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Home | Morning View: New York Botanical Garden

May 3, 2009

The New York Botanical Garden sprawls over 250 acres in the Bronx and includes such landmarks as the Haupt Conservatory, a Victorian-era glass confection that provides a home for tropical, desert and temperate indoor gardens.

Photo below from the Haupt Conservatory.

I love the earthy smell and humidity of these big greenhouses full of tropical plants. I imagine that the tropics don't smell like this at all, but it reminds me of going to plant nurseries as a child and picking out starts for our family garden in the spring. Though, of course, we were merely planting tomatoes and peppers, not thirty-foot tall palm trees.

Although it's probably best known these days for its annual Orchid Show, the Botanical Garden is a great place to wander during any of the warmer months. Beyond the Haupt Conservatory and the main building, which is possibly home to a library and other study areas -- always seems to be off-bounds to visitors when I am there -- there are any number of planted and semi-wild garden areas, including what the curators call an "ancient forest" -- 50 acres of native trees and other plant species, some of the trees being nearly 200 years old.

Photo taken in Feb. 16, 2008 with my Canon EOS 30D digital camera and Canon EF-S 17-85mm lens.

-- Aaron | Link