A Saturday in Brooklyn
I've owned a book about the roses at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for some years, but had never seen them in person until today when I visited the garden with a friend from Iowa.
Because we managed to play our cards right, including negotiating the subway from Manhattan to Brooklyn despite disruption due to repairs on one of the lines, we arrived in the 10 a.m. to noon window during which admission is free on Saturday.
We started at the Visitor Center, where a greeter for the New York City Community Gardens Coalition invited us to look in on their 2007 open forum and panel discussion, in progress in the auditorium. Though I was quite taken with her enthusiasm and friendliness, I demurred because my friend and I really wanted to spend our time wandering around the grounds.
To be honest, we also wanted to see what the shop had to offer, so we stopped in there next. The merchandise — all with a botanic connection, of course — was appealing and generally affordable. Being particularly fond of stationery, I bought a bound collection of botanical postcards and a set of notecards with elegant black and white photos of flowers.
From the shop we backtracked a bit to the Japanese garden, which is a wonderful, peaceful spot with plantings arranged on flat and hilly terrain around a large pond. Just about all the plants are labeled, which I particularly appreciate because I'm forever trying to improve my ability to recognize different plants and trees (with slow progress).
After pausing on a bench to phone the Public Theater to reserve tickets for the evening performance of "Passing Strange," my friend and I went on to the Cranford Rose Garden, which the Botanic Garden highlights during June, the peak month for bloom.
The sight that greeted us really was spectacular. The blossoms on some of the bushes had gone by, and others were a bit the worse the wear due to plentiful rain earlier in the month, but the vista was still quite wonderful.
After a stop in the Bonsai Museum and lunch at the cafe, my friend and I went next door to the Brooklyn Museum, another Brooklyn cultural institution that is not to be missed. Following suggestions picked up at the information desk in the lobby, we visited the galleries showing work of Devorah Sperber and Asher B. Durand and then did an initial reconnoitering of the Egyptian collection, a highlight that I will certainly give more time to on a subsequent visit.
As for "Passing Strange," held over at the Public because it has been so well received, this was a welcome opportunity to see Stew in person. He's a performer I've admired since I got a couple of his CDs several years ago. The performance was excellent.
Labels: Travel
posted by Karen Nelson @ 11:33 PM
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