A Weekend at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Part 3: The Rock Garden

Posted on 2008-04-08 by admin

The Rock Garden, viewed from just inside the southernmost entrance.

A year ago I “discovered” the Rock Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden:

I did get to see the Rock Garden as I had planned. I wasn’t disappointed. I don’t usually get to see this garden. It just seems off the beaten path during my usual visits. I want to visit it more often.
– A Visit to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, April 1, 2007

The Rock Garden lies between the main western path of the garden and Flatbush Avenue. I’ve been able to visit the Rock Garden each month so far this year. Spring seems to be a peak time of year for this garden.

This boulder-strewn slope provides some of the earliest signs of spring as well as brilliant color in the fall. Opened to the public in 1917, it was the first rock garden of considerable size in an American botanic garden.

BBG’s Rock Garden uses boulders to define beds and create pockets of microclimates where plants with a variety of special needs are able to thrive. Many of the plants showcased are compact and suited to growing in small spaces.

Many of the boulders that pepper the landscape were unearthed during construction of various parts of BBG, and were deposited on the site during the last ice age.

During a renovation in 1992, additional boulders, imported from Westchester County, were added to the original collection, pathways were widened, and steps were eliminated wherever possible. Today the Rock Garden is about two-thirds wheelchair and stroller accessible …

The heaths were buzzing with bees when I visited on Saturday.

Erica carnea ‘Springwood Pink’

Heaths and Spring Bulbs

Right now, the Rock Garden is also a great place to see a wide variety of Daffodils and other Spring bulbs in bloom.

Narcissus in the Rock Garden

Narcissus ‘Prologue’

Narcissus ‘Wee Bee’

The Hellebores were also happy.

Helleborus orientalis, Lenten-Rose

And just keep looking around. There’s something new and different everywhere you look.

Corydalis

Corylopsis pauciflora, Buttercup Winterhazel

Rhododendron P.J.M.

I also swung by the Rock Garden when I attended Making Brooklyn Bloom on Saturday, March 8. During breaks in the rains, it was lovely.

Crocuses in the Rock Garden

Crocuses and Snowdrops

Crocus tommasinianus

Pair a Ducks

Part 1: The Osborne Garden
Part 2: Magnolia Plaza
First Crocus, Rock Garden, BBG, February 16, 2008
Brooklyn Botanic Garden, January 21, 2008
Brooklyn Botanic Garden, April 14 and April 1, 2007
My Flickr photo sets of BBG’s Rock Garden

Links

Rock Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden

First Crocus, Rock Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Posted on 2008-02-17 by admin

Not in my garden, yet, but today I saw my first Crocus of the season in the Rock Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

I almost overlooked it. It’s tucked in at the base of the south face of a large boulder in the Rock Garden. A perfect location for solar heating to get a head start on his little crocusey friends.

Ah, but look. There are some crocusey friends to his left, two of them.

I’m thinking Crocus tommasinanus.

Here’s the Yucca again which I photographed a few weeks ago. I like how the leaves capture the light.

The Witchhazels I also photographed a month ago are now fading, but still colorful.

Just starting to come into their own are the heaths in the Rock Garden. I look forward to watching them progress over the new few months.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden, January 2008

Posted on 2008-01-22 by admin

Goldfish Under Glass, Lily Pool Terrace, BBG

Last Saturday, I attended a meeting of Brooklyn community gardeners at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. I arrived at BBG early so I could enjoy the solitude and wintry setting.

Rock Garden

I was hoping to find some early blooms in the Rock Garden. I didn’t, but there was still some activity there. It’s beautiful in all seasons, anyway.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get the id tag for this guy. I think it’s a Yucca. I have some growing in my backyard, but they’re in shade and don’t have the glaucous foliage of this one.

I prefer natural light in my photography. On this day, I experimented with using an attached flash. Most of the flash shots were unsatisfactory, and didn’t reflect what I was seeing when I took the shot. I kept a couple pairs of flash and non-flash shots side-by-side for comparison.

Arum italicum, with and without flash

Partially frozen pond

Iced pond

Helleborus foetidus, with and without flash

Rock pool

Witchhazels

At the northern end of the Rock Garden is BBG’ Witchhazel collection. Lots of action there on my visit.

Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Jelena’

Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Diane’

Hamamelis mollis ‘Pallida’

Hamamelis x intermedia ‘James Wells’

The Rest

From the Witchhazels, I walked along the path past the Caucasian Wingnut, cut across past the Monocot Border to the Lily Pool Terrace, then on to my meeting at BBG’s landmarked Lab/Admin Building.

Path to Oak Circle

Wingnut Support

Monocot Border

BBG Lab & Admin Building

Lily Pool Terrace

Brooklyn Botanic Garden, April 14, 2007

Posted on 2007-04-18 by admin

[Updated 2007.04.19 21:30 EDT: Added Fragrance Garden, Magnolia Plaza, Daffodil Hill, and Lily Pool Terrace.]

Magnolia Flower, Magnolia Plaza, Brooklyn Botanic Garden

We visited the Brooklyn Botanic Garden last Saturday. So did a lot of other people. It was a perfect day, the day before the Nor’Easter hit and dumped a record rainfall on New York City.

As before, two ways you can explore. The title of this post links to the Flickr set of photos. Or, you can explore the Google Map of my visit.

Rock Garden

Caucasian Wingnut

Best. Name. Ever. For a tree. This may be the most photographed non-flowering tree in the Garden. I’ll honor it with its own post some day.

Compost Demonstration Area

Another feature of the Garden deserving of its own post. Just a couple of shots here. Check the Flickr set for all the signage. I liked the homemade styles; either one would work in my garden, now that I have enough space. Yes, I’m a geek.

Native Flora Garden

Japanese Garden

I walked the south path of the garden. I don’t remember ever walking this way before. It’s a different perspective. And it’s also where the turtles like to hang out.

Fragrance Garden

This has the most beautiful stonework in the whole garden. It lies between the Shakespeare Garden and the recently landmarked Laboratory Administration Building which faces Magnolia Plaza.

Magnolia Plaza

They were at their peak when we visited. They’ll be just passing their peak right now.

Daffodil Hill

Originally known as Boulder Hill, there’s still a marker for the old name.

Lily Pool Terrace

The Annual Borders are about to explode with Tulips. I didn’t get any shots of the Mixed (Shrubs and Perennials) Border, which has year-round interest and is lovely right now. Next trip.

A Visit to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, April 1, 2007

Posted on 2007-04-06 by admin

[Updated 2007.04.07 14:30 EDT: Added photos from the Rock Garden.]
[Updated 2007.04.07 11:30 EDT: Began adding photos to this post, and added more photos to the map.]

Screenshot of my Google Map of my visit to BBG on Forsythia Day

The post title and the image above are linked to my first attempt at using the new MyMaps feature of Google Maps. Let me know if/how it works for you. Is this annoying? Helpful? Interesting? Too geeky? Too slow?

The path shows the route I took, roughly, through BBG the day of my visit. Most of the areas and placemarks on the map along the way contain photos. The photos in turn are linked to their Flickr pages. You can also just browse the Flickr set of photos from my visit.

Here are some of the photos from my visit.

Forsythia Distribution

Rock Garden

I did get to see the Rock Garden as I had planned. I wasn’t disappointed. I don’t usually get to see this garden. It just seems off the beaten path during my usual visits. I want to visit it more often.