My Day Off at The New York Botanical Garden

Last week I decided to take a day off. My first thought was that I would go to the zoo. After giving it a little thought I reconsidered thinking that in 100 degree weather it was unlikely that there would be much activity at the zoo. Regardless, the animals would probably not be very enthusiastic about moving around so I decided to go to the New York Botanical Gardens.

It didn’t seem like work because I really do love flowers and always have. The Monet exhibit was the main attraction and so my friend Nancy and I decided to go see it.  We started with a tour of the gardens which were all blooming in spite of the heat. Each garden had a different theme and the flowers were enhanced by poems on boards strategically placed throughout.

After a while, we moved into the conservatory which I thought had less to offer except a sampling of garden flowers including agapanthus and delphinium that were quite beautiful. At different times of the year there is usually more to see.

My favorite part of the Monet exhibit was the water lilies and that seemed fitting. There were so many varieties of lilies in different colors and many had unusual looking pads, making each cluster stand alone. They were so beautiful and what was really impressive was that each group was in a different stage of bloom. It was easy to see how the lily progresses in development from immature bud to pod. The story became clear and I loved seeing it.

In spite of the hot weather, there were quite a few visitors at the garden but not too many to get in the way and not too many to detract from the beautiful grounds and flowers. We walked for a while to the building where Monet’s paintings were being shown. Since it was so hot we hopped on a tram to tour the rest of the grounds. The tram was enjoyable and the NYBG is such an amazing place – a true gem. If you need to grab some quiet time you can walk on the trails, each has a unique botanical theme to study and see. I really recommend it. You could probably walk all day if you were so inclined. Nancy and I enjoyed the Cypress Garden, full of specimen trees from all over the world. 

Before we left I wanted to see the Rose Garden which has an amazing variety of all species and color. It’s a big garden and packed with lots of different kinds of roses. What I particularly enjoy were the scented roses.  Since there are so few roses that have a fragrance in my shop it’s something I just can’t get enough of. Because of the heat many of the roses were stressed or past their prime but I enjoyed a quick walk through the garden just the same. One thing that surprised me was the colors. I assumed that many of the roses would be red especially since we sell so many of them. However, there were surprisingly few in the garden and most were in shades of pink, peach and yellow. 

We ended up in the gift shop which has an incredible selection of books and gifts. I am not a big fan of shopping but it was quite pleasant to visit there.  After a refreshing drink we decided to leave and in about 20 minutes we were home. It was a great way to spend the day and it never, not even for a minute felt like work.