Commune with Nature at Brooklyn Botanic Gardens

Did you know that there is a wonderful nature getaway a short subway ride away in Brooklyn? The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a little (OK, not so little) swath of land carved out from the hustle and bustle in Brooklyn. It’s smaller than the New York Botanical Garden, but it’s a wonderful and accessible place to enjoy and learn about nature. It is small enough that if you set your mind to it, you could cover it in a day’s outing. At the same time, it’s big enough that there’s always something new to discover.

Getting there: There is one parking lot – it is nestled between the gardens and the Brooklyn Museum and is accessible from Washington Avenue. Via subway, you can arrive to the Eastern Parkway Gate via the 2 or 3 subway lines or you can arrive to the Flatbush Avenue Gate via the B, Q or S lines.

We drove over from Hoboken – a very easy drive across the Manhattan Bridge. We met my friend and her son who is the same age as my son at the entrance. Having been there once before, I already had the optimal route planned out in my mind. I knew that the high point for the kids would be the “Discovery Garden” which is just inside the Flatbush Avenue Gate. So we gradually made our way along the main paths which pass by the Visitor Center and the Lily Pools and then had a nice long visit in the Discovery Garden. There are many hands-on activities in the Discovery Garden and little paths for children to explore. My kids – almost 4 and almost 2 – just loved it. My little one gets frustrated spending time in the stroller – she is always eager to run around with her brother and in the Discovery Garden she could do just that. There are places to dig, to touch flowers and bushes, to survey the adjacent “Children’s Garden” (used for school groups), to splash in water that supports water plants, to explore a worm compost bin and many other things.

After exhausting the kids at the Discovery Garden, we headed back to the Visitor Center to use the restrooms and have lunch at the café which is adjacent to the Steinhardt Conservatory. Our only complaint is the limitation on bringing outside food and drink into the gardens, including into the café. We purchased lots of provisions in the café and supplemented with items we had brought and we got in a little hot water for that. It’s terribly difficult to have an outing with small children – especially picky eaters – without bringing some extra food and drink along. (We promise we won’t litter!)

After lunch we explored some of the other areas of the gardens including the Cherry Esplanade and the Cranford Rose Garden. The boys had a fun time running along the pathways and exploring, although they got into a few tussles over who would push the stroller. Who knew that pushing a stroller was such a desirable activity? It was quite a hot day – 94 degrees and hardly a cloud in the sky. After walking for awhile post-lunch we decided everybody was starting to melt and we should call it a day. Hopefully by the time you read this article it will be a bit cooler – a perfect time for a garden exploration!

Be sure to spend a few minutes on their website before your visit to see if there are any special exhibits or classes. They frequently have fun drop-in workshops for children in the Discovery Garden. Admission is free on Tuesdays year-round and every day from November 20 thru February 27. Also on their website, I was fascinated to read their botanical fieldwork blog and review their vast array of photos including a Flickr group of visitor photos.

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