chanda has been talking about visiting the brooklyn botanic garden for over a month now. she had initially wanted to visit during
sakura matsuri, but we didn't get out in time that particular morning (which i'm sure she still feels upset about), so we finally made the trip today. we actually left at 7:30 am! it was nice to be out early, though the traffic in brooklyn was quite heavy! we arrived at the garden just as the rest of the world was arriving at school . . we passed moms and dads and caregivers dropping off their little ones, and we passed multitudes of teenagers heading into their respective buildings. the clara barton high school for health professionals is directly across from the garden entrance, and it was very busy. the traffic on the street was so slow that we decided to park in the garden's lot, to avoid having to crawl around the block again. it was free day at the garden, but we did pay for the parking!
it's such a late spring this year, that we were able to catch the cherry blossoms still in bloom, even though it was two weekends past the festival.
walking through the garden always brings back many memories for us as we used to live within walking distance. we attended many sakura matsuri festivals, along with the first of may planting sale days, and passed many afternoons eating potato salad in the garden's outdoor cafe. we also sneaked many homemade sandwiches along the paths of the japanese garden (trying to look nonchalant as we passed security guards).
fallen blossoms are fair game.
snowing cherry blossoms . .
there's so much to exclaim over . . cherry blossoms, wisteria . .
lilacs!
earth is a paradise waiting to be discovered over and over, if we just take care of her.
sketching the lilacs . .
morgana's favorite: littleleaf lilac, syringa microphylla, of the olive family, oleaceae.
chanda chose to sketch the armenian grape-hyacinth, muscari armeniacum, of the hyacinth family, hyacinthaceae, found in southeast europe to the caucasus.
we took a walk to the pavilions . .
our first visit was to the bonsai museum . . where we saw a lilac bonsai. i read that the younger plants are taken out of their pots every few months to have their roots pruned, but only every two or three years when they are older. the flowers were so tiny . . like little fairy flowers . .
in the tropical zone pavilion we saw a cork oak tree, quercus suber, of the beech family, fagaceae . .
and a black pepper tree . . the berries are green when immature, red when ripe, and black when dried.
this is a coffee bean tree . .
two pits or seeds nestle together inside a red fruit (only one pit can be seen here).
there were quite a few school groups making their way through the pavilions. i couldn't help showing a few young ones the coffee beans . . i noticed many were taking pictures with their smartphones. one very young (but small) group of four year olds was with a woman who pointed out to them the different plants and what the fruits and seeds were used for. the other groups were very large and just meandered through . .
more coffea arabica, of the madder family, rubiaceae . .
and here is the cacao tree, theobroma cacoa, an evergreen tree of the mallow family, malvaceae. the tree is native to tropical america, but today the leading growers of the world's cocoa are the west african countries of ivory coast and ghana.
the starfruit . .
and the jackfruit . . artocarpus heterophyllus, of the mulberry family, moraceae, found in india to the malay peninsula.
the crocodile fern, native to south africa . .
and a mahogany tree, one of the tallest trees in mexico and central and south america. it grows up past the canopy and stands above the surrounding trees.
here we are in home territory, the sonoran desert of the southwest united states . .
with a mesquite tree, prosopis glandulosa, of the bean family, leguminosae.
the great saguaro cactus, sentinel of the desert, in which little owls like to make their nest. chanda remembers reading a story about them in her ladybug magazine.
back outside in the rock garden . .
with lilies of the valley. they smell so heavenly and are so tiny . .
a jackrabbit! we've seen these fellows out on the island, at my mom and dad's home. this is the first time we've seen them at the botanic garden.
where did the rabbit go? he actually reappears further up from the little boy, but then i start panning to the other side of the green . .
i've always loved this entrance to the garden with all the azaleas.
reading the penderwicks on daddy's nook . .
the next flower to bloom: irises.
as we were leaving, chanda noticed a table set for lunch in the visitor's center.
i suppose it looked very yummy and tempting . .
the entrance way along here used to hold an herb garden with a simple brick arch. it felt odd to have such a big building there now.
one final look at the blossom strewn path . . (many wedding pictures are taken here, and then the reception is held in the conservatory by the lily ponds . . very beautiful!)
and the japanese tree peonies . .
hana no kumo kane wa ueno ka asakusa ka
a cloud of cherry blossoms;
the temple bell,－
is it uneno, is it asakusa?
matsuo basho, translated by r. h. blyth
