Brooklyn Botanical Garden

Founded in 1910, Brooklyn Botanical Garden lies adjacent to Brooklyn Museum and Prospect Park of Central Brooklyn and consists of more than 14,000 taxa of flora within an area of 52 acres. Open from Tuesday through Sunday from 10 AM till 4:30 PM, it costs USD 18 for adults, USD 12 for students above 12 with ID and seniors above 65 and free for kids below 12 and from Tuesday to Friday during December to February.

It boasts of the “gardens within the garden”, art gallery, children’s garden, composting exhibit, Magnolia plaza and celebrity path. Check out the cherry trees, Cranford Rose Garden, Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden, Shakespeare Garden, Plant Family Collection, Native Flora Garden, Water Garden and Alice Recknagel Ireys Fragrance Garden. More than 6000 orchids including Vanda alliance orchids and 300-pound Tiger orchid are notable along with the paludarium displaying mosses and tree ferns, rockwork, pool and waterfall features at the Aquatic House. Steinhardt Conservatory houses the C.V. Starr Bonsai Museum with nearly 350 tropical and temperate bonsai. Desert Pavilion features Madagascan plants, desert cacti, succulents, lithops and wildflowers from different regions while Tropical Pavilion has Amazonian, Asian and African plants like banana, rubber and palm. Visit Warm Temperate Pavilion in February-March to watch South African bulbs in bloom and watch the historic drawings, images, interpretative signs and plants at Trail of Plant Evolution.