For my second community event report, I went to the New York Botanical Garden located in the Bronx towards the end of November 16th. To get there, I rode the 4 Train near the Union Square Station at 14th street from Carlyle to the Lehman College Station/ Bedford Park Blvd. The trip took approximately 45 minutes but was well worth my time for I was about to see some spectacular display at this floral paradise located in the Bronx. That Sunday when I got there, there was a huge line of people waiting to get in. It took at least a 15 minute wait to enter, however this did not deter me from enjoying myself. I had to make sure that I get money’s worth of sightseeing since I had all day free from school and other obligations.
That said, Garden is not really a garden, instead it’s a huge plot of land (200 acres I believe?) that is drenched in all different types of plant life. There are lots of space for you to explore and literally enough flowers and floral to keep you occupied for the entire afternoon. In addition, there are also different animal life that reside in the garden. You can see all different types of small animals, ranging from tiny birds, to amphibians, to water turtles, to lizards, etc. I’ve heard from some of the people who work there that even beavers and other small mammals live there.
This non-profit organization puts a lot of work in some of its displays/exhibits. Perhaps my favorite one of them all is the Japanese chrysanthemum exhibit called Kiku. At this display exhibit numerous types of chrysanthemum from all over the world, mostly Japanese and some Korean. Exhibit Kiku was an very informative display of the different types of Japanese chrysanthemum technique and cultivation. In addition, there are tons of information located all over the chrysanthemum exhibit that teaches you about different types of chrysanthemum and how to tell them apart. Believe me; it was pretty easy since there was so many of them. In addition to the floras on display, there were also Japanese clothing (kimonos), Japanese art (hanging scrolls), folding screens which were used as decoration and practical purposes, and an assortment of different Japanese objects.
Another one of my favorite exhibits is the orchid exhibit (by the way, the botanical garden offers these exhibits all year long so you can see them anytime you want). There were hundreds of countless orchids that are housed by so many exotic trees. This exhibit is located in a gigantic Greenhouse that you can probably forget that you’re visiting the garden in the middle of autumn. In addition, this exhibit gives you tons of information regarding different species of orchids and which ones are best for growing at home, just in case any visitors are interested in growing their own.
One of the most interesting and perhaps natural areas in this conservatory is probably the 40 acres of forest. The forest is amazing and easy to get lost in. This might sound sad, but I grew up in New York City, so I’ve never actually been to the woods and let alone got lost in the forest. So visiting this wooded area was definitely one of the more exciting parts of my trip here. In addition, the cascading wall fall located here was simply breath taking.
Another one of the “services” that the garden offered was identifying plant life for visitors who are oblivious to any type of vegetation. You just have to find someone who worked there or a botanist who’ll help you identify any plant that you pick up on the way (please don’t go around picking up flowers from exhibits, it is not recommended). The New York Botanical Garden also give free workshops for those who would like to learn the art of gardening and cultivating plant life. For those looking for Christmas gifts, they have a gift shop on premises that offers literature regarding botany, toys for the kids, live plants for households, and the strangest of all, they even have plant inspired jewelry! If you get bored of the great outdoors, this place also has a bookstore/library where you can learn about even more plants and the history of New York.
Overall, my trip to this Botanical Garden was positive. There's nothing like walking through a area filled with plant and animal life and pretending that you are not in the heart of one of the most urbanized cities of the world. It was great afternoon, well spent to say the least, just wandering around in a garden and getting lost. It was basically like an adventure where we had a map and had to find every single exhibit/garden on the map because we were pretty anal people and because we are poor college students who wanted to get our money’s worth. My only regret is not going on a Wednesday which would have saved me a few dollars since Wednesdays are free.
By visiting this garden, it has opened my eyes about why we should conserve plant and wildlife. Nothing is as beautiful as natural beauty and getting out of the city once in a while was such a stress reliving experience that I might go back again on a spare afternoon. This New York Botanical Garden was trying glorying natural that perhaps we should learn from it and try harder to conserve natural and enjoy its intrinsic beauty.