” This can get confusing, and is technically incorrect, since Geranium and Pelargonium are two different genera, or groups, belonging to the same family, Geraniaceae.
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Pelargonium × hortorum, also called zonal geranium or garden geranium, is a pelargonium hybrid commonly grown on windowsills or in containers. Photo via DonBanana / Wikimedia Commons.
Common names for Geranium species are “cranesbill” or “hardy geranium”; common names for Pelargonium species are “geranium,” “pelargonium,” or “storksbill.”
The two genera are differentiated most easily by the shape of their flowers: Pelargonium flowers are bilaterally symmetrical, while geranium flowers are radially symmetrical. (The wonders of modern horticulture have confused things a bit further by producing pelargonium hybrids with symmetrical round inflorescences.)
Geranium flowers, like the Geranium maculatum seen here, are radially symmetrical, meaning they have multiple lines of symmetry. Pelargonium flowers are bilaterally symmetrical, which means they can only be divided into two symmetrical parts. Photo by Michael Stewart.
The name for pelargonium is derived from the Greek pelargos, which means stork, referring to the pointy elongated attachment (rostrum) to the seed capsule (schizocarp), which is said to resemble a stork’s bill.
A fire-loving flower
Pelargonium cordifolium grows in the eastern half of the Fynbos Biome, a colorful shrubland ecosystem that covers most of the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) at the southwestern tip of South Africa. The CFR is considered a biodiversity hotspot, which means it is one of the planet’s most biologically diverse and threatened areas.
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Fynbos vegetation in the mega-diverse Cape Floristic Region. Photo by Brian Ralphs / Flickr.
Fynbos (pronounced fane – boss) vegetation is dominated by evergreen shrubs and restios (grasslike plants from the Restionaceae family), and hosts a diverse array of geophytes, or plants with underground organs, like bulbs and tubers. Two-thirds of the more than 9,000 species found here, including P. cordifolium, are endemic, meaning they are found nowhere else. Major threats to the CFR include habitat loss from development and agriculture, habitat degradation, and invasive species.
Similar to chaparral ecosystems in the western United States, fynbos vegetation requires a regular fire cycle to rejuvenate. I recently saw big patches of Pelargoniumcordifolium on rocky slopes while hiking in an area that had burned two years earlier. Like many pelargoniums, P. cordifolium is a pioneer species, which means it grows rapidly after fire and then becomes less prominent as slower-growing species start to compete for space.
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P. cordifolium growing alongside other plants in the CFR. Photo by Nicky van Berkel.
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Pelargonium cucullatum, another species in the genus, blooming en masse following a summer fire near Scarborough in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Photo by Rupert Koopman.
A horticultural staple
Cape pelargoniums were introduced early to Western horticulture and proved to be extremely popular, and, ultimately, lucrative.
The Cape was an important refueling stop on European trade routes beginning in the late 15th century, with subsequent trading and conflict with the local Khoikhoi people by various fleets until the Dutch United East India Company established a permanent colony in 1652. This era of violent colonization and “discovery” saw the transport of many plants, as settlers grew European-style gardens and native plants considered potentially economically useful were introduced to Europe.
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A botanical illustration of P. cordifolium by Sydenham Edwards, published in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine in 1792. Public domain image via Wikimedia Commons.
Pelargonium triste was likely the first of the genus to be introduced to Europe, sometime around the year 1600. Other species followed, and Pelargonium cordifolium was introduced to London’s Royal Botanic Gardens Kew by Francis Masson—a Scottish botanist and “plant hunter” who introduced over 1,000 species of plants to Britain—in 1774 after one of his three collecting trips to South Africa.
Today, window boxes in Europe and gardens around the world are filled with Pelargonium hybrids in various colors and shapes. Many forms of Pelargonium cordifolium are available today, prominent varieties being Pelargonium cordifolium var. rubrocinctum, Pelargonium cordifolium ‘Caroline’s Citrine’, and Pelargonium cordifolium ‘Donn’s Goldstrike’.
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Pelargonium hybrids lining the Women’s Tennis Final at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Screenshot via YouTube / Olympics.
The genus is among hundreds of plants from the Cape Region that were eventually brought to the global market; others include bird-of-paradise (Strelitzia reginae), Gladiolus spp., and belladonna lily (Amaryllis belladonna).
Citizen science
Here in South Africa, we have an extremely active citizen science community, with thousands of users on the iNaturalist app. Pelargoniums also have a strong international following, with several societies and websites devoted to growing and appreciating them. On iNaturalist, in what’s become a generative and inclusive approach to the production of botanical knowledge, local and international pelargonium fans come together to confirm sightings and swap expertise.
The bonds between South African and international plant people continue to foster interesting collaborations, like an upcoming field guide on pelargoniums by Cape-based conservationist Riaan van der Walt and Matija Strlic, a chemist and curator of the Reference Collection of Pelargoniums of the International Geraniaceae Group.
Next time you visit the Warm Temperate Pavilion at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, see if you can catch a faint whiff of the apple-like scent of P. cordifolium, and take a moment to consider the origins and unique habitat of this remarkable plant.
This midwinter break, families and kids can enjoy a special indoor edition of Discovery Programs in BBG’s Steinhardt Conservatory. This week’s program themes are:
Dates & Themes
Celebrate Trees of Little Caribbean! (all ages)
Monday, February 17
Celebrate BBG’s Trees of Little Caribbean exhibit with tastings and hands-on activities highlighting the trees and treelike plants cherished by Caribbean people.
Conservatory Quest (all ages)
Wednesday, February 19
Travel from the desert to the rainforest (and beyond) in the blink of an eye! Use all five of your senses to investigate plants from these habitats.
First Discoveries (ages 4 & under)
Friday, February 21
Calling all toddlers and their caregivers! Enjoy a special indoor edition of First Discoveries, complete with crafts, stories, and other activities designed for our youngest nature explorers.
These drop-in family programs are free with Garden admission. On winter weekdays through February 28, Garden admission is pay-what-you-wish.
Support
Major Supporter, Discovery Programs
A One-Day Symposium, Trade Show, & Career Fair for Horticulture Professionals
Plant-O-Rama is Metro Hort Group’s largest annual event for professionals in horticulture attracting nearly 1,000 gardeners, designers, arborists, and educators working in public parks, botanical gardens, & private gardens and landscapes in the New York City Tri-State region.
Individual tickets are required for access to morning or afternoon featured speakers and panel discussions.
Celebrate the Year of the Snake by learning about the plants of the Lunar New Year.
BBG Garden Guide Sabrina Lee will introduce you to plants associated with this winter celebration. Afterward, enjoy a self-guided walk through the Steinhardt Conservatory to see the many Lunar New Year Asian fruits and plants including citrus, bamboo, pine, and much more!
Free with Garden admission. No registration necessary.
There are so many things to encounter on a winter stroll through the Garden. In its leafless winter state, a tree can be a thing of unsurpassed splendor. We’ll look at the shape and architecture of BBG’s trees, including some not-so-naked specimens.
Free with Garden admission. No registration necessary.
Please note tours can be canceled due to inclement weather. Check this page for updates.
In 2020, two of the largest beech trees at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, both about 100 years old, began to exhibit distinctive dark stripes on their leaves. The following year, similar symptoms began to show up on other beech trees nearby in Bluebell Wood, which houses BBG’s beech, elm, and birch collection.
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Fagus orientalis (oriental beech) with symptoms of beech leaf disease at BBG in 2022. Photo by Michael Stewart.
These striped leaves were later confirmed to be a sign of beech leaf disease, which kills both native and ornamental beech species. Beech leaf disease, also called BLD, was first identified in Lake County, Ohio in 2012, and has since been found in 14 states in the Eastern U.S. and Canada. Scientists are still learning about this novel disease, but—like other major tree diseases and infestations we’ve seen in recent years, from the emerald ash borer to oak wilt—it is believed to pose a serious threat to both ornamental landscape trees and forest ecosystems.
We spoke with BBG staff and collaborators and other experts to learn more about beech trees, how this disease is affecting them, and how researchers are working to mitigate its impacts.
What are beech trees?
In New York City, you’re most likely to encounter beech trees in parks and gardens, since they don’t do well in street tree beds. They can grow enormously large. Their ovate, serrated leaves turn a brilliant golden yellow in the fall, and their smooth gray bark sometimes gets compared to elephant skin. BBG has several different species, including European beech (Fagus sylvatica) and its cultivars and the native American beech (Fagus grandifolia).
Fagus grandifolia (American beech) showing its fall colors in the Native Flora Garden in 2017. Photo by Blanca Begert.
Beech trees, like this European beech cultivar, can grow to massive heights. Photo by Lee Patrick.
The American beech is a dominant species in the northern hardwood forests of Eastern North America. They can live for up to 250 years and have been found to grow as tall as 160 feet. Their small, nutrient-dense nuts are critically important for wildlife, including bears, deer, turkeys, squirrels, blue jays, and many other animals.
Beech trees, like other trees, also provide resources and medicine, hold cultural memories, clean the air, reduce stress, and sequester carbon, along with numerous other crucial tasks.
“These large trees help people breathe in cities,” says Chenae Bullock, a member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation whose Native Flora Garden tour Ohkehteau (Plants of the Earth): A Shinnecock Oral History explores the importance of beeches and other native plants and their use by Shinnecock people.
What is beech leaf disease, and what does it look like?
Beech leaf disease is associated with a nematode (Litylenchuscrenatae ssp. mcannii), a microscopic worm, that feeds on and damages beech leaves and buds. The nematode is believed to be an invasive species.
Beech leaf disease is not to be confused with beech bark disease, another disease that affects beeches, though the combined effect of these two diseases is likely putting additional pressure on trees in some areas.
Many plant diseases can be hard to diagnose on sight, but BLD produces a signature dark banding, or striping, symptom between the secondary veins of leaves that is easy to recognize. As the disease progresses, leaves may also become leathery and shrunken.
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Early spring symptoms on American beech in a woodland. Banded areas are greener than the rest of the tissue initially and turn yellow in fall. Photo by Margery Daughtrey.{embed="includes/_inline_image" file="/img/uploads/lightbox/BLD-image-one_MD.jpg"}
BLD symptoms on European beech leaves. Photo by Margery Daughtrey.{embed="includes/_inline_image" file="/img/uploads/lightbox/BLD_image3_MD.jpg"}
BLD symptoms on European beech leaves in the fall. Photo by Margery Daughtrey.{embed="includes/_inline_image" file="/img/uploads/lightbox/weeping_EP_54040155622.jpg"}
Shrunken, distorted leaves on the weeping beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Pendula’) at Brooklyn Botanic Garden in October 2024. Photo by Elizabeth Peters.
A number of beech species have been found to be susceptible, though BLD appears to have particularly severe impact on American beech trees. It also disproportionately impacts saplings, which typically die within five years of infection, while larger trees take longer to decline.
If you walk into a forest of infected beeches, you may notice that lower leaves are more affected than leaves higher up. Researchers speculate that this could be because the nematode flourishes in the moister, shadier areas lower in the canopy.
How does the disease work?
Researchers have observed that the nematodes move out of the leaves and into the buds in fall, where they overwinter and multiply.
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A microscopic view of Litylenchus nematodes from within a beech leaf bud. Photo by Mike Gaines.
“We started out being all fascinated by what was going on in the leaves, and it’s almost irrelevant,” says Margery Daughtrey, a plant pathologist and senior extension associate at Cornell University. “We were so shocked when we first opened up buds in the winter and looked and saw hundreds of nematodes between two bud scales.”
In a moderate infestation, the nematodes’ presence damages the buds, producing those distinctive banded leaves that are seen in spring. In a more severe infestation, or on a more stressed tree, the buds can be killed. It’s the death of the buds that is particularly harmful to beech trees, because this prevents the tree from leafing out normally, restricting its ability to feed itself through photosynthesis.
How does it spread?
Researchers don’t know for sure, but BLD seems to spread very easily, rather than relying on a single pathway or vector. It is likely dispersing through wind and rain, and it might get moved around by birds or insects, too. It can also move in nursery stock.
There are no quarantines on beech currently in place within the United States, but experts recommend that you not transport beech materials (meaning branches, twigs, soil, leaves, and seedlings) from areas affected by beech leaf disease.
How bad is beech leaf disease?
Beech leaf disease has only been known for a little over a decade, and the researchers who study it are hesitant to make exact predictions about its long-term impact. As in other diseases, BLD may not be the only cause of mortality for a given tree; there are other contributing stressors that can influence tree health.
But the threat is considered serious. “It will be in the textbooks in the future,” says Daughtrey.
In northern Ohio, where the disease was first observed in North America, they have seen significant mortality, particularly of younger understory trees, says David Burke, vice president for science and conservation at Holden Forests & Gardens in Ohio, which has helped lead investigations into beech leaf disease.
About 30 percent of the beech trees in Holden Arboretum have died, says Burke. “There are forests that I have been visiting for 20 years that don’t look anything like they did even a couple of years ago.”
In the northeast, tree mortality has not been widespread yet, notes Cameron McIntire, a plant pathologist with the USDA Forest Service. “What I can say is that I’m not optimistic, as BLD appears to be chronic, meaning the disease only seems to get worse each year and we don’t observe any natural recovery.”
Researchers caution against assuming that this disease will drive the American beech to extinction. But the potential effects are concerning. For example, “even if you reduce nut production by 50 percent,” says Burke, “that can have a significant impact on wildlife.”
Why is this happening? What’s the big picture?
It can be easy to miss in the fast-paced city, but trees are struggling.
Beech leaf disease is one of many serious diseases and infestations that have been accidentally imported to the U.S. since the 19th century, some of which have decimated iconic species like ash (emerald ash borer), elms (Dutch elm disease), and the American chestnut (chestnut blight).
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Emerald ash borer tracks in a dead ash tree in Chicago, Illinois. Photo by Raed Mansour / Flickr.
Urban development, logging, climate change, and other pressures have also weakened and fragmented forests. Bullock notes that the theft of Indigenous land and restrictions on use have interfered with relationships that have historically helped keep forests healthy, from harvesting to cultural burns. Trees in cities, especially those stuck in small street tree beds, can be particularly vulnerable to challenges like pollution, soil compaction, and—as we’ve been seeing in 2024—drought.
In a recent October 2024 report, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (or IUCN) Red List found that over a third of tree species are at risk of extinction, due to pressures like agriculture, deforestation, pests and diseases, and climate change.
Can beech leaf disease be treated?
Researchers are still in the early stages of exploring potential treatments. Interventions may help preserve individual trees, though the most effective approaches involve fungicides that can harm the surrounding environment, so should be used with caution and in consultation with a certified arborist.
Gentler options that have shown some promise in mitigating symptoms are a potassium-based fertilizer called PolyPhosphite30, as well as structural pruning, which increases light and air penetration through the canopy and can help leaves and buds dry out faster after rain events. Basic “TLC,” like irrigation—beeches are shallow-rooted and prone to drought stress—and mulching may also help strengthen the tree, says Daughtrey, though at this point we don’t know for sure what helps enough to save a tree.
On a forest scale, unfortunately, there are few treatment options for BLD. But researchers suspect that some beech trees might be resistant to the disease, which could lead to a breeding program in the future. It’s also possible that the soil chemistry or microbiology in some areas is protective, which could eventually inform treatments.
“A lot of the trees in our forest are suffering, but then you come across a tree that looks wonderful, and you don't know why,” says Burke. “We're starting to call them ‘lingering beech,’ because they seem to be doing very well in areas in which the other trees are dying.”
The Great Lakes Basin Forest Health Collaborative, an initiative sponsored by Holden Forests & Gardens and the USDA Forest Service, is helping to monitor and study beech trees and other imperiled tree species for resistance in the Great Lakes region. Holden Arboretum recommends against the prophylactic removal of living beech trees unless they pose a danger, so we can hold onto survivors and learn from them.
How is BLD affecting trees in BBG’s collection?
According to Shauna Moore, director of horticulture at BBG, many of the approximately 50 beech trees at Brooklyn Botanic Garden seem to be infected.
Because of this, the disease will likely impact BBG’s landscape, though the exact prognosis is not clear yet. The Garden’s charismatic weeping beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Pendula’) is infected, as is a distinctive hedge of beeches in the Discovery Garden.
The weeping beech at Brooklyn Botanic Garden in 2022. Photo by Michael Stewart.
“I'm starting to get a lot of inquiries from visitors,” says Moore. “Especially about the weeping beech, which is a favorite tree for many people who come and visit.”
The most acutely affected area is Bluebell Wood, where the beech collection is located, says Michael Marino, a gardener and certified arborist at BBG. Staff are experimenting with different management approaches and have been sharing information with other New York City institutions and arborists to learn more about the disease as they track its progression in the Garden.
What should I do?
If you have a beech tree in your yard or community space, keep an eye on it, and make sure it’s getting enough water. Avoid moving infected plant material around.
Try not to remove healthy-looking beech trees, as they may be resistant. Consider structural pruning of healthy or infected trees to improve airflow. Sterilize any tools that have been used to prune infected trees. For trees that have declined significantly and/or pose a structural hazard, consult with a registered arborist about possible treatment or removal.
If you don’t have or use a space with a beech tree, you can still help! Use the free app TreeSnap to submit photos of healthy and diseased beech trees. Researchers use these photos to make maps of disease progression and to identify resistant trees.
Explore the Garden and learn about nature from Garden instructors in these hands-on, guided programs for students in pre-K through 8th grade.
NEW! WALKING TOURS
Walking Tours are 45-minute BBG instructor–led outdoor nature programs. (In the case of inclement weather, programs will take place in the Steinhardt Conservatory.) Teachers return to school with a planting kit containing materials for each student to grow a seed connected to the tour topic. Walking tours are offered October–November and April–June.
Budding Botanists: A Sensory Walking Tour (Grades pre-K–2)
Starting with our senses is the perfect way to begin to learn about the natural world around us. Botanists will be encouraged to make focused observations via sight, sound, smell, and touch as they explore the plants and animals at BBG. Planting kits contain basil seeds.
Nature’s Giants: A Tree Walking Tour (Grades pre-K–8)
Come explore trees with us this fall or spring—these giants of the plant world are fascinating in any season. We will visit some of BBG’s most interesting trees, observing their bark, leaves, flowers, fruits, and growing patterns, as well as the animals who depend upon them. Planting kits contain thornless honey-locust tree seeds.
Fee: $120 | Title I: $96 | D75 & SCSE: $60 | UA: free with class trip voucher
In addition, there is a 4.5% registration fee for all classes.
Please select your topic (confirm recommended grade level) before registering. If you have any questions, contact [email protected].
EXPLORATION WORKSHOPS
Exploration Workshops are 90-minute BBG instructor–led programs where students explore plants hands-on in our classrooms, pot up a plant to take home, and tour the Garden in small groups.
Sensory Exploration (Grades Pre-K–2)
Making sense of the world around us starts with sensory observations. How do young scientists make sense of the world? In any season, BBG is a perfect place to engage young scientists’ keen powers of observation using sight, smell, hearing, and touch. Students will tour some of our favorite gardens-within-the-Garden and participate in activities designed to hone in on specific senses, elicit descriptive language, and discover patterns and connections that raise questions about the natural world.
Exploring Plants in Our Lives (Grades Pre-K–8)
What are the important plants in your life? What parts of those plants provide us with food, medicine or practical use? In this on-site workshop, students will be inspired to think about the many ways people depend on plants and get a chance to learn about some culturally important plants from our Education Greenhouse collection.
Exploring Trees in the Garden (Grades Pre-K–8)
How are trees different from other plants? How are they the same? Trees are growing in our city—as the seasons change, they blossom, provide shade, spread their seeds, present bright autumn colors, and catch the snow on their branches when winter comes. Students will compare the diversity of bark, leaves, overall shape, fruits, and seeds, and learn how all these parts function to help the plant grow, survive, and reproduce. We will also explore the many ways trees benefit people and animals.
Ecological Exploration (Grades 2–8)
What does a plant need to grow? How do plants survive the challenges presented by environments as diverse as deserts, rainforests, marshes, or bogs? Comparing and contrasting various biome collections at BBG will inspire young plant ecologists to find answers to these questions.
Investigating Flowers (Grades 2–8) March–May
Flowers are beautiful, but do their colors, fragrance, and patterns have a purpose? We all appreciate flowers for their special beauty, but a flower’s real and very important function is for reproduction of the plant. On a tour of the Garden’s plants in bloom, students will learn about pollination and fruit formation.
Investigating Life in Water (Grades 2–8) October–November & April–June
The water all around us is filled with life! Students will dive into the fascinating world of the water environments around them. How do plants’ features help them survive in their aquatic environments? Can we find other living things tangled in our algae? Why do carnivorous plants digest flies? Students will investigate these questions in our on-site workshop.
Multiplying Plants: An Introduction to Asexual Reproduction (Grades 6–8)
Can we make more of our favorite plants without planting a seed? In the wild, plants often make more of themselves without flowers, fruits, and seeds! In this hands-on workshop, students will use field journals to closely observe and identify the many methods that plants use to multiply asexually.
Plant Adaptations: Thriving in a Challenging Environment (Grades 6–8)
How do cactus plants survive the arid desert environment? Can rainforest plants protect themselves against too much rain? In this hands-on workshop, students will use field journals to closely observe and compare plants that thrive in desert and tropical rainforest biomes, and identify adaptations that have helped them survive the challenges presented by these habitats.
Fee: $220 | Title I: $176 | D75 & SCSE: $110 | UA: free with class trip voucher
In addition, there is a 4.5% registration fee for all classes.
Please select your topic (confirm recommended grade level) before registering. If you have any questions, contact [email protected].
Science Standards Connections
BBG’s classes for teachers and school groups support the Next Generation Science Standards that developed from the National Research Council’s 2012 Framework for K–12 Science Education. The framework calls for knowledge and practice to be intertwined so that students “actively engage in scientific and engineering practices and apply crosscutting concepts to deepen their understanding of the core ideas in these fields.” This approach aligns with BBG’s longstanding educational philosophy of learning by doing. Our educational programs are grounded in inquiry-based, hands-on experiences to encourage life-long learning about plants, science, and the environment.
Sensory Exploration (Grades Pre-K–2)
Pre-K–Kindergarten
PS4.A Wave Properties
Sound can make matter vibrate, and vibrating matter can make sound.
Grade 1
LS1.A Structure and Function
All organisms have external parts. Plants have different parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits) that help them survive and grow.
LS3.B Variation of Traits
Individuals of the same kind of plant or animal are recognizable as similar but can also vary in many ways.
PS4.A Wave Properties
Sound can make matter vibrate, and vibrating matter can make sound.
Grade 2
LS2.A Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
Plants depend on water, light, and air to grow.
Exploring Plants in Our Lives (Grades Pre-K–8)
Pre-K–Kindergarten
LS1.C Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
Plants need water and light to live and grow.
Grade 1
LS1.A Structure and Function
All organisms have external parts. Plants also have different parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits) that help them survive and grow.
Grade 2
LS2.A Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
Plants depend on water, light, and air to grow.
Plants depend on animals for pollination or to move their seeds around.
LS4.D Biodiversity and Humans
There are many different kinds of living things in any area, and they exist in different places on land and in water.
Grade 4
LS1.A Structure and Function
Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction.
Grade 5
LS1.C Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
Food provides animals with the materials they need for body repair and growth and the energy they need to maintain body warmth and for motion.
PS3.D Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life
The energy released from food was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that forms plant matter (from air and water).
Grades 6–8
LS4.D Biodiversity and Humans
Changes in biodiversity can influence humans’ resources, such as food, energy, and medicines, as well as ecosystem services that humans rely on—for example, water purification and recycling.
LS4.B Natural Selection
In artificial selection, humans have the capacity to influence certain characteristics of organisms by selective breeding. One can choose desired parental traits determined by genes, which are then passed on to offspring.
Exploring Trees in the Garden (Grades Pre-K–8)
Pre-K–Kindergarten
LS1.C Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
All animals need food in order to live and grow. They obtain their food from plants or from other animals. Plants need water and light to live and grow.
ESS2.E Biogeology
Plants and animals can change their environment.
ESS3.A Natural Resources
Living things need water, air, and resources from the land, and they live in places that have the things they need.
Grade 1
LS1.A Structure and Function
All organisms have external parts. Plants also have different parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits) that help them survive and grow.
LS3.B Variation of Traits
Individuals of the same kind of plant or animal are recognizable as similar but can also very in many ways.
Grade 2
LS2.A Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
Plants depend on water, light, and air to grow.
Plants depend on animals for pollination or to move their seeds around.
Grade 3
LS1.B Growth and Development of Organisms
Reproduction is essential to the continued existence of every kind of organism. Plants and animals have unique and diverse life cycles.
LS4.C Adaptation
For any particular environment, some kinds of organisms survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
Grade 4
LS1.A Structure and Function
Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction.
Grade 5
LS2.A Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
The food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants. Some organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms (both plants or plant parts and animals) and therefore operate as “decomposers.” Decomposition eventually restores (recycles) some materials back to the soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met. A healthy ecosystem is one in which multiple species of different types are each able to meet their needs in a relatively stable web of life. Newly introduced species can damage the balance of an ecosystem.
Ecological Exploration (Grades 2–8)
Grade 2
LS2.A Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
Plants depend on water, light, and air to grow.
LS4.D Biodiversity and Humans
There are many different kinds of living things in any area, and they exist in different places on land and in water.
Grade 3
LS4.B Natural Selection
Sometimes the differences in characteristics between individuals of the same species provide advantages in surviving, finding males, and reproducing.
LS4.C Adaptation
For any particular environment, some kinds of organisms survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
Grade 4
LS1.A Structure and Function
Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction.
Grade 5
LS2.A Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met. A healthy ecosystem is one in which multiple species of different types are each able to meet their needs in a relatively stable web of life.
Grades 6 –8
LS1.B Growth and Development of Organisms
Genetic factors as well as local conditions affect the growth of the adult plant.
LS2.A Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
Organisms, and populations of organisms, are dependent on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors.
In any ecosystem, organisms and populations with similar requirements for food, water, oxygen, or other resources may compete with each other limited resources, access to which consequently constrains their growth and reproduction.
Growth of organisms and population increases are limited by access to resources.
LS4.B Natural Selection
Natural selection leads to the predominance of certain traits in a population, and the suppression of others.
Investigating Flowers (Grades 2–8)
Grade 2
LS2.A Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
Plants depend on water and light to grow.
Plants depend on animals for pollination or to move their seeds around.
LS4.D Biodiversity and Humans
There are many different kinds of living things in any area, and they exist in different places on land and in water.
Grade 3
LS1.B Growth and Development of Organisms
Reproduction is essential to the continued existence of every kind of organism. Plants and animals have unique and diverse life cycles.
LS3.A Inheritance of Traits
Many characteristics of organisms are inherited from their parents.
LS3.B Variation of Traits
Different organisms vary in how they look and function because they have different inherited information.
Grade 4
LS1.A Structure and Function
Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction.
Grade 5
LS1.C Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water.
PS3.D Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life
The energy released from food was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that forms plant matter (from air and water).
Grades 6–8
LS1.B Growth and Development of Organisms
Organisms reproduce, either sexually or asexually, and transfer their genetic information to their offspring.
Genetic factors as well as local conditions affect the growth of the adult plant.
LS1.C Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
Plants, algae (including phytoplankton), and many microorganisms use the energy from light to make sugars (food) from carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water through the process of photosynthesis, which also releases oxygen. These sugars can be used immediately or stored for growth for later use.
LS1.D Information Processing
Plants respond to stimuli such as gravity (geotropism) and light (phototropism).
Investigating Life in Water (Grades 2–8)
Grade 2
LS2.A Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
Plants depend on water and light to grow.
LS4.D Biodiversity and Humans
There are many different kinds of living things in any area, and they exist in different places on land and in water.
ESS2.C The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes
Water is found in the oceans, rivers, lakes, and ponds. Water exists as solid ice and in liquid form.
Grade 3
LS1.B Growth and Development of Organisms
Reproduction is essential to the continued existence of every kind of organism. Plants and animals have unique and diverse life cycles.
LS3.B Variation of Traits
The environment also affects the traits that an organism develops.
LS4.D Biodiversity and Humans
Populations live in a variety of habitats, and change in those habitats affects the organisms living there.
Grade 4
LS1.A Structure and Function
Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction.
Grade 5
LS1.C Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water.
PS3.D Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life
The energy released from food was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that forms plant matter (from air and water).
Grades 6–8
LS1.B Growth and Development of Organisms
Genetic factors as well as local conditions affect the growth of the adult plant.
LS1.C Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
Plants, algae (including phytoplankton), and many microorganisms use the energy from light to make sugars (food) from carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water through the process of photosynthesis, which also releases oxygen. These sugars can be used immediately or stored for growth for later use.
LS1.D Information Processing
Plants respond to stimuli such as gravity (geotropism) and light (phototropism).
Multiplying Plants (Grades 6–8)
Grades 6–8
LS1.B Growth and Development of Organisms
Organisms reproduce, either sexually or asexually, and transfer their genetic information to their offspring.
Plants reproduce in a variety of ways, sometimes depending on animal behavior and specialized features for reproduction.
Genetic factors as well as local conditions affect the growth of the adult plant.
LS1.C Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
Plants, algae (including phytoplankton), and many microorganisms use the energy from light to make sugars (food) from carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water through the process of photosynthesis, which also releases oxygen. These sugars can be used immediately or stored for growth or later use.
Plant Adaptations (Grades 6–8)
Grades 6–8
LS1.B Growth and Development of Organisms
Genetic factors as well as local conditions affect the growth of the adult plant
LS1.C Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
Plants, algae (including phytoplankton), and many microorganisms use the energy from light to make sugars (food) from carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water through the process of photosynthesis, which also releases oxygen. These sugars can be used immediately or stored for growth or later use.
LS2.A Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
Organisms, and populations of organisms, are dependent on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors.
In any ecosystem, organisms and populations with similar requirements for food, water, oxygen, or other resources may compete with each other limited resources, access to which consequently constrains their growth and reproduction.
Growth of organisms & population increases are limited by access to resources.
LS4.B Natural Selection
In artificial selection, humans have the capacity to influence certain characteristics of organisms by selective breeding. One can choose desired parental traits determined by genes, which are then passed on to offspring.
Natural selection leads to the predominance of certain traits in a population, and the suppression of others.
Celebrate the First Flowers of Spring
Over a dozen different kinds of flowers grace the grounds of the late-winter garden at BBG. Celebrate the transition from winter to spring by admiring these petite, colorful, and sturdy blooms undeterred by the frost.
Join Lynne Spevack, L.C.S.W. for this hour-long, narrated nature walk designed to chase away the winter blues. This walk is held in light rain or snow; dress warmly and wear comfortable walking shoes.
Free with Garden admission. No registration necessary.
Please note tours can be canceled due to inclement weather. Check bbg.org for updates.
Yarnelle Bauzil is an urban farmer, agritech professional, and houseplant enthusiast. Her career has spanned regenerative soil farming, controlled environment hydroponics, aquaponics, and environmental education. Yarnelle’s passion for plants and the natural world has been with her since childhood. She began her career with a focus on racial equity and food and environmental justice. Currently she works at CUNY’s Brooklyn College, helping to revitalize and rebuild the community gardens on and around campus so the campus can continue to thrive as a living lab.
Angela Ferguson, a member of the Onondaga Nation (Eel Clan), is supervisor of the Onondaga Nation Farm and a member of Braiding the Sacred, a grassroots network of Indigenous corn growers.
Angela Ferguson at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Photo by Elizabeth Peters.
The Onondaga Nation is part of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance of six Nations whose ancestral territory covers much of what is now called upstate New York. The Onondaga Nation has filed suit to regain rights to their land, most recently taking their case to an international panel.
We spoke with Ferguson, who is working with Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Interpretation team as an advisor, about what food sovereignty means in her community, traditional Haudenosaunee agricultural practices in use at the Onondaga Nation Farm today, and the importance of saving seeds.
Do you remember the first time you grew food?
Growing food was not just part of our lives, but part of our education too. At school, we always had programs that were based around agriculture. I was born and raised on the Tuscarora Nation, which is about three hours from my homeland, Onondaga Nation, and when I moved back to Onondaga Nation, I just continued to grow my own stuff in the backyard. I started doing more collective planting for community in 2010. I worked in an elders’ garden here that we had in the community. In that garden, we grew food for the elders that couldn’t do it anymore. We used to pass out the foods to them for free.
Was food sovereignty something you always thought about?
No, not really. My life was like everybody else’s, busy and into modern things. A lot of colonial foods and fast foods had become a big part of my life. But I think once you return to your roots, it triggers something in your DNA to make you realize, those things are not good for us.
My real motivation for going into food sovereignty was because I noticed that a lot of our communities focus on reducing the harm and effects of alcohol and drugs, but nobody was really focusing on the harm and effects of food-related illnesses.
Food-related illness has been a huge concern not just in my own community, but all Indigenous communities, and all communities in general. Heart disease, diabetes, strokes, all of these things are food-related illnesses, and the only way we're going to get cured is if we return to our ancestral foods and start feeding ourselves again.
When people ask you to define food sovereignty, how do you explain it? What does that mean to you?
Well, it’s hard, because a lot of those words in the English language don’t have a literal translation into our languages—things like regenerative agriculture, organic farming, heirloom seeds. Food sovereignty sort of became a buzzword; people were talking about it, and there were some big organizations that were really doing the work to make it happen.
But in my definition, it’s truly just coming back to Haudenosaunee ways and our agriculture, because all of our ceremonial cycles are based around food. Food sovereignty is returning to your ancestral ways, growing your traditional foods on your own land, and utilizing that gift to return it to the community.
When did you start the Onondaga Nation Farm, and what are some of the growing practices you use?
It started right after the World Lacrosse Championship was hosted here. We had approximately 10,000 people from around the world come to our community, and we fed them during that time. And a lot of that food was our traditional foods, things we grew, things we butchered. In 2016, our Council of Chiefs allowed us to create a program for our community.
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Ferguson at the Onondaga Nation Farm. Screenshot via YouTube / ABC Television Stations.
We went back to controlled burning, to create medicine for the land and food for the land. Fire produces ash, which helps prevent weeds and provides nutrients for the village that lives in the soil. Soil is alive, so it needs to be fed and protected. That took practice, we had to reconnect with fire. And that was really fun, it’s become a big part of what we do.
We want to keep our soil full of nutrients, so we don’t plow. It’s funny, I’ve been telling local farmers that were not Native, like, why do you guys plow? You’re putting all the nutrients in the air. And they don’t do it anymore! A lot of places are now doing low-till or no-till farming, and they’re finding that you get a better yield.
We also use crop rotation. We plant corn three times, and then the following year, we replace that with beans. The next year, we’ll plant squash or something to that effect. And then in the last year, we let the field grow fallow. We let all the weeds and native species grow, and then we start the process over again the next year with that controlled burn.
We’re going back to following the seasonal ways of planting certain foods, and learning how to grow companion plants well with one another. We’ve had to seek all of that knowledge from what I call our encyclopedia, which is our elders. When we don’t know what to do, or we don’t know how to fix a problem, we reach out to them.
What are some of the different varieties of corn that you like to grow?
I like to grow all of them. Every year I pick a different one. My favorite is the Grandmother pod corn, because that corn is the ancestor to all the others. We have 163 acres, so I usually do anywhere between nine and 13 different varieties of corn. Over the years, through practice, through paying close attention to them, I’ve been able to see which ones have pollen flying at this time and which ones don’t, so that I can plant them side by side without them cross-pollinating.
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Ferguson with kernels of Mohawk red corn in a video taken at a Haudenosaunee Traditional Cooking event in 2021. Screenshot via YouTube /
Ganondagan State Historic Site.
It’s kind of like a little dance—writing down things down to remember that this one will produce pollen first, and this one you can plant next to it because it won’t produce any for another couple of months. I keep track of how high the plants grow, because sometimes we can plant shorter popcorns right next to them. A lot of that was learned through practice over the years, and from our elders.
How is the food distributed?
We have a free farmer’s market where, when things are ready for harvest, we put them out on tables in the center of the community. And sometimes we’ll can goods, or we’ll give away mason jars full of soup. People love it. They just take what they need for their family, and they visit with us. If they have any suggestions or ideas for plants they may want us to grow, that’s where we get a lot of feedback. It’s been great at pulling our community together.
For 2025, my goal is to demonstrate what Haudenosaunee nutrition is. What did that look like, pre-contact, and what are we able to implement in our diets now? We need to be realistic, especially with our young people, but how can we have a good balance and introduce traditional foods?
A lot of Haudenosaunee nutrition is based around seasonal eating and cultural practices. Not every people based their eating schedules around breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Part of the Haudenosaunee nutrition is listening to your body, eating in smaller quantities, but more times throughout the day. A common Haudenosaunee practice was that there was always a pot of food standing over an open fire.
There are also nutrition facts that I want to make people aware of. Like, what are the health benefits of white rice versus wild rice? What are the nutritional components of genetically modified corn and our traditional Haudenosaunee corn?
Can you tell me about Braiding the Sacred, and how it relates to the work you do at the Onondaga Nation Farm?
Right after we started the farm in 2016, I had met fellow growers from other Nations, and we started up a little collective of Indigenous corn growers. It’s a grassroots movement.
We had our first gathering here where we decided, okay, we can see the impact technology is having. We don’t have that many farmers left. There’s not that many corn growers. And all the people growing corn feel like, I’m the only one doing this, does anyone else care? I’m lucky here in my community that people have always kept that going, but I’ve traveled to other communities where maybe there’s only one or two people growing corn.
So we decided to start this collective to tap into the knowledge of all the elders across Turtle Island. The goal was to reconnect and rebuild trust between Nations. The group started out with about 50 people, and now we have thousands. It grew really fast.
You also house a collection of ancestral seeds at the farm, many of them originally collected by corn farmer Carl Barnes. How did Braiding the Sacred come to steward these seeds?
When Carl Barnes passed away, his family gifted his corn seed collection that he had spent his whole life growing and maintaining to his apprentice, because he shared the same passion. The apprentice reached out to Braiding the Sacred to come and have a discussion about it, and he realized we shared all the same values. So he gave the entire collection to Braiding the Sacred for us to steward and help rematriate.
I ended up reaching out to my community members, my leadership, to see if this was something we could house at the farm. We don’t think of it as owning it, because nobody owns the seeds. Nobody owns life. We just provide a temporary home for them until they can be reunited with their homelands and their people.
Now our work at Braiding the Sacred is more focused on rematriation of seeds and returning these ancient varieties back to their communities.
Some older varieties we try to grow, as well, so that they’ll still be viable. But for us, I don’t believe there’s ever an expiration date on corn. I’ve planted seeds that are hundreds of years old. We have practices that can wake those seeds up. A scientist would say, well, corn only has a shelf life of this time. And as Indigenous people, we don’t believe that, because we see it all the time not to be true.
Who was Carl Barnes, and how did he collect these seeds?
Carl Barnes spoke the language of corn. He was half Cherokee and half Scottish, and he loved farming. He loved growing corn. He really saw the importance of it, and we feel compelled to keep his life mission going.
He used to go around to different conferences and carry these briefcases with cobs of corn inside, and he would use them as conversation starters to really get people to understand, this is what we have to protect.
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Corn cobs from Carl Barnes’ collection are shown in a documentary trailer from Braiding the Sacred. Screenshot via YouTube /
Braiding the Sacred Network.
He went to seed swaps, he shared seeds, he presented at universities all around to educate the next generation about the importance of these things. People would give him seeds that they found or grew. Archeologists gave him seeds. Everybody knew him, so a lot of people trusted him with their seeds.
Some of them have been lost for generations. There are varieties sometimes that people didn’t even know existed. That happened to us. We were able to bring back four different varieties of Haudenosaunee corn because of Carl’s life’s work, because no one here had the seeds for it.
I think it’s important for me to mention, when one person feels all alone and thinks they don’t matter, and “who’s going to care what I think or what I do,” I always think about Carl. He didn’t know it when he was alive, but keeping those little cobs of corn going has changed millions of lives, and it’s rippled all around the world.
How can institutions like botanical gardens, and other public green spaces, create more space for conversations around Indigenous foodways and food sovereignty?
I think any organized institution sometimes makes Indigenous people leery or nervous. There’s mistrust that's part of our historical trauma. What we do have, we hold on to really tight, because we don’t want to lose it again.
There needs to be a presence at botanical gardens. There need to be indigenous plants, but if the plants are going to be there, so do the people, because the people have the knowledge of the plants, the people have the relationship for millennia with those plants.
I’d like to see more Indigeneity in these places, because hearing that perspective from the people that know the land the best, it would be validating our oral traditions. And I think that’s really important, because our knowledge was put down, our food system was put down, our language, our ceremonies, and we have managed to still maintain all those things.
You do a lot, across many different spheres in your life. What keeps you energized?
I think the foods, you know? I found my gift. I’m so thankful. All my life, I didn’t know what my purpose was. And I know a lot of young people feel that way, even people in their 30s—where am I going? What am I doing?
The food really called me. And I love to cook. These are gifts my grandmothers left to me. A lot of women who stayed home and did the cooking never got the recognition for the art form they had created. So it’s not just growing food, but it’s also presenting that food to people as something they’re actually going to eat. I love that part of what I do.
And then the seeds, I just feel so privileged. You gather power from your ancestors every time you pick them up. And I think that’s what keeps me going.
Visitors who are blind or have low vision can join a guided tour of the Lightscape trail, featuring live verbal descriptions of the stunning light installations.
The trail is fully accessible, and wheelchairs are available on a first-come, first-served basis at the entrance. Personal care attendants enter for free.
Purchase Lightscape tickets and RSVP to [email protected] to join the tour.
Citizens Committee for New York City (CitizensNYC) has a long tradition of providing micro grants to support local greening and other community-based projects. Join CitizensNYC staff to discover how their grants can empower you—grassroots leaders and local businesses—to drive meaningful change in your communities. Whether you’re interested in the Community Leader Grants or Neighborhood Business Grants, this session will provide all the details you need to get involved. Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with CitizensNYC staff and take this important step toward strengthening your community!
ASL interpreter available upon request; contact [email protected] at least 2 weeks prior to the class date.
For more information about BBG’s Community Greening programs, visit bbg.org/community.
Teas are a fun and easy way to incorporate herbs into your daily routine. Students will learn the art of making teas and the best herbs to use for different purposes. Make your own tea blend to take home!
For 8- through 13-year-olds. City Farmers work together to care for their garden plots! City Farmers practice seasonal horticulture skills such as planting, trellis building, weed identification, organic pest control, seed saving, and more. Participants harvest, taste, and cook with fresh vegetables and herbs, create nature art, and go on nature explorations alongside a garden instructor and teen apprentices.
This is a drop-off program.
Cost
Friday Classes: $250 ($225 for members)
Saturday Classes: $315 ($290 for members)
In addition, there is a 4.5% registration fee for all classes.
For 6- and 7-year-olds. Sprouts work together to care for their garden plots! Sprouts practice seasonal horticulture skills such as planting, watering, weeding, organic pest control, and more. Participants harvest, taste, and cook with fresh vegetables and herbs, create nature art, and go on nature explorations alongside a garden instructor and teen apprentices.
This is a drop-off program.
Cost
Friday Classes: $250 ($225 for members)
Saturday Classes: $315 ($290 for members)
In addition, there is a 4.5% registration fee for all classes.
Participation Requirements
For Sprouts, children must be at least 6 years old, or turn 6 within a month of the program’s start date.
For 4 and 5-year-olds. Seeds work together to care for their garden plots! Seeds practice real gardening skills such as planting, watering, weeding, spreading compost, and more. Participants harvest and taste fresh vegetables and herbs, create nature art, listen to garden stories, and go on nature explorations alongside a garden instructor and teen apprentices.
This is a drop-off program.
Cost
Friday Classes: $250 ($225 for members)
Saturday Classes: $315 ($290 for members)
In addition, there is a 4.5% registration fee for all classes.
Participation Requirements
For Seeds, children must be 4 years old or turn 4 within a month after the program start date.
Seeds participants must be comfortable using the bathroom on their own. Child-size toilets are located inside the Children’s Garden House.
For 2- and 3-year-olds with an adult. Learn about the wonders of gardening with your 2- or 3-year-old during this active hands-on program offered during spring and fall. Our youngest gardeners work with their adult partner to tend to their garden plots, sing songs, taste new foods, and create nature crafts.
This is not a drop-off program. Consistent weekly attendance of one adult per child is required. No additional children including infants or older siblings, please.
Cost
60-minute sections: $250 nonmember/$225 member
90-minute sections: $350 nonmember/$325 member
In addition, there is a 4.5% registration fee for all classes.
Participation Requirements
One hour and 1.5-hour programs are offered. We recommend the 1.5-hour class for 3-year-olds or returning families.
The class is for one adult-child pair only; no siblings or additional adults please.
Children should wear clothing that can get dirty and closed-toe shoes (no sandals).
Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Children’s Garden Education Fellowship program prepares aspiring environmental educators for positions in the field, both at BBG and beyond.
Education Fellows spend the growing season in BBG’s Children’s Garden, teaching young people to grow, harvest, and cook their own food, care for the environment, and explore the natural world.
Fellows teach age-appropriate gardening lessons to a group of up to 12 children with the assistance of two to three teen apprentices from our Garden Apprentice Program. Fellows are responsible for caring for their garden beds and designing hands-on garden-based lessons for children ages 4 through 13. Fellows also teach up to eight family programs, guiding children and their families at hands-on stations in the Children’s Garden.
The comprehensive paid training program covers food gardening, seasonal themes, best practices for outdoor education, and horticulture skills. Training topics include garden bed maintenance, child development and behavioral differences, universal design for learning, mentorship training, botany, and more.
Schedule
The 2025 program runs March 14–November 1, 2025. Commitment is 10 hours per week during spring and fall on Fridays and Saturdays, and 30 hours per week in the summer, Tuesday through Friday.
There are some holidays and days between seasons with no scheduled shifts. Please see the 2025 application for the complete schedule.
Qualifications
We look for candidates who have some experience with either children or gardening and who hope to pursue a career in horticulture or informal science education. Candidates must be comfortable working outdoors and performing manual labor in various weather conditions.
Application Timeline
Applications for the 2025 fellowship will open on Thursday, December 26, 2024. See the application for dates for phone screenings and interviews. Decisions are made on a rolling basis through the end of February. The position pays $22 per hour.
Program alumni have pursued careers as school garden teachers, environmental education coordinators, horticulturists, and more at institutions such as the American Museum of Natural History, Edible Schoolyard NYC, Van Cortlandt Park Alliance, Wave Hill, and STEM From Dance.
“I learned some great skills around education, behavioral management, and teamwork that I will hold to. I think this fellowship also made me a much stronger gardener and fueled my interest in the environment by giving me a strong network of peers who are equally excited by the study of ecology and agriculture.”
“I loved seeing kids be excited about gardening and nature! It was so fun and sweet to share my joy about gardening with them and to see how excited they were about it too. I also appreciated the combination of structure and abundant existing lesson plans and activities we could choose from, combined with lots of freedom to try new things.”
“I loved the kids I worked with and the age-group, the gardening, my wonderful colleagues, and overall, I felt super supported and appreciated as an employee.”
Examine the art of natural perfumery. Gain a basic understanding of the sense of smell, the history of perfume, the advent of synthetic ingredients, and the return to naturals. Explore perfume ingredients and formulation, and leave with two bottles of your own bespoke perfume.
The Baroque style of floral design is a study in contrast, movement, flourishing detail, deep color, grandeur, and whimsy. In this workshop we will be inspired by the Dutch masters and, using flowers as muse, create a Baroque centerpiece for your holiday table that will wow family and friends.
Cultivated for 8,000 years, the resilient Coix lacryma-jobi plant is considered a gem of the botanical jewelry world. Learn how to use the teardrop-shaped seeds and other natural seeds to create a one-of-a-kind jewelry piece. Reconnect with this heritage grain by learning its impacts on the ritual, folklore, medicinal, and nutritional practices of many cultures. All materials will be provided; students may bring their own jewelry-making pliers.
Herbs can provide nourishment to our skin during the winter months. Learn about herbs that can benefit your skin and craft your own herbal balm to take home.
Nourishing broths are one of the foundational foods of any nutritional regime. Learn the basics of making vegan and bone-based broths, and how to enhance them with medicinal herbs. The vegan alternative will rival any chicken soup! We’ll discuss medicinal mushrooms, seaweeds, mineral-rich herbs, and other tasty ingredients to enhance the nutritional experience.
Celebrate the vibrant colors and sweet fragrances of the first blooms of spring with a seasonal floral display. Using a variety of spring blooms and textural elements, you’ll create a stunning centerpiece fit for the season. The instructor will offer step-by-step instruction—from palette selection and flower care to professional techniques for crafting a lush and unique floral arrangement.
Explore the ivory, cream, parchment and oyster shades of winter white with a seasonal floral display. Using a variety of winter blooms and textual elements, you’ll create a stunning centerpiece fit for the season. The instructor will offer step-by-step instruction—from palette selection and flower care to professional techniques for crafting a lush and unique floral arrangement.
Nothing says “I love you” more than something you make. And flowers! Learn about the different flowers that say “LOVE” and how to create a stunning bouquet for your loved one(s). This class will prepare you to make a gorgeous bouquet for Valentine’s Day, with tips for purchasing long-lasting flowers and maintaining them so they last till the big day!
Tree identification without the assistance of leaves is a hugely rewarding process. Though many imagine winter identification to be more difficult than during the growing season, in fact, we find far more consistency among twig and bud characteristics of the same tree species than we do for leaves. More than just winter identification alone, this course will train you to look beyond eye-catching leaves in order to learn more about using less-appreciated aspects of the entire tree for identification—a skill that will serve you year-round. Class will break for lunch.
This class is an introduction to the natural history and identification of fungi, particularly those commonly found in New York City. It provides an overview of the ecology of mushrooms and the crucial roles played by fungi in every habitat on Earth. Students will learn how to identify mushrooms, including edible species. This class includes a 90-minute mushroom walk on BBG grounds, where students will get to meet some of their fungal neighbors.
In this three-session series, we will look at qualities of mindfulness, practicing present-time awareness and mindfulness of the breath, body, and senses. We will move into compassion practice in order to cultivate a kinder, more empathetic response to ourselves and others. There will also be the opportunity to practice deep listening in nature and in relationship with each other. Newcomers and practitioners are welcome.
Learn to identify birds living in the area or passing through on their spring migrations—from orioles and tanagers to gnatcatchers, vireos, and colorful warblers. Classes meet at the locations listed below.
April 19: BBG and Prospect Park
May 3: Central Park
May 10: Central Park, North End
May 17: Jamaica Bay NWR
May 31: Ward Pound Ridge
Tai chi and qigong exercises improve balance, increase blood circulation, relax your mind and body, and increase your internal energy. The instructor will demonstrate movements. Please come prepared in clothing that allows for movement.
Tai chi and qigong exercises improve balance, increase blood circulation, relax your mind and body, and increase your internal energy. The instructor will demonstrate movements. Please come prepared in clothing that allows for movement.
Learn the basics of getting your garden in shape for the season! This workshop will take place in the historic Children's Garden, where we will learn by practicing early-spring tasks such as assessing winter damage, pruning, and dividing perennials. We will also consider microclimates in the backyard garden and how to plan for a succession of blooms throughout the year. Participants should dress for the weather and wear clothes and shoes that can get dirty.
Learn the basics of asexual propagation and build your plant collection by growing herbaceous plants from stem and leaf cuttings. After a crash course in propagation, participants will practice techniques and take a variety of houseplant cuttings to grow at home.
Want to care for your landscape in a way that promotes biodiversity and supports pollinators? We’ll explore principles of ecological garden care including rethinking the lawn, maintaining biomass, loving your soil, planting for ecology, and so much more. We’ll go in-depth on a few principles and explore small and big changes anyone can make to improve the health of their garden.
Learn how to incorporate more native plants into our urban environment to build habitat for birds, insects, and other animals. We’ll explore reasons to choose native plants while introducing trees, shrubs, perennials and groundcovers that will thrive in different urban spaces. Whether you’re caring for a rooftop, backyard, public space, or street planting, there is a native plant to choose!
Design a stunning indoor or outdoor container garden. Learn how to select the right plants for your site and how to combine plant and container forms for striking effect. This workshop will also cover container planting care, including transplanting, root pruning, fertilizing, and watering.
The diverse landscapes of Brooklyn Botanic Garden provide a unique opportunity to hone outdoor drawing skills; its various settings from formal esplanades to native flora provide diverse challenges. My goal is to equip students to sketch successfully outside, whether in the city or remote wilderness. We will cover preparation, portable tools, location planning, and most importantly comfort and safety. Selection of subject matter and pictorial composition are at the core of the class, creating a framework for successful drawings. I will also introduce additional resources for self study, incorporating geology, botany, architecture, etc. This class is suitable for all levels.
Since plants can’t move, they rely on birds, bees, and other animals to cary their pollen from flower to flower. This class will cover the anatomy, habitat, and behavior of hummingbirds and bees as well as techniques for rendering their vivid hues in colored pencil, watercolor, and graphite. We will work from photographs and share tips for sketching in the field. This class would be most appropriate for those with some drawing experience.
List of required materials forthcoming.
Winter is a great time to capture the beauty of BBG’s gardens. There is an old saying—the best camera to use is the one you have with you. Almost all of us own a smartphone—and probably use that as our primary camera. This class will emphasize composition. Lectures and demonstrations will offer insight in to the tools that help enhance your images, and prepare them for printing.
At BBG: 2 Saturdays: January 25; February 8
Zoom: 2 Saturdays: February 1, 15
Learn how to work with the complex color green as we celebrate the first buds of spring. We will cover a variety of other techniques (wet on wet, wet on dry, and glazing). Your instructor will offer extensive demonstrations and answer questions. All levels are welcome!
Better understand the practical tools and techniques for plant care, pruning, transplanting, and other essential tasks. Learn about the maintenance of annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs, container plantings, and turfgrass. Become a more well-versed horticulturist through problem-solving, hands-on activities, and garden explorations. Each class session focuses on a different maintenance topic.
Healthy soil is the foundation for a healthy garden ecosystem and abundant crops. In this course, learn about soil’s contents and physical and chemical properties, soil fertility management, and soil cultivation techniques. Gain an understanding of soil improvement practices—including composting, cover cropping, soil testing, and mulching. The instructor will share videos and activities for hands-on learning and facilitate group discussion to share experiences and grow our knowledge and understanding of soil.
This course acquaints students with the field of landscape design. Beginning with an introduction to the history of garden design, the class will progress to include key design principles, terminology, and a general overview of plants and materials. Students will produce a base plan, site analysis, and concept design for an urban garden through hands-on exercises and independent site visits. Students will virtually present a final project to the class during the last session; attendance is mandatory.
As you learn to grow and care for landscape plants, it’s essential to know how to increase your stock. In this class, you are introduced to a variety of plant propagation techniques using both seed and vegetative material. After a lecture and demonstration, each method is practiced in a hands-on lab session in our Education Greenhouse.
Madelyn Ringold-Brown is the gardener and curator of the Fragrance Garden and Shakespeare Garden at BBG. She fostered a passion for ornamental horticulture through the John Nally internship at Wave Hill where she learned to appreciate the rhythm of the seasons and the ways that a public garden can act as a living archive. Before arriving at BBG in 2021, she spent some years working in private horticulture in Manhattan. She studied public art in college and pursues public horticulture as an interactive ever-changing work of communal art. Madelyn especially loves working in one of the spaces at BBG where visitors are encouraged to touch the plants and connect with the garden through the strong memories that fragrant plants elicit.
Andrew Cannon is an artist and amateur mycologist, and serves as the archivist for the New York Mycological Society. He has had work exhibited at the Santa Monica Museum, White Columns, and Page Gallery among numerous others. He became interested in fungi while taking a botany course in 2008 and has participated in mycological societies in Los Angeles and New York ever since. He also enjoys identifying and foraging plants, and cooking meals with wild ingredients.
Wilton Rao is an engineer, naturalist, and walk leader at the New York Mycological Society. As an amateur mycologist, he specializes in the diversity of urban lichens. He has led mushroom walks at the New York Botanical Garden and Pioneer Works. Passionate about urbanism, ecology, and their intersection, he spends his time documenting the wildlife of NYC in every park, lawn, and train platform he explores. His other interests include foraging, paleontology, and reading about cultural and economic history.
Eve Hauser has worked in the Education department at BBG since 2021 and is currently one of the Children’s Garden coordinators. She is passionate about plants, storytelling, food, bugs, and compost.
Barbara Kurland is BBG's director of Learning and Partnerships, where she manages school programs and teacher-training programs as well as partnerships with other institutions. She holds a BA from Vassar College and an MA from Lehman College, CUNY, both in biology, and before joining the Garden in 1989, she taught middle and high school science in the New York City public schools.
Patrick Austin is the plant propagator and nursery gardener at BBG. A former BBG propagation intern, he has an undergraduate degree in Linguistics, and is always interested in learning about how plants got their names. He has also worked at Greenbelt Native Plant Center, propagating native plant species for habitat restoration around the five boroughs.
A strong foundation in botany is essential to understanding how to maintain a healthy landscape. This course includes discussions on plant anatomy, plant life cycles and reproduction, taxonomy, and plant physiology. This course requires no previous knowledge of botany and is recommended as a first course in the Certificate in Horticulture program.
Every March through November, a group of seasonal gardeners joins the staff to support Brooklyn Botanic Garden during its busiest nine months.
A day in the life of a seasonal gardener can be varied, from planting and watering, to mulching and mowing, to working with volunteers and seeing how BBG gardeners organize their day and prioritize their tasks. Seasonals, many early in their horticulture careers, assist and learn from gardeners in all parts of the Garden, from the conservatories to more naturalistic areas.
“We really depend on and are grateful for their support, and hope that it’s mutually beneficial,” says Shauna Moore, director of Horticulture. “It’s an opportunity for them to explore where they might want to focus in their horticulture careers.”
(From left) Seasonal gardeners Moe Fata, Emily Symonds, and Dylan Smith at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Photo by Elizabeth Peters.
Education is part of BBG’s mission, Moore adds, and applicants come in with a range of experience levels. “I look for someone who really wants to be here and has a deep desire to learn.”
Below, three of BBG’s nine seasonal gardeners—Moe Fata, Dylan Smith, and Emily Symonds—share their most memorable experiences at BBG, their advice for people interested in careers in horticulture, and, most importantly, their favorite weed.
How did you get into horticulture?
Moe: Growing up in New York, I’d never even seen a tomato plant. Toward the end of college, I started looking into nutrition and health, and it led me to plants. A lot of people don’t know that their food comes from plants, and that was very inspiring to me. We’ve lost that connection between plants and our food and our health.
I listened to a TED talk by Ron Finley, and he was doing something called guerrilla gardening or gangsta gardening. He inspired my journey into permaculture. I remember he talked about living in a food desert, where there is a lack of plants, lack of nutrition, lack of connection between plants and people.
I got most of my horticulture experience in Florida. I started working at a nursery and learned the ropes. I learned how to do conventional gardening, spraying chemicals, which is not my preference. I moved on to other nurseries, which were also fairly conventional.
This is not on my resume, but I’ve also done a lot of guerrilla gardening in places like canals, gas stations, areas that people don’t maintain. And at my mom’s house in south Florida, I grew nine different varieties of spinach, sugarcane, bananas, papaya, a lot of things that BBG has in the Conservatory.
I eventually started my own company in Florida, and won an award in 2019. I was looking for what New York had to offer, and I found BBG.
Dylan: I was working at a restaurant in the East Village around the time of the pandemic, and was looking to make a transition out of that. You know, that’s a crazy culture, up all night, never seeing daylight, essentially. And that was starting to get to me.
I ended up moving upstate with a group of friends and found work with a gardener, and I worked for him for four years. So he kind of taught me the ropes. And I learned that I loved to work outside during the daytime. It was a lot better for me.
I moved back to the city in 2023 and started doing rooftops and backyards. I think private horticulture, because it’s for-profit, is more about doing as much as you possibly can as fast as you can. It’s just different work. And so when I found this seasonal gardener opportunity on MetroHort, I was relieved to know that this type of horticulture position exists. It’s still high intensity work, but the focus is on making the best decisions for the Garden.
Emily: I studied environmental science, and there was always this interest in being outside and talking about plants or green things. Once I got out of college, through a connection with the research group that I was in, I started working for the New York Restoration Project in their Sherman Creek Park area, which is awesome. And then I transferred into the community garden section and worked in their Brooklyn community garden branch, which was also so much fun.
After that, I went to California and worked on a farm and studied herbalism as well as sustainable agriculture and no-till soil practices. And then coming back to Brooklyn, this year, I landed the gig that I’m in now. I feel really inclined to work with plants. I think my biggest interests are in native plants, edible plants, and medicinal plants.
What’s an average day like for you at Brooklyn Botanic Garden?
Emily: We’re on a rotating schedule, which means we work with two gardeners at a time and we’re in a different section of the Garden every four weeks. Right now, I’m with Jenny Blackwell in the Discovery Garden and Wayken Shaw in Lily Pool Terrace and Magnolia Plaza. So we show up and check in with our gardener, and usually we get moving pretty fast.
In the morning we’re often prepping for the Garden to open to the public. So that could mean watering, especially in areas that get water on the path, because you can’t have those going during the day. Once the public is in, we transition to projects for the day, from invasive removal and weeding, which is very common, to doing some planting.
Dylan: It really is so incredibly varied day to day. Phil [Macaluso, foreperson of grounds] emphasizes the educational aspect of it, so he slows everything down and teaches us how to work the machinery safely. I’ve done everything from unloading topsoil from box trucks to learning the Latin names of asters with Jesse Brody.
Moe: Today in the Native Flora Garden we were chopping down pine needles and creating mulch to acidify the soil for blueberry shrubs, because blueberries love acidic soil. My favorite task so far was probably working in Belle’s Brook, clearing out organic matter. I’ve installed ponds and I know all the work that goes into water features. It’s a very tough job, but it’s satisfying, too, it’s interesting.
Any other favorite tasks?
Dylan: Looking for mugwort in the Native Flora Garden meadow with Will Lenihan. I would get to enter the meadow, tall goldenrod up to my eye level, and just get down and search for mugwort and bindweed while learning from Will. He was really working hard at weed suppression, and I learned a lot of different ways you can do that successfully. We were pulling specific types of asters that he didn’t want in the garden and putting them down as straw to suppress bindweed. It’s like a closed circuit, ecologically, and it was fascinating to see that.
Emily: I got to plant rice in the Herb Garden. That was a first for me. And I loved working on the mow crew, which handles turfgrass-related responsibilities. In the beginning of June, on my first day of mow crew, we found a Pride flag on the ground and strapped it to the mow truck. It’s still there! It was a really wonderful, silly, inclusive space.
Do you have any advice for people who are interested in a career in horticulture?
Moe: I would say find what you like and don’t be afraid to mess up. Also, there are a lot of different things you can do with horticulture. My passion is edible and medicinal plants, but someone else’s passion could be rose gardening, or it could be native flora. So try to focus on your passion, but if life takes you to a different garden, be open to it.
Emily: Something that is really important for me living in such a big city is being outside and working with plants. I feel a natural pull to it. There are a ton of people out there who are creating really wonderful projects and opportunities in horticulture. A lot of it is volunteer or seasonal; there aren’t that many full-time paid positions out there. But my hope is that it continues to grow, especially as green space continues to be, hopefully, more prioritized in the city.
For people who are interested in the field, just finding people to talk about it with is really useful. Volunteering is great. Finding organizations that you connect with and talking to them. The horticulture and green space world is a small network, and you can very quickly start to tap into it and hopefully start making a bunch of connections.
Dylan: The most surprising thing that I found is that the people in the industry are really rad nerds. I feel like I found my people. They’re cool, sweet, nerdy people who are really good at what they do. I didn’t expect to bond so hard with the other seasonals, but it really felt like the beginning of a Netflix show.
For anyone who doesn’t have a degree in horticulture, I recommend saving up and taking Horticulture Certificate courses at BBG. I’m in the botany class right now. It’s been really helpful on a practical level, and I’ve also heard that the certificate goes a long way when applying to work in gardens around the city.
Moe: My favorite weed is purslane(Portulaca oleracea). In my own garden, I don’t consider it a weed. It has high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which is pretty rare for plants. I would pickle it or just eat it raw.
Dylan: Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis). Apparently convolvulus means “entwined” and arvensis means “of the field,” which is exactly what bindweed does in real life—wrapping around the stalks of plants and overwhelming them, almost pulling them down.
Emily: Definitely mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris). It’s everywhere, it’s super aggressive. It’s really hard to get rid of. But it’s also a medicinal plant, and it’s known as a dream herb, or an herb that enhances dreams. In the horticulture world, everyone’s shaking their fists at it. But I think it’s right on. I think it’s a total rebel.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Performing Artist in Residence program allows artists and visitors to experience the Garden through a different lens.
Check back in January for information about the 2025 residency.
Past Artists in Residence
2024 Artist in Residence: Patrick Costello
In 2024, Brooklyn Botanic Garden hosted Patrick Costello as artist in residence. During his residency, Costello led a family-friendly hand-puppet workshop, conducted a community chorus in the Garden, and created an immersive and participatory processional performance called The Holes are Alive: A Garden Tour focused on plants and pollinators.
2023 Artist in Residence: Kamala Sankaram
From June through September 2023, Brooklyn Botanic Garden hosted Kamala Sankaram as artist in residence. Drawing inspiration from trees in our collection, tree care and caretakers, and the symbolism of trees as places of gathering, shelter, and culture, Sankaram created two new pieces inspired by the Garden’s 2023 theme, Power of Trees.
2022 Artist in Residence: Jean-René Delsoin
During his summer 2022 residency, Delsoin’s study of BBG’s gardens, plants, trees, and wildlife along with Haitian culture, traditions, and heritage informed a work created and presented in collaboration with NYC-based dance and drum practitioners.
APPLICATION
Eligibility
Discipline: Artists interested in the live performance world including (but not limited to) choreographers, dancers, musicians, playwrights, and theater makers.
Artist must be a resident of New York City. This residency does not provide housing or transportation.
Artist must respect the plant life and abide by Garden rules. A residency contract will be executed.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden is an equal opportunity organization and encourages all eligible applicants to apply.
Application Components
Portfolio of 3–5 pieces of work
Resume
Written proposal including:
Performance ideas integrating the 2024 theme
Public engagement ideas
Artist’s relation to or interest in botanic subject matter
Anticipated needs for residency supplies, equipment, and space
Selection
Applications will be reviewed by a committee composed of Brooklyn Botanic Garden staff, previous artists in residence, and Brooklyn Committee.
Selection is based on the applicant’s proposal of performance relating to the Natural Attraction theme and relation to or interest in botanic subject matter.
Applications open in January. Please check back.
Support
Art in the Garden is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Installation Map
Over a million dazzling lights animate the enchanting trail of installations for the Garden’s after-dark, illuminated spectacular Lightscape.
Enjoy snacks and drinks along the trail, or stop at the Lightscape Café for more filling fare. Warm up and enjoy a craft cocktail in the Lightscape Bar. For a full-service seated dinner, reserve a table at
Lightscape Lodge; walk-ins accepted as space allows. See the map below for locations.
New! Reserve a sit-down dinner at Lightscape Lodge at Yellow Magnolia Café. Please book for 30 minutes after your Lightscape entry; walk-ins accepted as space allows.
Join us for a movie under the stars! Bring a blanket, grab some snacks, and enjoy the show.
Please note that bags will be checked at the entrance. All areas of the Garden other than Cherry Esplanade and the Steinberg Visitor Center restrooms will close at 8:30 p.m. The only exit open after the movie is 990 Washington Avenue.
Ask a Gardener is a seasonal advice column written by BBG gardener Laura Powell.
How can I attract birds and insects to my garden in the fall?
Masha, Ridgewood, NY
Dear Masha,
Fall is a great time to think about how to attract birds and insects to your garden. There are two main aspects to consider in your quest: plant selection and gardening practices.
When choosing plants, keep an eye out for species that are attractive to birds and insects. Plants native to your region are usually a good start, since they often provide food, shelter, or overwintering habitat for the insects and birds that evolved alongside them. The more diverse your planting, the more diverse your garden wildlife will be.
Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) is a hit with cedar waxwings. Photo by Michael Stewart.
Looking for some examples? Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginia), a drought-tolerant evergreen tree with powdery-blue berries, is so beloved by cedar waxwings that the birds are named after the tree. American winterberry (Ilex verticillata), a deciduous shrub with bright red berries, also attracts lots of birds in the fall and winter, from waxwings to bluebirds. The dried seed heads of black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) and purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) are a goldfinch magnet; Rudbeckia and Echinacea species are also larval host plants for pollinators like the silvery checkerspot butterfly.
The way you tend your garden can make a difference, too. Planting in dense clusters instead of isolating individual plants helps attract wildlife. Birds and insects are more likely to flock to a mass of plants than a solitary bloom.
Leaving seed heads in place provides lovely fall texture and food for the birds. Photo by Michael Stewart.
And while you may be tempted to cut back all your perennials as soon as they turn a little brown, leaving some areas wild can be beneficial. If you let the seed heads remain all winter, they’ll provide food for birds, while hollow stems left intact offer habitat for overwintering bees. Allowing fallen leaves to stay on the ground provides winter shelter for beneficial insects, too. The leaves will break down over time and nourish the soil.
Over time, even in the chillier, quieter part of the year, you will start to discover a dynamic ecosystem that supports itself in delightful ways.
Is it worth it to collect seeds from my plants? How do I collect seeds?
Kai,Brooklyn, NY
Dear Kai,
Collecting seeds is one of my favorite parts of gardening!
It’s a rewarding way to conserve resources; saving seeds from your plants this year means you’ll have fewer to buy next year. Plus, the seeds you collect from your garden will likely be better suited to your local growing conditions, making your plants more resilient to water shortages and pests as they adapt over generations. And exchanging seeds is a great way to connect with other gardeners.
Before you start, keep in mind that not all seedlings will be identical to the parent plant. Straight species are more likely to “come true from seed,” meaning the offspring plants will have the same characteristics as the parent plants. Most cultivars (cultivated varieties) and first-generation hybrids are less predictable, and some produce seeds that are sterile.
Your best bet if you want the offspring to resemble the parent plant is to collect from straight species or heirloom varieties.
Here are some steps you can follow:
Choose healthy plants. Pick the best-looking, most vigorous and productive plants for seed saving. You want to pass on those strong genes to the next generation.
Allow the seeds to mature. Some fruits (like beans or peas) should be dry before collecting the seed. Others will still be wet (tomatoes, peppers), but should be fully ripe when you collect.
Harvest seeds. How you do this depends on the type of seed:
Dry seeds: Wait until the seedpods or heads turn brown and dry. Then break open the pods or head and collect the seeds. (Watch my colleague Patrick demonstrate on a sunflower.)
Wet seeds: Scoop the seeds out of the fruit, separate from the pulp, and rinse. Spread seeds out and allow to dry completely. (Learn how to save tomato seeds.)
Store seeds. Place dry seeds in storage containers (paper envelopes work well), and keep in a cool, dry place. Don’t forget to label with the plant name and date.
Plant or share soon! Seeds have a shelf life, so don’t wait more than a year or two before planting or sharing them.
Seed saving is a meaningful way to connect to the cycles of nature, so enjoy the process. Even though fall seems like an ending, collecting seeds reminds us that a new beginning is just around the corner.
Can I plant local flora and expect it to thrive with the rain, as opposed to me having to water it all the time?
Sophia, Brooklyn, NY
Planting local flora, also called native plants, is an excellent way to create a low-maintenance, ecologically friendly garden. Native plants are more likely to be adapted to the local climate, soil, and rainfall patterns, which means they typically require less water, fertilizer, and general care than nonnative species.
However, it’s important to note that while they are more resilient, you can’t always rely on rainfall to sustain them. Even native plants will need extra water sometimes, especially when they are newly planted and still establishing their roots.
Backing up for a moment—what’s a native plant, again? Here in the U.S., if a plant grew in a given region prior to European colonization (a lot of plants, including many that now function as weeds or invasive species, came with Europeans), it’s generally considered native. Another way of thinking about it is that a native plant has been around long enough to coevolve with local flora and fauna.
New York aster (Symphyotrichum novi-belgii) is found in coastal habitats and riverbanks in Eastern North America, ranging from Newfoundland to South Carolina. Photo by Michael Stewart.
This definition does not guarantee that every native plant will thrive without supplemental water in our area today. Our concrete-packed city—and our climate—is different than it was 200 or 500 years ago, so not everything that grew easily and naturally in this area in the year 1500 will grow readily now.
Plus, the term “native” can be a bit broad. Some people use it to refer to plants from within a hundred-mile radius (this is the rule that guides planting decisions in BBG’s Native Flora Garden) or in a particular ecoregion, while others might use it to refer to plants from the Northeast, or even from within the continental United States.
I don’t mean to overcomplicate the issue, but as your trusty garden advisor, I feel honor-bound to clarify that choosing native plants is not a magic formula to make your garden low-maintenance and drought tolerant. You must also do what wise gardeners always do: Choose the right plant for the right place.
It is important to consider the specific conditions in your garden (sun exposure, soil type, microclimate) when selecting plants. If you plant a native, shade-loving plant in full sun, it will be neither low-maintenance nor drought tolerant—but situated in a shady area, it could potentially thrive with little attention from you.
Native plants are a great option, both for the environment and for shortening your to-do list—just select them carefully, site them appropriately, and give them lots of water early on to help them get started.
Got a question for Laura? Submit questions for our winter installment of Ask a Gardener using the form below.
Join us for an exclusive evening in the C.V. Starr Bonsai Museum, where you and a guest are invited to enjoy bubbly drinks and sweet treats as you learn about the Garden’s extensive and unique bonsai collection.
As the sun sets, take a leisurely stroll through the stunning variety of plants that call the Steinhardt Conservatory pavilions and Aquatic House and Orchid Collection home. Throughout the night, you’ll have the opportunity to chat with David Castro, curator of the Bonsai Museum and resident bonsai expert.
Event RSVP
This invitation is for two and is nontransferable. Enter the email address for your President's Circle membership to register.
President’s Circle members provide essential financial support to the Garden and enjoy a deepened connection through special behind-the-scenes tours, private previews, and exclusive receptions. Learn more ›
Modeled after a tropical forest, this Conservatory pavilion reaches 65 feet tall to accommodate trees and includes waterfalls and streams. Plants from the Amazon basin, African rainforest, and tropical eastern Asia are represented.
Food, medicinal, industrial, and ornamental plants from all over the world are planted throughout the house, including banana plants, native to Southeast Asia; rubber tree species, from Central America; and palm trees from Madagascar. You will also see some favorite houseplant species growing beneath the canopy of taller shrubs and trees.
The Aquatic House displays plants from Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s orchid collection as well as a variety of tropical and subtropical aquatic and wet-environment plants from around the world.
At the entry of the Aquatic House is a paludarium whose terrestrial components feature a variety of plants including ferns, mosses, aroids, and orchids, while waterfalls cascade into a six-foot-deep pool that displays both submerged and emergent aquatic plants. A second, larger pool features a variety of aquatic plants and trees as well as a naturalistic bog display. These wet-environment plantings highlight a range of physical adaptations plants have made to live in, on, and near water.
A diverse sampling of the Garden’s collection of several thousand orchids and other epiphytic plants is permanently on display in the Aquatic House—particularly warmer-growing orchids in the Vanda Alliance and Bulbophyllum, Coryanthes, and Sobralia genera. Many more are cultivated in the horticulture greenhouses, and as different specimens come into bloom, they are rotated into the Aquatic House for display. One of the more notable species in the collection, on permanent display in the Aquatic House, is the Garden’s 300-pound tiger orchid specimen (Grammatophyllum speciosum).
The Desert Pavilion displays plants native to arid regions of the world. One side of the pavilion is devoted to those from North and South America, including the southwestern United States, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile. The other side includes those from Africa, Madagascar, the Canary Islands, and Australia.
The shrubs, trees, cacti, succulents, and wildflowers here illustrate the diversity of desert plant life as well as different adaptations developed to survive a desert climate. Highlights include the collection of Madagascan plants, lithops, desert ephemerals, and wildflowers.
Desert Pavilion curator Caitlin Ndoye introduces us to BBG’s unique and important collection of plant specimens from the world’s desert and arid regions.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s world-class bonsai collection is displayed in the C.V. Starr Bonsai Museum. Some of the trees are well over a century old, with many still cultivated in their original containers.
The display changes with the seasons, and as many as 30 specimens are on exhibit at any given time. More than 400 temperate and tropical bonsai trained in classic modes such as the windswept, slanted trunk, rock clinging, and forest styles are included in the collection, one of the largest on display outside Japan.
The Elizabeth Scholtz Woodland Garden features an open-air walled garden and an accessible path that meanders through a rolling landscape connecting the Lilac Collection, the Osborne Garden, the Native Flora Garden, and Maple Grove.
The garden was designed as a source of inspiration to urban gardeners, featuring plants that flourish in shady, relatively dry conditions, like ferns, sedges, and may-apples. Modeled after a natural woodland, it includes multiple layers beneath the canopy: smaller trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants of different heights. On-site signage provides visitors with tips and techniques for maintaining their own sustainable and successful city gardens.
The Shelby White and Leon Levy Water Garden is a small wetland and riparian environment with a meandering path that leads visitors past a babbling brook and tranquil pond surrounded by resilient plants that flourish at the water's edge.
The diverse palette of trees, shrubs, ferns, and other plants is a mix of ornamentals and “working plants” that filter water and provide habitat and food for wildlife. Many of the species, such as black tupelo, can handle both wet and dry conditions.
Other plants prefer consistent moisture, like sedges and rushes, and can be seen growing along the pond and brook. Among the summer highlights are several varieties of Hibiscus, whose large, showy flowers provide bursts of red, white, and pink amid the garden' lush greenery from late July through September.
The pond and stream, known as Belle’s Brook, are part of the Garden’s Water Conservation Project which allows the Garden to filter and recirculate fresh rainwater and groundwater throughout its 52-acre watershed, reducing water consumption and easing the burden on the city storm drains.
More than 80 kinds of plants mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare grow in this English cottage–style garden. Many are labeled with the common or Shakespearean name, the botanical name, a relevant quotation from a poem or play by the Bard, and a graphic illustration of the plant.
Spring brings a lovely display of bulbs, starting with
snowdrops as early as February, followed by a succession of daffodils, fritillary, squill, dwarf irises, and tulips.
In summer, lettuces, berries, and herbs are interplanted with ornamental plants in the beds in the style of a European kitchen garden, surrounded by gorgeous borders of lilies, poppies, and snapdragons. Sprays of asters appear in fall.
The Cranford Rose Garden has been one of BBG’s most popular attractions since it first opened in 1928. In June, when the roses are in full bloom, tens of thousands of blossoms cascade down arches, climb up lattices, clamber over the pavilion, and pose in formal beds. Here, in one of the largest collections in North America, thousands of rosebushes are cultivated, including wild species, old garden roses, hybrid teas, grandifloras, floribundas, polyanthas, hybrid perpetuals, climbers, ramblers, and miniatures. Some of the original roses planted in 1927 are still in the Rose Garden today.
Audio Spotlight
Listen along as director of Horticulture and expert rosarian Shauna Moore explores some highlights of the Cranford Rose Garden.
Read Transcript
Hi! I’m Shauna Moore, director of horticulture at Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
The Cranford Rose Garden has been one of the loveliest places to visit at Brooklyn Botanic Garden since it opened in 1928. I’ve admired this garden since I started loving roses too many years ago. Between late May and early June, the roses here really start to sing.
In the 1920’s, Walter Cranford, an engineer who built many of Brooklyn’s subways, donated $15,000 to plant a rose garden at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Today, many of these historic roses are still on display––and the Cranford Rose Garden is one of the broadest collections of rose species and cultivars in North America, hosting well over 5,000 individual plants.
The Cranford Rose Garden is laid out like a traditional rose garden, which means it contains almost exclusively roses. Around the perimeter, you’ll find some bulbs and other flowers mixed in to attract pollinators.
Roses fall into three broad categories: species roses, old garden roses, and modern roses. You'll find modern roses in the center plots, while the species and old garden roses are located along the perimeter.
A species rose is a rose just as nature made it. These typically just flower once per season, only with about five petals. Rosa carolina, which you can find on the northeast corner of the Rose Garden, is a beautiful species rose that’s native to North America.
On the south end of the Rose Garden, as well as around the perimeter, you will find my favorite roses: the old garden roses, also known as heritage or heirloom roses. An old garden rose is a species rose crossed with another species rose. Roses have been cultivated all over the world for thousands of years, likely beginning in China.
One class of old garden rose is the alba rose, which are some of the oldest of the old garden roses. They bloom early and just once each year, and are very fragrant. I love Rosa ‘Königin von Dänemark’ (or ‘Queen of Denmark'), which is on the eastern perimeter adjacent to Cherry Esplanade.
Another class of old garden rose is the Damask rose, which is the national flower of Iran. These are renowned for their fine fragrance. With the Damask roses, we start seeing some roses that bloom more than once a year. Rosa ‘Celsiana’, on the northwest corner of the garden, is a favorite Damask of mine.
The modern roses in the collection are just as important as the species roses and old garden roses. In 1867, rose breeder Jean-Baptiste Guillot introduced the first hybrid tea rose, which is considered the first modern rose. It had a repeat blooming pattern, which really changed everything in the rose world.
Modern roses bloom continuously throughout the season, and often have large blooms. They can be found in the middle plots, and consist of hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras, polyanthas, and many others.
Roses are known for being high maintenance and fussy, but some of the modern roses developed by breeders in recent decades have made growing roses easy and accessible to more people. These newer varieties are also tougher and more resistant to diseases.
Floribunda roses are easy to care for, and pretty disease-resistant. One of my favorite floribundas is named after Julia Child. Look for its beautiful yellow rose, which blooms almost constantly throughout the season.
The very popular shrub rose also belongs to the modern rose category. Shrub roses can be large and sprawling, and they're very vigorous and cold hardy. You’ll find shrub roses like Knockout around the Rose Arc, just south of the Rose Garden.
Thanks for joining me! And while you’re here, don't forget to stop and smell the roses.
When it opened in 1917, the Rock Garden was one of the first rock gardens in an American public garden. Nestled into the hillside along the western border of Brooklyn Botanic Garden just north of the Herb Garden, the Rock Garden features a number of alpine and montane microclimates, home to succulents, heaths, species tulips, and other plants that thrive in rocky, fast-draining soils. The microclimates were created by the careful placement of large boulders, many of them left behind by melting glaciers at the end of the last Ice Age.
Colorful tulips and daffodils are among the first flowers to emerge here in spring, followed by sturdy azaleas and heaths, and delicate columbines, love-in-a-mist, and poppies in late spring. Catchfly and anemones bloom in summer, and in autumn, stonecrops flower among the fall foliage. Winter-blooming witch-hazels provide lovely color in the colder months, often against a backdrop of snow-covered conifers.
The Garden’s historic Plant Family Collection is both a working landscape and a living resource that helps educate visitors about plant evolution.
One of the first features to open after Brooklyn Botanic Garden was established a century ago, this garden displayed closely related plants side by side for educational purposes. Its recent renovation enhanced its rolling hills and meandering brook, and the surrounding beds of plants include some of the original plantings as well as thousands of new woody and herbaceous plants. Plank bridges and grassy walkways allow visitors to walk among the beds and observe the plants up close. The brook is part of the Garden’s Water Circulation Project and helps carry water between the project’s two ponds.
The Robert W. Wilson Overlook is an ascending garden with spectacular views of Cherry Esplanade and the Cranford Rose Garden. Its winding path, shaped by smooth walls with integrated benches, leads visitors through a lush and ever-evolving landscape filled with summer-flowering crape-myrtle trees, ornamental grasses, and herbaceous perennials. The innovative switchback path allows better access to the Garden for visitors of all abilities.
The structure, named in recognition of the late Robert W. Wilson, a former Brooklyn Botanic Garden trustee, was designed by architecture firm Weiss/Manfredi and echoes the adjacent Steinberg Visitor Center, also designed by Weiss/Manfredi. The accessible route encourages visitor engagement with the Garden's landscape through the creation of communal gathering spaces and new vantage points.
The Robert W. Wilson Overlook was longlisted in the prestigious Dezeen Awards in 2022, and won in the Urban Planning/Landscape Architecture category at the 2023 International Architecture Awards.
The semiformal Osborne Garden is the first space visitors pass through upon entering Brooklyn Botanic Garden via the Eastern Parkway entrance. This Italianate garden features an emerald lawn framed by wisteria-draped pergolas.
It is at its most colorful and dynamic in spring, when cherries, wisteria, crabapples, and azaleas bloom in succession. In summer, a lovely variety of annual flowers bloom, giving way to fall foliage, and crabapple fruits that persist through winter. Architectural features include two sets of stone columns and curving acoustic "whispering" benches.
The Native Flora Garden exhibits plants native to the New York metropolitan area arranged to represent the habitats that once flourished here.
The current garden includes a small forest that was established not long after Brooklyn Botanic Garden opened a century ago, along with a newer sunlit portion which includes meadow, bog, and pine barrens habitats. Winding paths and a boardwalk lead visitors through this three-acre space.
Full of life in all seasons, the Native Flora Garden sees some of the first signs of spring in the city when bloodroot, trillium, and other spring ephemerals emerge. In summer, colorful blooms and tall grasses flourish in the meadow, and the garden attracts native bees, wasps, monarchs and other butterflies, as well as migrating and resident birds, from hummingbirds and petite warblers to great blue herons, ospreys, and red-tailed hawks.
Brilliant foliage and late-blooming flowers emerge in autumn, and in winter, small paw prints can be seen leading away from the bare, hollow trees, and back again.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden is committed to making its gardens, exhibitions, programs, and facilities accessible to all who visit. Garden Entrances Visitors using wheelchairs can enter the Garden using any of the public entrances when the Garden is open. The nearby Prospect Park and Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum MTA stations have elevators.…
