View source for Brooklyn Botanic Garden

{{short description|Botanical garden in New York City}}
{{good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox zoo
|zoo_name     = Brooklyn Botanic Garden
|logo         = Brooklyn Botanic Garden (logo).png
|logo_width   = 200px
|logo_caption = Current logo
|image        = Brooklyn_botanic_garden_fragrance_garden_gate.jpg
|image_caption= Brooklyn Botanic Garden
|date_opened  = May 13, 1911
|location     =  990 Washington Avenue, [[Crown Heights, Brooklyn|Crown Heights]], [[Brooklyn]], [[New York (state)|New York]] 11225<br>[[United States]]
|coordinates  = {{Coord|40|40|12|N|73|57|45|W|type:landmark_region:US-NY|display=inline,title}}
|area         = {{convert|52|acre|ha}}
|num_species  = 14,000<ref name="ENR 2015 l894"/>
|annual_visitors= 800,000 (2015)<ref name="ENR 2015 l894" />
|publictransit = '''[[New York City Subway]]:'''{{bulleted list|{{NYCS Franklin-Botanic|time=bullets}} at [[Franklin Avenue/Botanic Garden (New York City Subway)|Franklin Avenue/Botanic Garden]]|{{NYCS Prospect Park|time=bullets}} at [[Prospect Park (BMT lines)|Prospect Park]]}}'''[[New York City Bus]]:''' {{NYC bus link|B16|B41|B43|B48}}
|website      = {{URL|https://www.bbg.org/}}
}}

'''Brooklyn Botanic Garden''' ('''BBG''') is a [[botanical garden]] in the [[Borough (New York City)|borough]] of [[Brooklyn]] in [[New York City]]. The botanical garden occupies {{convert|52|acre|ha}} in central Brooklyn, close to [[Mount Prospect Park]], [[Prospect Park (Brooklyn)|Prospect Park]], and the [[Brooklyn Museum]]. Designed by the [[Olmsted Brothers]], BBG holds over 14,000 taxa of plants and has over 800,000 visitors each year. It includes a number of specialty gardens, plant collections, and structures. BBG hosts numerous educational programs, plant-science and conservation, and community horticulture initiatives, in addition to a herbarium collection.

The site of Brooklyn Botanic Garden was first designated in 1897, following three proposals for botanic gardens in Brooklyn in the 19th century. BBG opened in May 1911, on the site of an ash dump, and was initially operated by the Brooklyn Institute. Most of BBG's expansions were carried out over the next three decades under the tenure of its first director, [[C. Stuart Gager]]. BBG began operating three additional sites in the [[New York metropolitan area]] in the 1950s and 1960s, while its main garden in Brooklyn fell into decline. The original Brooklyn Botanic Garden was expanded and restored substantially starting in the 1980s, and additional structures were built through the 2010s.

BBG's landscape includes many specialty gardens and a group of buildings on its eastern boundary, accessed from three entrances. A brook flows from the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden in the north to the Water Garden in the south. BBG's other specialty gardens include rose, native flora, [[Shakespeare garden|Shakespeare]], fragrance, and children's gardens. There are also more formal landscape features such as an overlook, a celebrity path, the Osborne Garden, and a cherry esplanade. The structures include the 1980s-era Steinhardt Conservatory, the Laboratory Administration Building (which contains a library), and a [[palm house]] dating from the 1910s.

==History==

=== Early proposals ===
Prior to the construction of the present Brooklyn Botanic Garden, there had been three proposals for botanic gardens in the then-independent city of [[Brooklyn]] in the 19th century,<ref name="NYCL (2007) p. 2">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2007|ps=.|p=2}}</ref> though only one of these botanic gardens was ever built.<ref name="n128990345">{{Cite news |date=October 26, 1941 |title=Botanic Garden Is Visited by Nearly 2 Million A Year |pages=102 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-botanic-garden/128990345/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728001412/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-botanic-garden/128990345/ |url-status=live}}</ref> [[André Parmentier (landscape architect)|André Parmentier]] had created the Horticultural and Botanic Garden of Brooklyn in October 1825 within [[Prospect Heights, Brooklyn|Prospect Heights]], on a plot bounded by Sixth, Atlantic, and Carleton Avenues and Bergen Street;<ref>{{cite book |author=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=joxwInlf300C&pg=PA14 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden Record |author2=Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences |publisher=Published for the Garden |year=1926 |page=14 |issue=v. 15-16 |access-date=August 1, 2023 |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723162544/https://books.google.com/books?id=joxwInlf300C&pg=PA14 |url-status=live}}</ref> this garden only lasted until about 1830.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mann |first=W.A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pwbyMLolMcgC&pg=PA212 |title=Landscape Architecture: An Illustrated History in Timelines, Site Plans and Biography |publisher=Wiley |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-471-59465-9 |page=212 |access-date=August 1, 2023 |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723162542/https://books.google.com/books?id=pwbyMLolMcgC&pg=PA212 |url-status=live}}</ref> Brooklyn resident Thomas Hunt granted $50,000 in 1855 for the establishment of a botanic garden in [[Sunset Park, Brooklyn|Sunset Park]] (between Fifth Avenue, 57th Street, Sixth Avenue, and 60th Street).<ref>{{cite book |last=Michels |first=J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EM4OAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA648 |title=Science |publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science |year=1917 |page=648 |issn=0036-8075 |issue=v. 45 |access-date=August 1, 2023 |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723162547/https://books.google.com/books?id=EM4OAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA648 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Stiles 1870 p. 924">{{cite book |last=Stiles |first=H.R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QnQxAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA924 |title=A History of the City of Brooklyn: Including the Old Town and Village of Brooklyn, the Town of Bushwick, and the Village and City of Williamsburgh |publisher=subscription |year=1870 |page=924 |issue=v. 3 |access-date=August 1, 2023 |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723162545/https://books.google.com/books?id=QnQxAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA924 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Hunt Horticultural and Botanical Garden sought to raise $150,000,<ref name="Stiles 1870 p. 924" /><ref>{{harvnb|Brooklyn Botanic Garden|1918|ps=.|p=101}}</ref> but the garden was never built at that location.<ref name="n128990345" /><ref>{{harvnb|Brooklyn Botanic Garden|1918|ps=.|p=105}}</ref>

The third plan for a botanical garden in Brooklyn was included in the plans for [[Prospect Park (Brooklyn)|Prospect Park]],<ref name="BBG1918 p. 106">{{harvnb|Brooklyn Botanic Garden|1918|ps=.|p=106}}</ref> which was approved in 1859.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BBYZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1|title=Laws Relating to the Public Parks, Parkways, and Other Property Under the Care and Control of the Brooklyn Park Commissioners|last=Anderson|first=J.A.|year=1887|page=1|access-date=January 20, 2019|archive-date=August 1, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801235750/https://books.google.com/books?id=BBYZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1|url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/clip/3137046/|title=Public Parks and Promenades|date=May 29, 1860|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=January 19, 2019|page=2|via=Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com|archive-date=August 1, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801235739/https://bklyn.newspapers.com/article/3137046/|url-status=live}} {{open access}}</ref> In February 1860, a group of fifteen commissioners submitted suggestions for park locations in Brooklyn, including a {{convert|320|acre|ha|adj=on}} plot centered on present-day [[Mount Prospect Park]] and bounded by Warren Street to the north; [[Vanderbilt Avenue|Vanderbilt]], Ninth, and Tenth Avenues to the west; Third and Ninth Streets to the south; and [[Washington Avenue (Brooklyn, New York)|Washington Avenue]] to the east.<ref name="Lancaster">{{cite book|url=https://www.echonyc.com/~parks/books/handbook.html|title=Prospect Park Handbook|last=Lancaster|first=Clay|publisher=Long Island University Press|year=1972|isbn=978-0-913252-06-2|edition=2nd|location=New York|access-date=September 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001181824/https://www.echonyc.com/~parks/books/handbook.html|archive-date=October 1, 2019|url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/clip/27409545/|title=Prospect Park|date=May 19, 1861|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=January 19, 2019|page=2|via=Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com|archive-date=August 1, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801235739/https://bklyn.newspapers.com/article/27409545/|url-status=live}} {{open access}}</ref> [[Egbert Viele]] began drawing plans for the park, which was to straddle [[Flatbush Avenue]] and include Prospect Hill and the land now occupied by the [[Central Library (Brooklyn Public Library)|Brooklyn Public Library]], Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and the [[Brooklyn Museum]].<ref name="Lancaster" /><ref name="Bluestone 1987">{{cite journal|last=Bluestone|first=Daniel M.|year=1987|title=From Promenade to Park: The Gregarious Origins of Brooklyn's Park Movement|journal=American Quarterly|publisher=JSTOR|volume=39|issue=4|pages=529–550|doi=10.2307/2713123|issn=0003-0678|jstor=2713123}}</ref> The botanical garden was initially planned to be located along the shores of the park's lake.<ref name="BBG1918 p. 106" /> The onset of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] stopped further activity;<ref name="Bluestone 1987" /> following the war, the triangle of land to the east of Flatbush Avenue was excluded from the park.<ref name="Lancaster" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1868/12/15/archives/prospect-park-progress-of-the-workdescriptive-particulars.html|title=Prospect Park; Progress of the Work—Descriptive Particulars.|date=December 15, 1868|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=January 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190129064330/https://www.nytimes.com/1868/12/15/archives/prospect-park-progress-of-the-workdescriptive-particulars.html|archive-date=January 29, 2019|url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/annualreportsofb1873broo/annualreportsofb1873broo_djvu.txt|title=Annual reports of the Brooklyn Park Commissioners, 1861–1873|date=1873|publisher=Brooklyn Park Commissioners|page=127|access-date=January 28, 2019|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> The botanical garden within Prospect Park was not built.<ref name="n128990345" /> The northeast portion of the triangle served as an [[Landfill|ash dump]]<ref name="NYCL (2007) p. 2" /><ref name="n128864452">{{Cite news |date=May 7, 1921 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden Arose From Dumping Spot |pages=96 |work=The Chat |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-chat-brooklyn-botanic-garden-arose-f/128864452/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725223409/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-chat-brooklyn-botanic-garden-arose-f/128864452/ |url-status=live}}</ref> until just before Brooklyn Botanic Garden was established.<ref>{{cite news |date=September 23, 1928 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden as Seen From the Air |page=A16 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113783092}}}}</ref>

=== Creation ===

==== Legislation and funding ====
On May 18, 1897, as the city moved [[History of New York City|toward consolidation]], the [[New York State Legislature]] reserved 39 acres (16&nbsp;ha) for a botanic garden.<ref name="Gager p. 340">{{harvnb|Gager|1912|ps=.|p=340}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XUofAQAAMAAJ |title=Proceedings |year=1930 |page= |access-date=July 24, 2023 |issue=v. 9 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724161711/https://books.google.com/books?id=XUofAQAAMAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> The site became part of Institute Park in 1902.<ref name="NYCL (2007) p. 2" /> The garden was to be run under the auspices of the [[Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences]], which until the 1970s included [[Brooklyn Museum]], [[Brooklyn Children's Museum]], and [[Brooklyn Academy of Music]].<ref>{{cite web |title=About the Brooklyn Museum's Building |url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/about/building.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420183309/https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/about/building.php |archive-date=April 20, 2013 |access-date=April 28, 2013 |website=Brooklyn Museum}}</ref> By 1901, the institute sought to acquire a site on the eastern side of Flatbush Avenue for the botanical garden.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 13, 1901 |title=The Work of the Institute |pages=18 |work=The Brooklyn Citizen |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-the-work-of-the-ins/128728735/ |access-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723182312/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-the-work-of-the-ins/128728735/ |url-status=live}}</ref> This site had also been proposed as the location of a proposed Brooklyn university, but the institute wanted to establish a botanical garden on the site.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 8, 1906 |title=Dove of Peace Hovering Over University Project |pages=10 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-dove-of-peace-h/128776497/ |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724161709/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-dove-of-peace-h/128776497/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Several of the institute's donors proposed in 1905 to give $25,000 for the upkeep of a "scientific botanic garden" next to the Brooklyn Museum.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 11, 1905 |title=Another $25,000 Gift to Brooklyn Institute |pages=6 |work=The Brooklyn Citizen |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-another-25000-gif/128728967/ |access-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723182650/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-another-25000-gif/128728967/ |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=June 10, 1905 |title=Two Great Gifts to Brooklyn Institute |pages=4 |work=Times Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-two-great-gifts-to-brooklyn/128776960/ |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724142844/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-two-great-gifts-to-brooklyn/128776960/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The next year, the donors doubled this award to $50,000.<ref name="Gager p. 340" /> City officials endorsed the creation of the botanical garden in 1907,<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 14, 1907 |title=City to Pay $25,000 a Year for Observatory in Prospect Park |pages=17 |work=The Standard Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-city-to-pay-25000-a/128777045/ |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724142846/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-city-to-pay-25000-a/128777045/ |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite magazine |date=October 1, 1907 |title=Parks and Park Work: Many New Structures for Brooklyn's Parks |magazine=Park and Cemetery and Landscape Gardening |volume=17 |issue=8 |page=191 |id={{ProQuest|847016120}}}}</ref> and supporters of the institute donated thousands of dollars toward the botanical garden.<ref>{{cite news |date=September 13, 1908 |title=Institute's Season: Brooklyn Organization Will Make Many Changes This Year |page=C6 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|572129951}}}}</ref> [[Alfred Tredway White]], a trustee of the Brooklyn Institute, leased a {{Convert|40|acre|adj=on}} site behind the Brooklyn Museum from the city.<ref name="p1037915186">{{cite news |last=Hinton-Braaten |first=Kathleen |date=April 5, 1983 |title=Roses and bonsai: Brooklyn's Botanic Garden |work=The Christian Science Monitor |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1983/0405/040538.html |access-date=July 30, 2023 |id={{ProQuest|1037915186}} |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730220257/https://www.csmonitor.com/1983/0405/040538.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Although the [[New York City Board of Estimate]] approved Brooklyn Botanic Garden's creation in June 1909, it did not approve another agreement that would allow the Brooklyn Institute to maintain the botanical garden.<ref name="n128782433">{{Cite news |date=December 11, 1909 |title=For a Botanic Garden |pages=6 |work=The Brooklyn Citizen |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-for-a-botanic-garde/128782433/ |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724161711/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-for-a-botanic-garde/128782433/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="n128782676">{{Cite news |date=December 11, 1909 |title=For Botanic Garden and Arboretum in Park |pages=5 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-for-botanic-gar/128782676/ |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724161712/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-for-botanic-gar/128782676/ |url-status=live}}</ref> By the end of that year, the [[Olmsted Brothers]] had been hired as landscape designers, while [[McKim, Mead & White]] had been hired as architects for the botanical garden's buildings.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 10, 1910 |title=Institute Trustees Meet |pages=21 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-institute-trust/128782569/ |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724163217/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-institute-trust/128782569/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The Board of Estimate voted on December 10, 1909, to allow the city and the Brooklyn Institute to sign a maintenance agreement for the botanical garden.<ref name="n128782433" /><ref name="n128782676" />  New York City government and the Brooklyn Institute signed the maintenance agreement on December 28,<ref>{{cite book |author=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AJvOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA77 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden Record |author2=Biodiversity Heritage Library |publisher=Brooklyn Botanic Garden. |year=1913 |pages=75–79 |issue=v. 2, no. 2 |access-date=August 1, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724161709/https://books.google.com/books?id=AJvOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA77 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="p572395107">{{cite news |date=April 17, 1910 |title=Brooklyn Park Plans: to Begin Arboretum and Botanical Gardens July 1 |page=B8 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|572395107}}}}</ref> and an endowment fund for BBG was created three days later.<ref name="p572395107" /> [[C. Stuart Gager]] was hired as BBG's first director in March 1910.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 4, 1910 |title=Director of Botanic Garden |pages=15 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-director-of-bot/128782203/ |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724161711/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-director-of-bot/128782203/ |url-status=live}}</ref> At this point, BBG was authorized to spend between $2,000 and $2,500 annually on plantings.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 11, 1910 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |pages=11 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-plans-for-garde/7607461/ |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724163219/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-plans-for-garde/7607461/ |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=May 21, 1910 |title=Garden for Brooklyn Institute: Notable addition for pleasure grounds of the city. |page=5 |work=The Christian Science Monitor |id={{ProQuest|194083330}}}}</ref> That June, the city government appropriated $25,000 for Brooklyn Botanic Garden's plant houses.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 11, 1910 |title=City Gives Thousands to Brooklyn Institute |pages=3 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-city-gives-thou/128780494/ |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724161713/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-city-gives-thou/128780494/ |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=June 11, 1910 |title=Elect Roosevelt Honorary Member |pages=12 |work=The Standard Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-elect-roosevelt-honor/128780637/ |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724161709/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-elect-roosevelt-honor/128780637/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Construction and opening ====
[[File:Brooklyn_Botanical_Gardens_-_5924619217.jpg|thumb|The pond at BBG]]
Gager wanted to create "an animated textbook in botany", with a [[Palm house|Palm House]] and laboratories facing Washington Avenue, as well as a landscape with valleys, hills, a pond, and rocks.<ref>{{cite news |date=August 28, 1910 |title=New Botanical Garden: Dr. Gager Outlines Broad Plan to Extend Educational Side |page=B3 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|572338433}}}}</ref> In contrast to older botanical gardens, Brooklyn Botanic Garden was not arranged based solely on taxonomic classifications;  the Olmsted Brothers sought to make the garden aesthetically pleasing as well.<ref name="BD p. 107">{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|p=107}}</ref> McKim, Mead & White began drawing up plans in late 1910 for a laboratory and administration building with a 480-seat lecture hall, laboratories, and classrooms.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 23, 1910 |title=A New Park Building |pages=20 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-a-new-park-buil/128782235/ |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724161710/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-a-new-park-buil/128782235/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The New York City government turned over {{Convert|43|acre}} to the Brooklyn Institute in February 1911,<ref name="Gager p. 340" /> and the institute's director [[Franklin Hooper|Franklin W. Hooper]] requested the same month that more land be allocated to BBG.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 23, 1911 |title=Botanic Garden May Be Enlarged |pages=16 |work=The Standard Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-botanic-garden-may-be/128783860/ |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724172251/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-botanic-garden-may-be/128783860/ |url-status=live}}</ref> McKim, Mead & White had completed plans for two wings of the Palm House and the first part of the Laboratory Administration Building that March.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 11, 1911 |title=Institute Trustees Hold Regular Meeting |pages=3 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-institute-trust/128783135/ |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724174546/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-institute-trust/128783135/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The next month, the institute decided to build only one part of the Palm House, as the botanical garden only had a $50,000 budget.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 15, 1911 |title=Institute Gets 692 New Members |pages=3 |work=Times Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-institute-gets-692-new-membe/128783521/ |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724172252/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-institute-gets-692-new-membe/128783521/ |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=April 15, 1911 |title=Gifts to the Institute Announced by Trustees |pages=3 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-gifts-to-the-in/128783639/ |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724174545/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-gifts-to-the-in/128783639/ |url-status=live}}</ref>{{Efn|The laboratory building was to cost $33,000, while the Palm House was to cost $17,000.<ref>{{Cite news|date=October 14, 1911|title=Institute in Need of More Members|pages=16|work=The Standard Union|via=newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-institute-in-need-of/128785163/|access-date=July 24, 2023|archive-date=July 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724172249/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-institute-in-need-of/128785163/|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

The first section of BBG, the Native Flora Garden, opened on May 13, 1911;<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 14, 1911 |title=Many Persons Visit New Botanic Garden |pages=16 |work=The Standard Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-many-persons-visit-ne/128786039/ |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724173757/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-many-persons-visit-ne/128786039/ |url-status=live}}</ref> the date was chosen to coincide with the birthday of the naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 12, 1911 |title=Botanic Garden Opens To-morrow |pages=2 |work=The Standard Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-botanic-garden-opens/128785950/ |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724175302/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-botanic-garden-opens/128785950/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="n128785650">{{Cite news |date=May 12, 1911 |title=To Open Botanic Garden |pages=5 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-to-open-botanic/128785650/ |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724173758/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-to-open-botanic/128785650/ |url-status=live}}</ref>{{efn|Linnaeus's birthday was on May 13 according to the [[Swedish calendar]] or May 23 according to the [[Gregorian calendar]]. See {{cite book |last=Blunt |first=Wilfrid |title=Linnaeus: the compleat naturalist |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B3YOvgAACAAJ |year=2001 |publisher=[[Frances Lincoln]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-7112-1841-3 |page=12}}}} At the time, the plants had temporary labels, and work on the Palm House and laboratory had not started.<ref name="n128785650" /> By late 1911, the Brooklyn Institute was planting shrubs and trees and were curating BBG's lawn.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 24, 1911 |title=Scientific Soil Culture for Botanical Gardens |pages=55 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-scientific-soil/128783296/ |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724174547/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-scientific-soil/128783296/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The plantings included between 150 and 200 species of shrubs that grew within {{convert|100|mi}} of Brooklyn.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=January 1, 1912 |title=Parks and Park Work: Park Building Under Way in Brooklyn |magazine=Park and Cemetery and Landscape Gardening |volume=21 |issue=11 |page=741 |id={{ProQuest|846943851}}}}</ref> BBG staff used a temporary headquarters in the Brooklyn Museum while BBG was being completed.<ref>{{harvnb|The Record|1913|ps=.|p=25}}</ref> [[Harold Caparn]] was appointed as the landscape architect in 1912, serving in that position until 1945.<ref name="NYCL (2007) p. 2" /><ref name="BD p. 107" /> BBG hired Cockerill & Little Co. to build the Laboratory Administration Building in January 1912 and began constructing the structure three months later.<ref name="NYCL (2007) p. 3">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2007|ps=.|p=3}}</ref><ref name="The Record (1913) p. 26">{{harvnb|The Record|1913|ps=.|p=26}}</ref> That September, the city government gave BBG an additional {{convert|3|acre}} of land, abutting the museum and reservoir.<ref name="n128786682">{{Cite news |date=September 22, 1912 |title=City Presents Brooklyn Land for Botanic Garden |pages=38 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-city-presents-b/128786682/ |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724180806/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-city-presents-b/128786682/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Workers began constructing the second section of the Palm House and landscaping the northern section of the botanical garden in early 1913.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 14, 1913 |title=Sums Up Work of Institute Season |pages=3 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-sums-up-work-of/128812479/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725020846/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-sums-up-work-of/128812479/ |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite magazine |date=July 1913 |title=Notes |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.31210014609729?urlappend=%3Bseq=256 |magazine=The Record |volume=2 |issue=3 |page=106 |hdl=2027/uc1.31210014609729?urlappend=%3Bseq=256 |access-date=July 25, 2023 |via=HathiTrust}}</ref> The completion of the Laboratory Administration Building was postponed because of difficulties in obtaining roof tiles and structural steel.<ref name="NYCL (2007) p. 3" /><ref name="The Record (1913) p. 26" /> The first portions of the Laboratory Administration Building and the Palm House were being completed by mid-1913,<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 20, 1913 |title=Rapid Progress Made on Brooklyn Botanic Garden Building |pages=19 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-rapid-progress/128812745/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725015340/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-rapid-progress/128812745/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and these structures opened in December 1913.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 15, 1913 |title=Brooklyn Institute's Botanic Garden and Laboratory Building Opened |pages=21 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-brooklyn-instit/128813487/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725022350/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-brooklyn-instit/128813487/ |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=December 14, 1913 |title=Big Reception at Botanic Garden |pages=9 |work=The Standard Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-big-reception-at-bota/128815342/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725020845/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-big-reception-at-bota/128815342/ |url-status=live}}</ref> At the time, the Palm House had about 250 specimens from 140 species.<ref>{{harvnb|The Record|1914|ps=.|pp=29–30}}</ref> Dirt from the Brooklyn Botanical Garden was used to flatten land in Prospect Park,<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 13, 1913 |title=New Museum Section |pages=14 |work=The Chat |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-chat-new-museum-section/128814186/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725013835/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-chat-new-museum-section/128814186/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="The Record (1914) p. 31">{{harvnb|The Record|1914|ps=.|p=31}}</ref> and workers also landscaped BBG's watercourses and laid out paths.<ref>{{harvnb|The Record|1914|ps=.|p=32}}</ref> The ongoing work forced officials to close off about two-thirds of the botanical garden's area to the public.<ref name="The Record (1914) p. 31" /> BBG launched a children's garden in 1914,<ref name="n128815980">{{Cite news |date=September 25, 1914 |title=Children Exhibit Garden Products |pages=9 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-children-exhibi/128815980/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725015340/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-children-exhibi/128815980/ |url-status=live}}</ref> which was one of the first of its kind in the world.<ref name="Oldfield 2010 p.2">{{cite book |last=Oldfield |first=Sara |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vi5FAQAAIAAJ |title=Botanic Gardens: Modern-day Arks |publisher=MIT Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-262-01516-5 |series=Mit Press |page=19 |access-date=August 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725012333/https://books.google.com/books?id=vi5FAQAAIAAJ |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> By the end of that year, workers were constructing a Japanese garden and a rock garden.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=January 18, 2023 |title=Fourth Annual Report of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044103101101?urlappend=%3Bseq=442 |magazine=The Record |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=23–24 |hdl=2027/hvd.32044103101101?urlappend=%3Bseq=442 |via=HathiTrust}}</ref>
[[File:Brooklyn_Botanic_Garden_New_York_October_2016_006.jpg|alt=Plaza in front of the Laboratory Building|left|thumb|The Laboratory Administration Building (in background) was dedicated in April 1917.]]
BBG's Japanese garden opened on the northeastern corner of the grounds in June 1915, next to the lake.<ref name="n128816577">{{Cite news |date=July 11, 1915 |title=Institute Now Has $200,000 to Spend on Botanic Gardens |pages=17 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-institute-now-h/128816577/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725015341/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-institute-now-h/128816577/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="n128856799">{{Cite news |date=June 5, 1915 |title=Inspect Beauties of Botanic Garden |pages=12 |work=The Standard Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-inspect-beauties-of-b/128856799/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725214650/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-inspect-beauties-of-b/128856799/ |url-status=live}}</ref> At that time, BBG started admitting visitors every day of the week; the grounds had been closed during the previous year because workers were regrading the paths.<ref name="n128856799" /> McKim, Mead & White filed plans for expansions of the Palm House and the Laboratory Administration Building in August 1915 at a projected cost of $150,000.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 21, 1915 |title=Submit Plans for Gardens |pages=3 |work=Times Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-submit-plans-for-gardens/128816433/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725012331/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-submit-plans-for-gardens/128816433/ |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=August 19, 1915 |title=To Enlarge Buildings |pages=7 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-to-enlarge-buil/128858948/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725223158/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-to-enlarge-buil/128858948/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The Board of Estimate approved the rock garden in March 1916,<ref>{{Cite news|date=March 5, 1916|title=To Have a Rock Garden|pages=19|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|via=newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-to-have-a-rock/128862644/|access-date=July 25, 2023|archive-date=July 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725223410/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-to-have-a-rock/128862644/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="The Record (1917) p. 30" /> and the Laboratory Administration Building's cornerstone was laid at a [[groundbreaking]] ceremony that April.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 21, 1916 |title=Cornerstone Laid at Botanic Garden |pages=10 |work=The Standard Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-cornerstone-laid-at-b/128862471/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725223200/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-cornerstone-laid-at-b/128862471/ |url-status=live}}<br/>{{Cite news |date=April 21, 1916 |title=Lay Botanic Cornerstone |pages=8 |work=Times Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-lay-botanic-cornerstone/128860476/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725223158/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-lay-botanic-cornerstone/128860476/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|The Record|1917|ps=.|p=27}}</ref> The rock garden was completed in May 1916.<ref name="The Record (1917) p. 30">{{harvnb|The Record|1917|ps=.|p=30}}</ref> The same year, the third section of the Palm House was built,<ref>{{harvnb|The Record|1917|ps=.|pp=27–28}}</ref> and contracts for the Palm House's fourth section were awarded.<ref>{{harvnb|The Record|1917|ps=.|p=29}}</ref> The Laboratory Administration Building and Palm House were nearly complete in early 1917<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 9, 1917 |title=Institute Breaks Attendance Record |pages=8 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-institute-break/128862992/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725223408/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-institute-break/128862992/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="n128864120">{{Cite news |date=May 13, 1917 |title=Wonderful Growth of Brooklyn Botanic Garden Shown in Report |pages=32 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-wonderful-growt/128864120/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725223412/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-wonderful-growt/128864120/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and were dedicated on April 19–21, 1917.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 20, 1917 |title=Botanic Garden Is Dedicated |pages=3 |work=Times Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-botanic-garden-is-dedicated/128863129/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725223411/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-botanic-garden-is-dedicated/128863129/ |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=April 22, 1917 |title=Get Out and Plant, Says Prof. Button |pages=58 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-get-out-and-pla/128863154/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725223410/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-get-out-and-pla/128863154/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The children's building was finished the same year.<ref name="n128864120" /><ref>{{harvnb||The Record|1917|ps=.|p=28}}</ref>

=== Operation ===
Caparn designed most of BBG's grounds in the botanical garden's first three decades of operation, including the Osborne Garden, Cranford Rose Garden, Magnolia Plaza, and Plant Collection.<ref>{{cite web |title=Biography of Harold Caparn |url=http://tclf.org/pioneer/harold-caparn/biography-harold-caparn |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031215452/http://tclf.org/pioneer/harold-caparn/biography-harold-caparn |archive-date=October 31, 2014 |access-date=April 28, 2013 |website=The Cultural Landscape Foundation}}</ref> For most of the 20th century, BBG could not expand beyond {{Convert|52|acre}} because of space constraints. BBG initially did not charge admission.<ref name="n128724987">{{Cite news |date=May 15, 1988 |title=Glass Houses |pages=214 |work=Daily News |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-glass-houses/128724987/ |access-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723171230/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-glass-houses/128724987/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== 1920s and 1930s ====
By the early 1920s, BBG had 330,000 visitors a year,<ref name="n128864452" /> including over 15,000 students from across Brooklyn.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 7, 1920 |title=Botanic Garden's Work |pages=6 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-botanic-garden/128865358/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725223408/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-botanic-garden/128865358/ |url-status=live}}</ref> During 1921, BBG staff planted 2,000 lily bulbs within its Lily Pool Terrace,<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 11, 1921 |title=2,000 Lily Bulbs Planted; Sheltered by Azaleas in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/12/11/archives/2000-lily-bulbs-planted-sheltered-by-azaleas-in-the-brooklyn.html |access-date=July 25, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725223408/https://www.nytimes.com/1921/12/11/archives/2000-lily-bulbs-planted-sheltered-by-azaleas-in-the-brooklyn.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="n128865473">{{Cite news |date=December 9, 1921 |title=To Cultivate Lilies in Botanic Garden |pages=11 |work=The Standard Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-to-cultivate-lilies-i/128865473/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725223414/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-to-cultivate-lilies-i/128865473/ |url-status=live}}</ref> as well as thousands of daffodils and crocus bulbs.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 13, 1921 |title=Botanic Garden News |pages=19 |work=The Standard Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-botanic-garden-news/128865178/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725223416/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-botanic-garden-news/128865178/ |url-status=live}}</ref> BBG also planted thousands of [[Aster (genus)|asters]] east of the Laboratory Administration Building.<ref name="n128865473" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=December 11, 1921 |title=Our Asters Improved Upon; Brooklyn Botanic Garden to Plant American Shoots From England. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/12/11/archives/our-asters-improved-upon-brooklyn-botanic-garden-to-plant-american.html |access-date=July 25, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725223408/https://www.nytimes.com/1921/12/11/archives/our-asters-improved-upon-brooklyn-botanic-garden-to-plant-american.html |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Daniel Chester French]] designed the [[Alfred Tredway White Memorial]] for the botanical garden in 1922 following White's death.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 7, 1922 |title=Show White Memorial; Daniel C. French Exhibits His Bas Relief of Brooklyn Philanthropist |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1922/12/07/archives/show-white-memorial-daniel-c-french-exhibits-his-bas-relief-of.html |access-date=July 26, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726012514/https://www.nytimes.com/1922/12/07/archives/show-white-memorial-daniel-c-french-exhibits-his-bas-relief-of.html |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=December 6, 1922 |title=Alfred T. White Memorial Model Finished; To Be Cast in Bronze and Placed in Botanic Gardens |pages=24 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-alfred-t-white/128875717/ |access-date=July 26, 2023 |archive-date=July 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726012513/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-alfred-t-white/128875717/ |url-status=live}}</ref> [[John D. Rockefeller Jr.]] offered to donate $250,000 to BBG in 1925 on the condition that the botanical garden raise matching funds.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 5, 1925 |title=Conditional $250,000 Gift to Brooklyn Botanic Garden Pledged by Rockefeller, Jr. |pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-conditional-250000/128954258/ 2] |work=The Standard Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-conditional-250000/128954209/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727154451/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-conditional-250000/128954209/ |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=December 5, 1925 |title=Rockefeller Pledges Botanic Garden Gift; Offers $250,000 for Permanent Fund if Equal Amount Is Raised by Dec. 31, 1926. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/12/05/archives/rockefeller-pledges-botanic-garden-gift-offers-250000-for-permanent.html |access-date=July 27, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727151815/https://www.nytimes.com/1925/12/05/archives/rockefeller-pledges-botanic-garden-gift-offers-250000-for-permanent.html |url-status=live}}</ref> By then, 500,000 people (including 50,000 students) visited BBG annually, and BBG gave lectures and classes to another 25,000 people per year.<ref>{{cite news |last=Shuler |first=Marjorie |date=December 7, 1925 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden Source of Both Pleasure and Instruction: Half a Million Persons Visit This Beauty Spot Each Year, While 50,000 School Children Are Taught of Flowers and Shrubs--fund of $250,000 Sought Even Has a Library Are Sure of Outcome Supplies Study Material |page=4A |work=The Christian Science Monitor |id={{ProQuest|11757326}}}}</ref> The same year, Ernest F. Coe donated 32 [[bonsai]] to allow BBG to establish its Bonsai Collection,<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden1" /> and Henry C. Folger gave BBG $500 to establish a Shakespeare garden,<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 13, 1925 |title=Warmbath Named Taxidermist at Brooklyn Museum |pages=20 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-warmbath-named/128956919/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727154452/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-warmbath-named/128956919/ |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=March 13, 1925 |title=Botanic Garden Draws 20,600 Persons in Feb. |pages=36 |work=Times Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-botanic-garden-draws-20600/128957624/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727154459/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-botanic-garden-draws-20600/128957624/ |url-status=live}}</ref> which opened in May 1925.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 13, 1925 |title=Spring Inspection of Botanic Garden; Many New Exhibits |pages=8 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-spring-inspecti/128957484/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727154501/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-spring-inspecti/128957484/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Gager announced in 1927 that BBG would create a rose garden,<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 24, 1927 |title=Botanic Experts Plan Rose Garden |pages=69 |work=Times Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-botanic-experts-plan-rose-ga/128957850/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727154455/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-botanic-experts-plan-rose-ga/128957850/ |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=May 22, 1927 |title=Plans New Rose Garden; Brooklyn Botanic Project Will Cover an Acre and Cost $10,000. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/05/22/archives/plans-new-rose-garden-brooklyn-botanic-project-will-cover-an-acre.html |access-date=July 27, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727151814/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/05/22/archives/plans-new-rose-garden-brooklyn-botanic-project-will-cover-an-acre.html |url-status=live}}</ref> following a $10,000 donation from Walter V. Cranford<ref name="n128957879">{{Cite news |date=June 18, 1927 |title=Gift of $10,000 for New Rose Garden |pages=4 |work=Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/brooklyn-life-and-activities-of-long-isl/128957879/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727154457/https://www.newspapers.com/article/brooklyn-life-and-activities-of-long-isl/128957879/ |url-status=live}}</ref> (later increased to $15,000).<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 12, 1928 |title=Get $15,000 for Big Rose Garden |pages=9 |work=The Herald Statesman |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-herald-statesman-get-15000-for-big/128960567/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727171428/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-herald-statesman-get-15000-for-big/128960567/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The rose garden opened on May 8, 1928,<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 15, 1952 |title=Founder and 250 Enthusiasts Mark Cranford Rose Garden's 25th Year |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/10/15/archives/founder-and-250-enthusiasts-mark-cranford-rose-gardens-25th-year.html |access-date=July 28, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728172737/https://www.nytimes.com/1952/10/15/archives/founder-and-250-enthusiasts-mark-cranford-rose-gardens-25th-year.html?searchResultPosition=1 |url-status=live}}</ref> and was finished that June.<ref name="n128960398">{{Cite news |date=June 17, 1928 |title=Open Rose Garden to Public June 24 |pages=62 |work=Times Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-open-rose-garden-to-public-j/128960398/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727171430/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-open-rose-garden-to-public-j/128960398/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=June 18, 1928 |title=Borough's New Rose Garden to Open for Visitors at Botanic Garden June 24; Said to Be One of Finest in the Country |pages=14 |work=The Brooklyn Citizen |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-boroughs-new-rose/128960787/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727171432/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-boroughs-new-rose/128960787/ |url-status=live}}</ref> An anonymous donor contributed funds for a stone bridge at BBG in December 1928, replacing a wooden bridge across the botanical garden's lake.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 2, 1928 |title=Glacial Boulders Hold Bridge |pages=130 |work=Daily News |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-glacial-boulders-hold-bridge/128961303/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727171432/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-glacial-boulders-hold-bridge/128961303/ |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=9 Dec 1928 |title=Plans Win Gift For Brooklyn Botanic Garden: Inspection of Design Leads Visitor to Donate Funds for New Boulder Bridge |page=A11 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113412334}}}}</ref>
[[File:Brooklyn_Botanic_Garden_New_York_November_2016_006.jpg|alt=The torii in the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden|thumb|The Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden was renovated in the early 1930s.]]
Gager announced in June 1929 that an ornamental gate designed by McKim, Mead & White would be installed at BBG's Flatbush Avenue entrance, following a donation from Richard Young.<ref name="n128961538">{{Cite news |date=June 22, 1929 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden to Have New Gate |pages=2 |work=Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/brooklyn-life-and-activities-of-long-isl/128961538/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727171429/https://www.newspapers.com/article/brooklyn-life-and-activities-of-long-isl/128961538/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="n128961709">{{Cite news |date=June 28, 1929 |title=New Ornamental Gate for Botanic Garden |pages=33 |work=The Chat |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-chat-new-ornamental-gate-for-botanic/128961709/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727171431/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-chat-new-ornamental-gate-for-botanic/128961709/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The next month, BBG trustee Alfred W. Jenkins donated funds for two additional stone "rustic bridges".<ref>{{cite news |date=July 14, 1929 |title=Botanic Garden Starts Work on Rustic Bridges: Glacial Bowlder Structures Will Replace Temporary Crossings Over Brook 6 Weeks on Construction Plans Are Drawn for Three More New Entrance Gates |page=A11 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1111991058}}|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=July 14, 1929 |title=Botanic Garden Adds 2 Bridges |pages=11 |work=Times Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-botanic-garden-adds-2-bridge/128962576/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727171428/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-botanic-garden-adds-2-bridge/128962576/ |url-status=live}}</ref> By that October, the gate and several new bridges within BBG were nearly finished;<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 7, 1929 |title=New Spans at Boro Botanic Garden Ready |pages=3 |work=The Brooklyn Citizen |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-new-spans-at-boro-b/128961996/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727171427/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-new-spans-at-boro-b/128961996/ |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=October 6, 1929 |title=Bridges Rise in Garden |pages=96 |work=Times Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-bridges-rise-in-garden/128962106/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727171429/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-bridges-rise-in-garden/128962106/ |url-status=live}}</ref> the gate was dedicated in May 1930.<ref>{{cite news |date=May 14, 1930 |title=Brooklyn Receives $17,000 Gift Gate For Botanic Garden: Richard Young, Donor, Makes Presentation Before 1,200 at Spring Inspection |page=21 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113243605}}}}</ref> During the same time, ten garden seats and eight drinking fountains were donated to BBG,<ref>{{cite news |date=March 23, 1930 |title=Botanic Garden Open Museum, Says Director: Aim Is to Stimulate Interest in Plant Life; Park Use Secondary, He Adds School Service Increased 282.299 Pupils Reached by Brooklyn Institution Brooklyn Rose Garden and New Entrance Gate |page=B13 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113627988}}}}</ref> and Jenkins agreed to donate a fountain and another rustic bridge in 1930,<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 8, 1930 |title=Fountain Given to Botanic Garden |pages=39 |work=Times Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-fountain-given-to-botanic-ga/128963767/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727171434/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-fountain-given-to-botanic-ga/128963767/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="n128964099">{{Cite news |date=June 9, 1930 |title=Botanic Garden Looks Ahead to 1935 With New Projects |pages=5 |work=The Standard Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-botanic-garden-looks/128964099/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727171434/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-botanic-garden-looks/128964099/ |url-status=live}}</ref> BBG awarded contracts for the construction of a {{Convert|500|by|90|ft|adj=on}} plaza in front of the Laboratory Administration Building in April 1930, more than a decade after plans for the plaza had been drawn up.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 20, 1930 |title=To Build Botanic Plaza; Brooklyn Garden Lets Contract to Complete 10-Year-Old Plan. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/04/20/archives/to-build-botanic-plaza-brooklyn-garden-lets-contract-to-complete.html |access-date=July 27, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727171429/https://www.nytimes.com/1930/04/20/archives/to-build-botanic-plaza-brooklyn-garden-lets-contract-to-complete.html |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=April 20, 1930 |title=Hanging Plaza Under Way at Botanic Garden: Stone Stairs to Lead From Paths to Long Plot Facing Laboratory Building |page=A13 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113650289}}}}</ref> Gager also planned to build three other gates, an overlook, a north addition next to the Brooklyn Museum, garden seats, and plantings within the Native Flora Garden.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 19, 1930 |title=Botanic Garden Pictured After Quarter of Century |pages=5 |work=The Standard Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-botanic-garden-pictur/128964643/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727171431/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-botanic-garden-pictur/128964643/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The Japanese garden was expanded as well, reopening in 1931.<ref>{{cite news |date=June 7, 1931 |title=Brooklyn Adds Garden Units to Japanese Plot: Oriental Experts Assist in Work at Botanic Center; Bridge Built Over Lake Trees and Shrubs Treated Improved Area Reopened for Public Inspection |page=A13 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1114478959}}|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=June 8, 1931 |title=Japanese Garden Is Open Again |pages=7 |work=The Standard Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-japanese-garden-is-op/128965290/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727171435/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-japanese-garden-is-op/128965290/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1933, a redesigned native wildflower garden, the Laboratory Administration Building plaza, and the overlook were completed,<ref name="n128966919">{{Cite news |date=May 20, 1934 |title=Botanic Project Half Complete |pages=22 |work=Times Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-botanic-project-half-complet/128966919/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727182951/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-botanic-project-half-complet/128966919/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and the BBG Women's Auxiliary donated magnolias to the garden's Magnolia Plaza.<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden1" /> [[Civil Works Administration]] (CWA) workers began landscaping the {{Convert|2.5|acre|ha|adj=on}} north addition next to the Brooklyn Museum the same year.<ref name="n128966919" /><ref name="p1114836300">{{cite news |date=May 20, 1934 |title=Botanic Garden In Brooklyn to Get New Gate: Eastern Parkway Approach To Be Built for Large Addition, Half Completed C. W. A. Assists Project Annual Report Shows Gain in Attendance for 1933 |page=A20 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1114836300}}}}</ref> The CWA crew also constructed a new entrance to BBG from Eastern Parkway.<ref name="p1114836300" /> Most of the north addition was completed in 1935, when BBG had 1.35 million annual visitors.<ref>{{cite news |date=April 14, 1935 |title=Botanic Garden Income Drops As Needs Rise: Brooklyn Report Reveals 36,560 Gain in Visitors, $7,672 Cut, in Last Year Gager Warns of Crisis Situation Is Serious in Extreme, Says Director |page=26B |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1221593147}}|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=April 15, 1935 |title=Botanic Garden's Visitors Increase But Income Drops |pages=2 |work=Times Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-botanic-gardens-visitors-in/128967810/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727182957/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-botanic-gardens-visitors-in/128967810/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Afterward, BBG staff planted a formal garden along the north addition; a "wall garden" next to Mount Prospect Park;<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 11, 1935 |title=$144,000 WPA Grant Spurs Work in Botanical Garden; Improvement Program, Begun in 1930, Will Be Carried On With U.S. Funds -- Brooklyn Garden Keeps Pace in Development. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1935/08/11/archives/144000-wpa-grant-spurs-work-in-botanical-garden-improvement-program.html |access-date=July 27, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727182951/https://www.nytimes.com/1935/08/11/archives/144000-wpa-grant-spurs-work-in-botanical-garden-improvement-program.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and an herb garden.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1936-10-25 |title=Philanthropists Support Numerous Charity Functions—Committees Announced |pages=20 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-philanthropists/130533149/ |access-date=2023-08-23}}</ref> Mrs. Walter V. Cranford donated a Rose Arc Pool to BBG in 1936.<ref name="n128968485">{{Cite news |date=June 14, 1936 |title=Visit Botanic Garden to See New Rose Arc |pages=19 |work=Times Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-visit-botanic-garden-to-see/128968485/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727182953/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-visit-botanic-garden-to-see/128968485/ |url-status=live}}</ref> BBG's Japanese shrine burned down in January 1938;<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 26, 1938 |title=Japanese Shrine is Razed by Fire; Enemy of Nation Suspected of Destroying Shinto Temple in Brooklyn Botanic Garden |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/01/26/archives/japanese-shrine-is-razed-by-fire-enemy-of-nation-suspected-of.html |access-date=July 27, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727182952/https://www.nytimes.com/1938/01/26/archives/japanese-shrine-is-razed-by-fire-enemy-of-nation-suspected-of.html |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=January 26, 1938 |title=Nippon Shrine Burns Down at Botanic Garden: Brooklyn Firemen Find No Arson, bill the Director Blames Enemy of Japan Blaze There Once Before Japanese Garden Structure Built by Oriental Labor Nippon Shrine in Brooklyn Botanic Garden Razed by Fire |page=3 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1243679687}}}}</ref> the herb garden at the northeast corner of BBG, planted by the Women's Auxiliary, was dedicated that September.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 28, 1938 |title=Botanic's Herb Garden Opened |pages=11 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-botanics-herb/128968870/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727182950/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-botanics-herb/128968870/ |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=September 28, 1938 |title=Brooklyn Herb Garden Opens |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/09/28/archives/brooklyn-herb-garden-opens.html |access-date=July 27, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727183702/https://www.nytimes.com/1938/09/28/archives/brooklyn-herb-garden-opens.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Sade Elisabeth Osborne dedicated the Dean Clay Osborne memorial at BBG in April 1939.<ref name="n128969634">{{Cite news |date=April 20, 1939 |title=Botanic Garden Gets Osborne Memorial |pages=10 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-botanic-garden/128969634/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727182955/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-botanic-garden/128969634/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== 1940s and 1950s ====
BBG attracted about 1.8 million annual visitors at the beginning of the 1940s with an endowment fund of nearly $1.4 million.<ref name="n128990345" /> The Cherry Esplanade was created in 1941 after the Women's Auxiliary donated<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden1" /> four rows of cherry trees.<ref name="n128989559">{{Cite news |date=May 13, 1941 |title=600 Flower Lovers Enjoy 27th Tour of Botanic Garden |pages=8 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-600-flower-love/128989559/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728001414/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-600-flower-love/128989559/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="nyt-2003-04-25">{{Cite news |last=Brawarsky |first=Sandee |date=April 25, 2003 |title=A Beauty as Fleeting as Life |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/25/arts/a-beauty-as-fleeting-as-life.html |access-date=July 31, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731192615/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/25/arts/a-beauty-as-fleeting-as-life.html |url-status=live}}</ref> An ivy garden was also dedicated the same year.<ref name="n128989559" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=May 14, 1941 |title=600 Nature Lovers Stage Inspection of Botanic Garden |pages=4 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-600-nature-love/128989609/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728001559/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-600-nature-love/128989609/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden was closed from 1941 to 1947 because of anti-Japanese sentiment during World War II.<ref name="nyt-2003-04-25" /> BBG rehired McKim, Mead & White in 1942 to design a $200,000 annex to the Laboratory Administration Building, but the annex was not completed because of financial shortfalls.<ref name="NYCL (2007) p. 3" /> Gager, BBG's first director, died in 1943<ref name="p1282797944">{{cite news |date=August 10, 1943 |title=Dr. C. S. Gager, Botanic Garden Director, Dies: Developed Brooklyn Plot From 'East Side Lands' to a National Landmark |page=16 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1282797944}}}}</ref> and was succeeded by [[George S. Avery Jr.]] the following year.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 20, 1944 |title=Dr. G. S. Avery to Direct Boro Botanic Garden |pages=13 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-dr-g-s-avery/129028681/ |access-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728182358/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-dr-g-s-avery/129028681/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Michael Tuch and his wife donated a [[wrought iron]] gate for BBG's Eastern Parkway entrance in 1945,<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 19, 1945 |title=Plans Golden Gate, Wired Music for Botanic Garden |pages=14 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-plans-golden-ga/128993534/ |access-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728010308/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-plans-golden-ga/128993534/ |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=August 12, 1945 |title=Gate Given to Botanic Garden |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1945/08/12/archives/gate-given-to-botanic-garden.html |access-date=July 28, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728004342/https://www.nytimes.com/1945/08/12/archives/gate-given-to-botanic-garden.html?searchResultPosition=1 |url-status=live}}</ref> and the gate was dedicated in March 1946.<ref name="n128993816">{{Cite news |date=May 15, 1946 |title=Dedicate New Gate to Botanic Garden |pages=7 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-dedicate-new-ga/128993816/ |access-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728010310/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-dedicate-new-ga/128993816/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

By the early 1950s, Avery planned to expand BBG's children's garden by {{Convert|1|acre}} by covering the open-cut [[BMT Franklin Avenue Line|Franklin Avenue subway line]].<ref name="p1320079755">{{cite news |date=June 29, 1952 |title=Vegetables Grow In Brooklyn, Too: Botanic Garden Seeks More Land for Child Farmers |page=C18 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1320079755}}}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=June 6, 1951 |title=City Urged to Give New Garden Plot; Appeal for Children Made by Botanic Garden's Head to Park Association Group |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/06/06/archives/city-urged-to-give-new-garden-plot-appeal-for-children-made-by.html |access-date=July 28, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728172739/https://www.nytimes.com/1951/06/06/archives/city-urged-to-give-new-garden-plot-appeal-for-children-made-by.html?searchResultPosition=1 |url-status=live}}</ref> At the time, the children's garden only had space for 250 plots, but a thousand children wanted to use the children's garden each year.<ref name="p1320079755" /> BBG accommodated 1.35 million visitors annually, more than the larger [[New York Botanical Garden]] did, but received less funding from the city.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 6, 1952 |title=Botanic Garden Seen Relegated to Stepchild Role |pages=20 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-botanic-garden/129028868/ |access-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728182359/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-botanic-garden/129028868/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The Women's Auxiliary proposed creating a "garden of fragrance" at BBG in May 1954;<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 16, 1954 |title=Blind to Have Own Garden |pages=442 |work=Daily News |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-blind-to-have-own-garden/129023142/ |access-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728172737/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-blind-to-have-own-garden/129023142/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="nyt-1954-05-18">{{Cite news |date=May 18, 1954 |title=Garden for Blind Set; Project Planned for Brooklyn to Have Signs in Braille |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1954/05/18/archives/garden-for-blind-set-project-planned-for-brooklyn-to-have-signs-in.html |access-date=July 28, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728172737/https://www.nytimes.com/1954/05/18/archives/garden-for-blind-set-project-planned-for-brooklyn-to-have-signs-in.html?searchResultPosition=1 |url-status=live}}</ref> the project was inspired by a British garden for the blind.<ref name="nyt-1954-05-18" /> Construction of the {{convert|1.5|acre|m2|adj=on}} garden, located just north of the Laboratory Administration Building, began in October 1954.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 15, 1954 |title=Start Work on Garden for Blind at Botanic |pages=3 |work=Brooklyn Record |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/brooklyn-record-start-work-on-garden-for/129022267/ |access-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728172739/https://www.newspapers.com/article/brooklyn-record-start-work-on-garden-for/129022267/ |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=October 17, 1954 |title=A Garden For Blind In Brooklyn |page=D16 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1313680457}}}}</ref> The fragrance garden was dedicated in June 1955.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 10, 1955 |title=Garden for the Blind; Brooklyn Plot With Signs in Braille Is Dedicated |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/06/10/archives/garden-for-the-blind-brooklyn-plot-with-signs-in-braille-is.html |access-date=July 28, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728172738/https://www.nytimes.com/1955/06/10/archives/garden-for-the-blind-brooklyn-plot-with-signs-in-braille-is.html?searchResultPosition=1 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Elizabeth Van Brunt sold {{convert|223|acre}} of forest at Kitchawan in [[Westchester County, New York]], to BBG in 1956 for use as a research center.<ref name="nyt-1956-10-20">{{Cite news |date=October 20, 1956 |title=Botanic Garden Gets a Big Tract; Westchester Site to Be Used for a Research Station on Cancer Antibiotics Three Goals Listed |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/10/20/archives/botanic-garden-gets-a-big-tract-westchester-site-to-be-used-for-a.html |access-date=July 28, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728182358/https://www.nytimes.com/1956/10/20/archives/botanic-garden-gets-a-big-tract-westchester-site-to-be-used-for-a.html?searchResultPosition=1 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="n129028559">{{Cite news |date=October 25, 1956 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden Plans Field Station for Research |pages=8 |work=Brooklyn Daily |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/brooklyn-daily-brooklyn-botanic-garden-p/129028559/ |access-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728182359/https://www.newspapers.com/article/brooklyn-daily-brooklyn-botanic-garden-p/129028559/ |url-status=live}}</ref> BBG planned to move its nursery to Westchester to make way for a {{convert|1|acre|adj=on}} expansion of the children's garden.<ref name="n129028559" />  Workers restored BBG's paths, and added new trees and benches, in 1958 as part of a project designed by Clarence C. Combs.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schumach |first=Murray |date=May 19, 1958 |title=Botanic Garden's Beaten Paths Are Under Repair in Brooklyn |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/05/19/archives/botanic-gardens-beaten-paths-are-under-repair-in-brooklyn.html |access-date=July 28, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728182358/https://www.nytimes.com/1958/05/19/archives/botanic-gardens-beaten-paths-are-under-repair-in-brooklyn.html?searchResultPosition=1 |url-status=live}}</ref> Local women also volunteered to cultivate the garden after BBG staff went on strike for several months in 1959.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 24, 1959 |title=Volunteers Keeping Struck Botanic Garden Green |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/06/24/archives/volunteers-keeping-struck-botanic-garden-green.html |access-date=July 28, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728182400/https://www.nytimes.com/1959/06/24/archives/volunteers-keeping-struck-botanic-garden-green.html?searchResultPosition=1 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== 1960s and 1970s ====
A [[Shinto shrine]] was dedicated at BBG's Japanese Garden in May 1960,<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 2, 1960 |title=Governor of Tokyo Visits Shrine In Japanese Garden in Brooklyn |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/05/02/archives/governor-of-tokyo-visits-shrine-in-japanese-garden-in-brooklyn.html |access-date=July 29, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729184703/https://www.nytimes.com/1960/05/02/archives/governor-of-tokyo-visits-shrine-in-japanese-garden-in-brooklyn.html?searchResultPosition=2 |url-status=live}}</ref> replacing a shrine that vandals had burned down.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 20, 1975 |title=For Garden, a Celebration |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/20/archives/for-garden-a-celebration.html |access-date=July 30, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730183824/https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/20/archives/for-garden-a-celebration.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The research center in Westchester was dedicated the same month.<ref name="n129085727">{{Cite news |date=May 26, 1960 |title=Botanic Garden Dedicates 'Lab' |pages=12 |work=The Reporter Dispatch |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-reporter-dispatch-botanic-garden-ded/129085727/ |access-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729184659/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-reporter-dispatch-botanic-garden-ded/129085727/ |url-status=live}}</ref> By that October,  BBG had recorded 50 million all-time visitors.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 7, 1960 |title=Botanic Garden Fetes 50,000,000th Visitor |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/10/07/archives/botanic-garden-fetes-50000000th-visitor.html |access-date=July 29, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729184659/https://www.nytimes.com/1960/10/07/archives/botanic-garden-fetes-50000000th-visitor.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Takuma Paul Tono designed a replica of a stone garden at [[Ryōan-ji]] after BBG received a private donation in 1961.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thach |first=Joanna May |date=September 10, 1961 |title=Inspired by Japan; Botanic Garden Builds Replica of Ryoanji |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/09/10/archives/inspired-by-japan-botanic-garden-builds-replica-of-ryoanji.html |access-date=July 29, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729184704/https://www.nytimes.com/1961/09/10/archives/inspired-by-japan-botanic-garden-builds-replica-of-ryoanji.html |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=October 13, 1961 |title=Search for Rocks to Complete Exhibition |pages=5 |work=Brooklyn Record |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/brooklyn-record-search-for-rocks-to-comp/129085879/ |access-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729184705/https://www.newspapers.com/article/brooklyn-record-search-for-rocks-to-comp/129085879/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The stone garden, dedicated in May 1963,<ref name="nyt-1963-05-29" /> contained 15 granite stones of varying colors and sizes.<ref name="nyt-1963-05-29">{{Cite news |date=May 29, 1963 |title=Rites Inaugurate Japanese Garden; Zen Temple Bell is Sounded at Brooklyn Dedication |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/05/29/archives/rites-inaugurate-japanese-garden-zen-temple-bell-is-sounded-at.html |access-date=July 29, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729184700/https://www.nytimes.com/1963/05/29/archives/rites-inaugurate-japanese-garden-zen-temple-bell-is-sounded-at.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=July 12, 1963 |title=Copy of Ryoanji Temple Garden Opens in Brooklyn |page=17C |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|913625711}}}}</ref> The Native Flora Garden was closed in 1963 due to a lack of funding; it did not reopen for two decades.<ref name="n128728533" /> By the mid-1960s, Avery said BBG's finances were in decline, as most of the garden's funding came from wealthy benefactors who were moving away from Brooklyn.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Theodore |date=December 11, 1965 |title=A Cultural Crisis in Brooklyn Is Depicted at Budget Hearing |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/12/11/archives/a-cultural-crisis-in-brooklyn-is-depicted-at-budget-hearing.html |access-date=July 29, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729205113/https://www.nytimes.com/1965/12/11/archives/a-cultural-crisis-in-brooklyn-is-depicted-at-budget-hearing.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Furthermore, an increase in crime had caused BBG officials to close off most of the botanical garden's exits by the end of the decade,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Burks |first=Edward C. |date=December 12, 1969 |title=Museums Seeking Guards To Stem Mounting Crime |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/12/12/archives/museums-seeking-guards-to-stem-mounting-crime.html |access-date=July 29, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729235616/https://www.nytimes.com/1969/12/12/archives/museums-seeking-guards-to-stem-mounting-crime.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and litter was beginning to accumulate in the surrounding area.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Ross |first1=Edwin |last2=Ross |first2=Frank |date=August 11, 1971 |title=Grouse at Garden's Garbage |pages=345 |work=Daily News |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-grouse-at-gardens-garbage/129139888/ |access-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730185015/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-grouse-at-gardens-garbage/129139888/ |url-status=live}}</ref> BBG had an average of 5,000 daily visitors by the late 1960s.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Clark |first=Alfred E. |date=April 13, 1969 |title=Money Pinch Delays Opening of Zoo |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/04/13/archives/money-pinch-delays-opening-of-zoo.html |access-date=July 29, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729235616/https://www.nytimes.com/1969/04/13/archives/money-pinch-delays-opening-of-zoo.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Avery served as BBG's director until 1969,<ref>{{cite book |author=American Rose Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ltRJAAAAYAAJ |title=The American Rose |publisher=American Rose Society |year=1969 |page=5 |issn=1078-5825 |issue=v. 20 |access-date=August 1, 2023 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730180217/https://books.google.com/books?id=ltRJAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |last=Pace |first=Eric |date=August 8, 1994 |title=George Avery Jr., 92, Former Director Of Botanic Garden |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/08/obituaries/george-avery-jr-92-former-director-of-botanic-garden.html |access-date=July 30, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730012025/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/08/obituaries/george-avery-jr-92-former-director-of-botanic-garden.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Louis B. Martin]] briefly served as BBG's third director for the next two years, until the beginning of 1972.<ref>{{cite book |author=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=trlPAAAAYAAJ |title=Plants & Gardens |publisher=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |year=1971 |page= |access-date=July 30, 2023 |issue=v. 27-28 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730180216/https://books.google.com/books?id=trlPAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> As early as 1971, the city considered allowing the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to charge admission.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 25, 1971 |title=City Considering Zoo, Museum Fees |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/01/25/archives/city-considering-zoo-museum-fees-cultural-institutions-may-be.html |access-date=July 30, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730012023/https://www.nytimes.com/1971/01/25/archives/city-considering-zoo-museum-fees-cultural-institutions-may-be.html |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Elizabeth Scholtz]], BBG's assistant curator of instruction, was appointed as the garden's acting director in 1972<ref>{{cite news |last=Stevenson |first=Tom |date=October 14, 1973 |title=The Brooklyn Botanic Garden ... 12,000 Plants and One Woman: The Brooklyn Botanic Garden ... 12,000 Plants and One Woman |page=K18 |work=The Washington Post, Times Herald |issn=0190-8286 |id={{ProQuest|148379523}}|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=March 24, 1972 |title=New Garden Director |page=135 |work=Newsday |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-new-garden-dire/129141063 |access-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730185017/https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-new-garden-dire/129141063/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and officially became the garden's fourth director the next year, making her the first woman to lead a large U.S. botanical garden.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 4, 1973 |title=Botanic Garden Gets Chief |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/02/04/archives/botanic-garden-gets-chief.html |access-date=July 30, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730180215/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/02/04/archives/botanic-garden-gets-chief.html |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Bea |date=February 24, 1973 |title=Woman Director Will Guide Work at Botanic Gardens |page=2B |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|920968896}}}}</ref> Under Scholtz's leadership, BBG shifted its focus to its three "outreach stations" in Westchester County and on [[Long Island]], as there was very little space to expand the original garden in Brooklyn. Although public interest in BBG had grown, the original garden in Brooklyn only employed seven full-time instructors and some part-time instructors.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schuman |first=Wendy |date=April 15, 1973 |title=Chief Gardener in Brooklyn |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/04/15/archives/chief-gardener-in-brooklyn.html |access-date=July 30, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730180217/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/04/15/archives/chief-gardener-in-brooklyn.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The Ryōan-ji stone garden, which had been closed for several years because of a lack of funds, reopened in 1973.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fischer |first=Muriel |date=June 24, 1973 |title=Zen Temple and Gardens Bloom Quietly in Brooklyn |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/06/24/archives/zen-temple-and-gardens-bloom-quietly-in-brooklyn-a-zen-temple-and.html |access-date=July 30, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730220257/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/06/24/archives/zen-temple-and-gardens-bloom-quietly-in-brooklyn-a-zen-temple-and.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

BBG split from the Brooklyn Institute during the 1970s.<ref name="BD p. 108">{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|p=108}}</ref> The Women's Auxiliary of BBG launched a docent program, Volunteer Garden Guide, in 1974.<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden1" /> Continuing financial problems forced BBG to close on Mondays starting in 1975 for the first time in its history.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 20, 1975 |title=Metropolitan Briefs |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/20/archives/metropolitan-briefs-bronx-slayer-draws-30year-minimum-botanic.html |access-date=July 30, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730183825/https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/20/archives/metropolitan-briefs-bronx-slayer-draws-30year-minimum-botanic.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The change was attributed to the fact that BBG's annual operating budget had come to exceed $2 million, a two-thirds increase from the $1.2 million budget in 1970, but the city had committed to funding a smaller portion of BBG's expenses.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 22, 1975 |title=Brooklyn Garden Closing Mondays |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/22/archives/brooklyn-pages-brooklyn-garden-closing-mondays.html |access-date=July 30, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730183824/https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/22/archives/brooklyn-pages-brooklyn-garden-closing-mondays.html |url-status=live}}</ref> BBG had 800,000 annual visitors by the late 1970s; although this was half the number of visitors that the garden had recorded in the mid-20th century, BBG was still more popular than comparable botanical gardens.<ref name="n129144607">{{Cite news |last=Forgang |first=Isabel |date=June 6, 1977 |title=Globetrotting in Brooklyn's Botanic Garden |pages=249 |work=Daily News |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-globetrotting-in-brooklyns-b/129144607/ |access-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730191125/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-globetrotting-in-brooklyns-b/129144607/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The Shakespeare Garden reopened in June 1979<ref>{{Cite news |last=Shepard |first=Joan |date=June 21, 1979 |title=Four from Bay Ridge graduate from LIU |pages=672 |work=Daily News |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-four-from-bay-ridge-graduate/129151586/ |access-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730210147/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-four-from-bay-ridge-graduate/129151586/ |url-status=live}}</ref> after being relocated from its original location near the Children's Garden.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 2, 1980 |title=Shakespeare Gardens Flourish 'Under the Blossom That Hangs on the Bough'; Contains 80 Plants No Qualms About Choices |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/06/02/archives/shakespeare-gardens-flourish-under-the-blossom-that-hangs-on-the.html |access-date=July 30, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723173911/https://www.nytimes.com/1980/06/02/archives/shakespeare-gardens-flourish-under-the-blossom-that-hangs-on-the.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== 1980s and 1990s ====
[[Donald E. Moore]] became BBG's fifth leader in 1980.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 28, 1980 |title=Donald Moore Named Botanic Garden Head |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/06/28/archives/donald-moore-named-botanic-garden-head.html |access-date=July 30, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730210147/https://www.nytimes.com/1980/06/28/archives/donald-moore-named-botanic-garden-head.html |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=June 29, 1980 |title=CPR Course Is Offered |pages=202 |work=Daily News |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-cpr-course-is-offered/129152175/ |access-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730210147/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-cpr-course-is-offered/129152175/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Under his tenure, BBG was expanded, and its membership grew threefold to 25,000.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Roberts |first=Sam |date=October 11, 2018 |title=Donald E. Moore, Who Expanded Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Dies at 90 |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/11/obituaries/donald-moore-dead.html |access-date=July 27, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728000633/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/11/obituaries/donald-moore-dead.html |url-status=live}}</ref> BBG began allowing events, such as parties and weddings, on its grounds in 1982;<ref>{{Cite news |last=Alexander |first=Ron |date=July 23, 1982 |title=City's Bucolic Havens Welcome Weddings |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/23/style/city-s-bucolic-havens-welcome-weddings.html |access-date=July 30, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730210147/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/23/style/city-s-bucolic-havens-welcome-weddings.html |url-status=live}}</ref> it also started hosting an annual cherry blossom festival that year.<ref name="BD p. 122">{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|p=122}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chira |first=Susan |date=1982-05-03 |title=Japan's Cherry Festival Re-created in Brooklyn: For Japanese, Cherry Trees Recall Home |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/03/nyregion/japan-s-cherry-festival-re-created-in-brooklyn.html |access-date=2023-08-23 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 1983, BBG reopened its native flora garden, which had been closed for twenty years, after hiring a gardener and two assistants.<ref name="n128728533">{{Cite news |last=Banner |first=Randy |date=September 15, 1983 |title=Species Go Public |pages=4 |work=Newsday |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-species-go-public/128728533/ |access-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723181143/https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-species-go-public/128728533/ |url-status=live}}</ref> By the mid-1980s, the botanical garden had over 600,000 annual visitors, as well as 11,000 members from around the world.<ref name="nyt-1984-05-19" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=July 21, 1983 |title=News Briefs |pages=142 |work=Daily News |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-news-briefs/129154395/ |access-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730221626/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-news-briefs/129154395/ |url-status=live}}</ref> BBG also had 15,000 specimens representing 2,000 species.<ref name="nyt-1986-11-14">{{Cite news |last=Yarrow |first=Andrew L. |date=November 14, 1986 |title=Brooklyn's Best and Brightest; Woodlands and Exotic Gardens |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/14/arts/brooklyn-s-best-and-brightest-woodlands-and-exotic-gardens.html |access-date=July 31, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731151316/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/14/arts/brooklyn-s-best-and-brightest-woodlands-and-exotic-gardens.html |url-status=live}}</ref>  At that time, BBG's Palm House and the adjacent wooden greenhouses had become severely deteriorated.<ref name="n129157133">{{Cite news |last=Santangelo |first=Mike |date=January 9, 1984 |title=Garden blooms new showplace |pages=76 |work=Daily News |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-garden-blooms-new-showplace/129157133/ |access-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730220256/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-garden-blooms-new-showplace/129157133/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Canty p. 110">{{harvnb|Canty|1989|ps=.|p=110}}</ref> The Celebrity Path was created in 1985 following a donation from the [[Brooklyn Union Gas Company]].<ref name="New York City Department of Parks & Recreation 1911 a752">{{cite web |date=May 13, 1911 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden Highlights : NYC Parks |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/brooklynbotanicgarden/history |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103055821/http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/brooklynbotanicgarden/history |archive-date=November 3, 2012 |access-date=July 23, 2023 |website=New York City Department of Parks & Recreation}}</ref><ref name="n129206258">{{Cite news |last=Farrell |first=Bill |date=August 9, 1987 |title=Garden Honors New Crop of Brooklyn's Elite |pages=646 |work=Daily News |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-garden-honors-new-crop-of-bro/129206258/ |access-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731194118/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-garden-honors-new-crop-of-bro/129206258/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

BBG announced in 1984 that it would construct a new conservatory and restore the Palm House for $16 million. The city and BBG would each pay for half of the renovation.<ref name="n129157133" /><ref name="nyt-1984-01-07">{{Cite news |last=Carmody |first=Deirdre |date=January 7, 1984 |title=Renovation Planned for Brooklyn Botanic Garden |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/07/nyregion/renovation-planned-for-brooklyn-botanic-garden.html |access-date=July 23, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723173909/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/07/nyregion/renovation-planned-for-brooklyn-botanic-garden.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The conservatory was to be designed by [[Davis Brody Bond|Davis, Brody & Associates]],<ref name="nyt-1988-07-03" /> who were also responsible for renovating the Palm House and Administration Building.<ref name="NY2000">{{cite NY2000|pages=1185}}</ref> Work on the new conservatory commenced in May 1984;<ref name="nyt-1984-05-19">{{Cite news |date=May 19, 1984 |title=The City; Expansion Begins At Botanic Garden |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/19/nyregion/the-city-expansion-begins-at-botanic-garden.html |access-date=July 23, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723173908/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/19/nyregion/the-city-expansion-begins-at-botanic-garden.html |url-status=live}}</ref> it was the first major building erected in BBG since the 1910s.<ref name="nyt-1988-07-03" /> The conservatory replaced three smaller gardens, including the Ryōan-ji stone garden.<ref name="p1832762678">{{Cite magazine |last=Lyman |first=Rick |date=May 19, 1988 |title=A $25 Million Garden Blooms in Brooklyn |magazine= Philadelphia Inquirer |page=C.1 |id={{ProQuest|1832762678}}}}</ref> The conservatory's $25 million cost included $3 million from [[Michael Steinhardt|Michael]] and Judith Steinhardt and $11.65 million from the city government.<ref name="nyt-1988-07-03">{{Cite news |last=Goldberger |first=Paul |date=July 3, 1988 |title=Architecture View; Glass Houses for Trees That Grow In Brooklyn |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/03/arts/architecture-view-glass-houses-for-trees-that-grow-in-brooklyn.html |access-date=July 23, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723165725/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/03/arts/architecture-view-glass-houses-for-trees-that-grow-in-brooklyn.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="p277992233">{{cite news |last=Nerl |first=Daryl |date=March 15, 1988 |title=Building Grows at Botanic Garden New Conservatory to Show Exotic Plants in Their Natural Environment |page=27 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|277992233}}}}</ref> The Steinhardt Conservatory was named for the couple in March 1988<ref name="p277992233" /> and opened on May 19, 1988.<ref name="p1832762678" /><ref name="n128724868">{{Cite news |last=Raver |first=Anne |date=May 19, 1988 |title=A Trek Through Evolution |pages=234 |work=Newsday |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-a-trek-through/128724868/ |access-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723165725/https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-a-trek-through/128724868/ |url-status=live}}</ref> BBG also renovated the Palm House into an education center and event space,<ref name="NY2000" /><ref name="nyt-1988-03-10" /> and it erected an education building with greenhouses, displays, and classrooms.<ref name="p371465007">{{Cite news |date=June 11, 1987 |title=Kresge Foundation awards grant to Brooklyn Botanic Garden |page=12 |work=Italian Voice |id={{ProQuest|371465007}}}}</ref> The renovation added {{convert|80,000|ft2}}, more than doubling the amount of space dedicated to displaying plants and exhibits.<ref name="nyt-1988-03-10">{{Cite news |last=Morgan |first=Thomas |date=March 10, 1988 |title=Brooklyn's Big Garden Is Growing Bigger |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/10/nyregion/brooklyn-s-big-garden-is-growing-bigger.html |access-date=July 23, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723165727/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/10/nyregion/brooklyn-s-big-garden-is-growing-bigger.html |url-status=live}}</ref> A gift shop opened next to the Steinhardt Conservatory in June 1989,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Patricia Leigh |date=June 29, 1989 |title=Currents; At the Brooklyn Garden, A Growers' Gift Shop |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/29/garden/currents-at-the-brooklyn-garden-a-growers-gift-shop.html |access-date=July 31, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731155315/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/29/garden/currents-at-the-brooklyn-garden-a-growers-gift-shop.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and a discovery center sponsored by [[Chase Manhattan Bank]] opened in September 1989.<ref>{{cite news |last=Roach |first=Margaret |date=September 21, 1989 |title=A New Discovery A Brooklyn Botanic Garden facility offers children an education in gardening and nature |page=5 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|278084191}}}}</ref>

[[Judith D. Zuk|Judith Zuk]] was named as BBG's president in 1990 after Moore resigned.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Howe |first=Marvine |date=July 5, 1990 |title=Botanic Garden Loses a Leader, Gains a Legacy |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/05/nyregion/botanic-garden-loses-a-leader-gains-a-legacy.html |access-date=July 30, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730210146/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/05/nyregion/botanic-garden-loses-a-leader-gains-a-legacy.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Several of BBG's gardens were renovated under Zuk's tenure.<ref name="Martin 2007">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/06/nyregion/06zuk.html|title=Judith D. Zuk, 55, Who Ran the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Is Dead|last=Martin|first=Douglas|date=September 6, 2007|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 9, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=September 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220913012341/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/06/nyregion/06zuk.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Discovery Garden opened next to the Discovery Center in September 1992,<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 15, 1992 |title=Crown Heights/New Garden of Insights |pages=32 |work=Newsday |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-crown-heightsnew-garden-of-insi/129194306/ |access-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-date=August 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801235739/https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-crown-heightsnew-garden-of-insi/129194306/ |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |last=Leimbach |first=Dulcie |date=September 25, 1992 |title=For Children |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/25/arts/for-children.html |access-date=July 31, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731155313/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/25/arts/for-children.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and the viewing pavilion in the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden was renovated in 1993 as part of a larger $1.5 million rehabilitation of the Japanese garden.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kaufman |first=Bill |date=August 10, 1993 |title=Spotlight |pages=61 |work=Newsday |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-spotlight/129194932/ |access-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731164829/https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-spotlight/129194932/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1996, the garden began charging admission of $3 per adult after cuts in public and private funding and increases in operating costs.<ref name="nyt-1996-01-26">{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=Douglas |date=January 26, 1996 |title=The Garden In Brooklyn Plans to Levy Entrance Fee |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/26/nyregion/the-garden-in-brooklyn-plans-to-levy-entrance-fee.html |access-date=July 31, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 26, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526171445/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/26/nyregion/the-garden-in-brooklyn-plans-to-levy-entrance-fee.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Williams |first=Laura |date=January 30, 1996 |title=A Fee Grows in Brooklyn; Botanic Garden to Charge Admission |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/archives/boroughs/fee-grows-brooklyn-botanic-garden-charge-admission-article-1.722031 |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=New York Daily News |archive-date=May 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170523083947/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/boroughs/fee-grows-brooklyn-botanic-garden-charge-admission-article-1.722031 |url-status=live}}</ref> Community groups objected that the admission fee would negatively impact local residents,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Baillou |first=Charles |date=April 6, 1996 |title=Botanic Garden Admission Fee Rattles Brooklyn Activists Who Urge Rollback |page=9 |work=New York Amsterdam News |id={{proQuest|2632213670}}}}</ref> but Zuk said the fee would raise at least half a million dollars per year.<ref name="nyt-1996-01-26" /> To attract visitors during the winter, BBG began hosting [[model train]] displays in late 1998.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Herszenhorn |first=David M. |date=November 29, 1998 |title=Little Iron Horses Upstage the Garden Flora |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/29/nyregion/little-iron-horses-upstage-the-garden-flora.html |access-date=July 31, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731170420/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/29/nyregion/little-iron-horses-upstage-the-garden-flora.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden was renovated starting in 1999; the project was supposed to cost $3 million and was funded mostly by the [[New York City Council]].<ref name="nyt-1999-02-21">{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=Douglas |date=February 21, 1999 |title=Restoring the Glory Of a Japanese Jewel |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/21/nyregion/restoring-the-glory-of-a-japanese-jewel.html |access-date=July 31, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731170415/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/21/nyregion/restoring-the-glory-of-a-japanese-jewel.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The project included repainting the torii, restoring the viewing pavilion and Turtle Island, making the lower level accessible, and planting extra trees.<ref name="n129081764">{{Cite news |last=Shelby |first=Joyce |date=May 24, 2000 |title=Japanese Hill & Pond Garden Reopening |pages=461 |work=Daily News |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-japanese-hill-pond-garden-r/129081764/ |access-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729184701/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-japanese-hill-pond-garden-r/129081764/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The Japanese garden reopened in May 2000.<ref name="n129081764" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Raver |first=Anne |date=June 18, 2000 |title=Travel Advisory; Japanese Garden Restored |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/18/travel/travel-advisory-japanese-garden-restored.html |access-date=July 31, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=October 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221005103759/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/18/travel/travel-advisory-japanese-garden-restored.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== 2000s to present ====
[[File:Entrance_Brooklyn_Botanic_Garden.JPG|alt=Facade of the visitor center on Washington Avenue|thumb|The visitor center on Washington Avenue opened in May 2012.]]
When the entrance to the Brooklyn Museum was rebuilt in 2002, some of BBG's cherry trees had to be cut down.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Allen |first=Michael O. |date=January 24, 2002 |title=Museum plan takes root, minus trees |pages=101 |work=Daily News |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-museum-plan-takes-root-minus/129081556/ |access-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729184703/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-museum-plan-takes-root-minus/129081556/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The entrance on Eastern Parkway was rebuilt in 2003 at a cost of $2.5 million. The previous entrance had been too narrow and was set back from the street, making it difficult for visitors to see the entrance.<ref name="nyt-2003-11-16">{{Cite news |last=Hevesi |first=Dennis |date=November 16, 2003 |title=Postings: A 50-Foot-High Glass Cone; New Entrance To Gardens In Brooklyn |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/realestate/postings-a-50-foot-high-glass-cone-new-entrance-to-gardens-in-brooklyn.html |access-date=July 29, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729184701/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/realestate/postings-a-50-foot-high-glass-cone-new-entrance-to-gardens-in-brooklyn.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The new entrance opened in 2005.<ref name="p219168955">{{cite magazine |last=Kreinin Souccar |first=Miriam |date=October 3, 2005 |title=Brooklyn's green thumb |magazine=Crain's New York Business |volume=21 |issue=40 |page=37 |id={{ProQuest|219168955}}}}</ref> After Zuk retired in 2005,<ref name="Martin 2007" /> the Magnolia Plaza was named in her honor,<ref name="Paper 2008 x4152">{{cite web |date=May 2, 2008 |title=Magnificent magnolias – BBG marks 75th anniversary of Judith D. Zuk Plaza |url=https://www.brooklynpaper.com/magnificent-magnolias-bbg-marks-75th-anniversary-of-judith-d-zuk-plaza/ |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Paper |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731204528/https://www.brooklynpaper.com/magnificent-magnolias-bbg-marks-75th-anniversary-of-judith-d-zuk-plaza/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=September 5, 2007 |title=Judith Zuk, 55, President of Brooklyn Botanic Garden |url=https://www.nysun.com/article/obituaries-judith-zuk-55-president-of-brooklyn-botanic-garden |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=The New York Sun |archive-date=August 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230802000239/https://www.nysun.com/article/obituaries-judith-zuk-55-president-of-brooklyn-botanic-garden |url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Scot Medbury]] was selected as president the same year.<ref>{{cite web |last=Williamson |first=Alex |date=June 18, 2019 |title='A wild place:' Brooklyn Botanic president looks back on 14 years at the helm |url=https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2019/06/18/scot-medbury-brooklyn-botanic/ |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Eagle |archive-date=June 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602155254/https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2019/06/18/scot-medbury-brooklyn-botanic/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Medbury planned to build a party room, restaurant, and visitor center; by then, BBG had 700,000 annual visitors and an operating budget of nearly $15 million.<ref name="p219168955" /> The Cranford Rose Garden was restored in 2006, followed by the C.V. Starr Bonsai Museum the next year.<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden1" />

BBG's Laboratory Building was designated as a city landmark in 2007.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McElroy |first=Steven |date=March 15, 2007 |title=Arts, Briefly; Brooklyn Botanic Building Gets Landmark Status |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E00E4DC1E31F936A25750C0A9619C8B63 |access-date=July 27, 2023 |website=The New York Times |language=en |archive-date=January 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180116164123/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E00E4DC1E31F936A25750C0A9619C8B63 |url-status=live}}</ref> The same year, as part of the Campaign for the Next Century,<ref>{{cite web |last=Croghan |first=Lore |date=November 8, 2019 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden has a new selfie spot (and some new plants too) |url=https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2019/11/08/brooklyn-botanic-garden-has-a-new-selfie-spot-and-some-new-plants-too/ |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Eagle |archive-date=July 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726014655/https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2019/11/08/brooklyn-botanic-garden-has-a-new-selfie-spot-and-some-new-plants-too/ |url-status=live}}</ref> BBG started to raise money for new gardens, entrances, and a visitor center.<ref name="wsj-2011-05-26">{{Cite news |last=West |first=Melanie Grayce |date=May 26, 2011 |title=Charlie Hamm's Gift Blooms for Brooklyn Botanic Garden |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304520804576345642044521686.html |access-date=July 31, 2023 |issn=0099-9660 |archive-date=November 12, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111112205456/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304520804576345642044521686.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Major donors to the campaign included Charlie and Irene Hamm,<ref name="wsj-2011-05-26" /> the [[Leon Levy Foundation]], the Brooklyn Community Foundation, and the Robert Wilson Charitable Trust.<ref>{{cite web |date=April 25, 2011 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden Receives $7.5 Million Gift |url=https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/brooklyn-botanic-garden-receives-7.5-million-gift |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Philanthropy News Digest |archive-date=March 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328200735/http://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/brooklyn-botanic-garden-receives-7.5-million-gift |url-status=live}}</ref> BBG announced in 2009 that it would build a new entrance and visitor center on its northeastern corner, at the intersection of President Street and Washington Avenue. The botanical garden also planned to construct herb, woodland, and water gardens for its centennial.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kleinman |first=Jacob |date=July 17, 2009 |title=Botanic Garden to get a new face • Brooklyn Paper |url=https://www.brooklynpaper.com/botanic-garden-to-get-a-new-face/ |access-date=July 26, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Paper |archive-date=July 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726005356/https://www.brooklynpaper.com/botanic-garden-to-get-a-new-face/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The visitor center was originally supposed to be located near the Cherry Walk but was moved to provide a better connection with the surrounding area.<ref name="Dailey 2012">{{cite web |last=Dailey |first=Jessica |date=May 9, 2012 |title=Inside the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's New Visitor Center |url=https://ny.curbed.com/2012/5/9/10372740/inside-the-brooklyn-botanic-gardens-new-visitor-center |access-date=March 1, 2023 |website=Curbed NY |archive-date=March 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301140500/https://ny.curbed.com/2012/5/9/10372740/inside-the-brooklyn-botanic-gardens-new-visitor-center |url-status=live}}</ref> BBG relocated its herb garden in 2010,<ref>{{cite web |date=February 23, 2010 |title=Festivities celebrating BBG centennial |url=https://www.brooklynpaper.com/festivities-celebrating-bbg-centennial/ |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Paper |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731204530/https://www.brooklynpaper.com/festivities-celebrating-bbg-centennial/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and the visitor center opened in May 2012.<ref>{{cite web |last=Clark |first=Amy Sara |date=May 11, 2012 |title=Sneak Peek at Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Visitor Center |url=https://patch.com/new-york/windsorterrace/sneak-peek-at-brooklyn-botanic-gardens-visitor-center-86809022 |access-date=July 26, 2023 |website=Windsor Terrace-Kensington, NY Patch |archive-date=July 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726005356/https://patch.com/new-york/windsorterrace/sneak-peek-at-brooklyn-botanic-gardens-visitor-center-86809022 |url-status=live |postscript=none}}; {{Cite web |date=May 17, 2012 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center Opens to the Public |url=http://www.archdaily.com/235079/brooklyn-botanic-garden-visitor-center-opens-to-the-public |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119015610/http://www.archdaily.com/235079/brooklyn-botanic-garden-visitor-center-opens-to-the-public/ |archive-date=January 19, 2013 |access-date=December 23, 2012 |publisher=ArchDaily}}</ref> In June 2013, BBG opened an expansion of its Native Flora Garden.<ref name="nyt-2013-06-12">{{Cite news |last=Raver |first=Anne |date=June 12, 2013 |title=Native Flora Garden Opens at Brooklyn Botanic Garden |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/13/garden/native-flora-garden-opens-at-brooklyn-botanic-garden.html |access-date=July 31, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726005403/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/13/garden/native-flora-garden-opens-at-brooklyn-botanic-garden.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Geberer 2013 w950">{{cite web |last=Geberer |first=Raanan |date=June 4, 2013 |title=Botanic Garden creates pine barrens, prairie in Brooklyn |url=https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2013/06/04/botanic-garden-creates-pine-barrens-prairie-in-brooklyn/ |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Eagle |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731204528/https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2013/06/04/botanic-garden-creates-pine-barrens-prairie-in-brooklyn/ |url-status=live}}</ref> BBG suspended its science program that year because of budget cuts and the severe deterioration of BBG's science center in Crown Heights.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Foderaro |first=Lisa W. |date=September 22, 2013 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden Defends Decision to Suspend Science Program |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/23/nyregion/brooklyn-botanic-garden-defends-decision-to-suspend-science-program.html |access-date=July 26, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726005356/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/23/nyregion/brooklyn-botanic-garden-defends-decision-to-suspend-science-program.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Brooklyn Botanic Garden was one of ten institutions that received the [[National Medal for Museum and Library Service]] in 2014, the centennial of its children's garden.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Schneider|first=Elena|date=May 8, 2014|title=Hush Lifted Over Awards for Nation's Libraries and Museums|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/08/us/hush-lifted-over-awards-for-nations-libraries-and-museums.html|access-date=July 31, 2023|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=June 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616224523/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/08/us/hush-lifted-over-awards-for-nations-libraries-and-museums.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="wsj-2014-05-16">{{Cite news|last=Bischof|first=Jackie|date=May 16, 2014|title=A Century of Happy Weeding at Brooklyn Botanic Garden|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303409004579562232711084704.html|access-date=July 31, 2023|issn=0099-9660|archive-date=August 2, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230802000245/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303409004579562232711084704|url-status=live}}</ref> BBG's Discovery Garden reopened in June 2015 after a renovation designed by [[Michael Van Valkenburgh]].<ref name="nyt-2015-06-11">{{Cite news |last=Raver |first=Anne |date=June 11, 2015 |title=Brooklyn Botanic's New Discovery Garden, Not Just for Kids |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/12/arts/design/brooklyn-botanics-new-discovery-garden-not-just-for-kids.html |access-date=July 27, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727010352/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/12/arts/design/brooklyn-botanics-new-discovery-garden-not-just-for-kids.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Hurowitz |first=Noah |date=June 5, 2015 |title=Green day: Botanic Garden opens new and improved kids area |url=https://www.brooklynpaper.com/green-day-botanic-garden-opens-new-and-improved-kids-area/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Paper |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727010354/https://www.brooklynpaper.com/green-day-botanic-garden-opens-new-and-improved-kids-area/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The Water Garden, which was named for Shelby White and Leon Levy after they donated $7.5 million to BBG,<ref name="wsj-2016-08-24">{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Jennifer |date=August 24, 2016 |title=Brooklyn's Botanic Garden Goes on a Water Diet |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=http://www.wsj.com/articles/brooklyns-botanic-garden-goes-on-a-water-diet-1472000802 |access-date=July 31, 2023 |issn=0099-9660 |archive-date=June 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628145103/http://www.wsj.com/articles/brooklyns-botanic-garden-goes-on-a-water-diet-1472000802 |url-status=live}}</ref> reopened in September 2016 following a restoration.<ref name="Mixson 2016 e375">{{cite web |last=Mixson |first=Colin |date=September 20, 2016 |title=Making the moist of it! Botanic Garden opens wetlands |url=https://www.brooklynpaper.com/making-the-moist-of-it-botanic-garden-opens-wetlands/ |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Paper |archive-date=October 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023183756/https://www.brooklynpaper.com/making-the-moist-of-it-botanic-garden-opens-wetlands/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The Yellow Magnolia Café opened within the Palm House in 2017.<ref name="nyt-2017-04-11">{{Cite news |last=Fabricant |first=Florence |date=April 11, 2017 |title=Yellow Magnolia Café Opens at Brooklyn Botanic Garden |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/11/dining/yellow-magnolia-cafe-opens-at-brooklyn-botanic-garden.html |access-date=July 30, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730220257/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/11/dining/yellow-magnolia-cafe-opens-at-brooklyn-botanic-garden.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Sietsema |first=Robert |date=April 17, 2017 |title=Yellow Magnolia Cafe Raises the Bar for Museum Fare in Brooklyn |url=https://ny.eater.com/2017/4/17/15320966/yellow-magnolia-cafe-brooklyn-botanic-garden-rob-newton |access-date=July 30, 2023 |website=Eater NY |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730220257/https://ny.eater.com/2017/4/17/15320966/yellow-magnolia-cafe-brooklyn-botanic-garden-rob-newton |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2018, BBG announced that it would re-landscape a hill leading to the Robert W. Wilson Overlook,<ref>{{cite web |last=Mixson |first=Colin |date=May 23, 2018 |title=Growing up: Botanic Garden will transform overlooked 'Overlook' into inviting incline |url=https://www.brooklynpaper.com/growing-up-botanic-garden-will-transform-overlooked-overlook-into-inviting-incline/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Paper |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725225436/https://www.brooklynpaper.com/growing-up-botanic-garden-will-transform-overlooked-overlook-into-inviting-incline/ |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite web |last=Wong |first=Pamela |date=June 7, 2018 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden Breaks Ground On New Overlook |url=https://bklyner.com/brooklyn-botanic-garden-breaks-ground-on-new-overlook/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |website=Bklyner |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725225437/https://bklyner.com/brooklyn-botanic-garden-breaks-ground-on-new-overlook/ |url-status=live}}</ref> which was rededicated in November 2019.<ref name="Croghan 2019 j063">{{cite web |last=Croghan |first=Lore |date=November 8, 2019 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden has a new selfie spot (and some new plants too) |url=https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2019/11/08/brooklyn-botanic-garden-has-a-new-selfie-spot-and-some-new-plants-too/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Eagle |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725225437/https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2019/11/08/brooklyn-botanic-garden-has-a-new-selfie-spot-and-some-new-plants-too/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Spivack |first=Caroline |date=November 18, 2019 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden unveils sculptural path with scenic vista |url=https://ny.curbed.com/2019/11/18/20970823/brooklyn-botanic-garden-new-path-views |access-date=July 25, 2023 |website=Curbed NY |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725225437/https://ny.curbed.com/2019/11/18/20970823/brooklyn-botanic-garden-new-path-views |url-status=live}}</ref> The Elizabeth Scholtz Woodland Garden, named in honor of BBG's former director, also opened the same year.<ref name="Croghan 2019 j063" /><ref name="Davidson 2019 h862" /> After a high-rise tower development was announced next to BBG at 960 Franklin Avenue, BBG protested the project in 2019;<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.amny.com/news/brooklyn-botanic-garden-shadows-1.34466573|title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden's 'Fight for Sunlight' protests Crown Heights building proposal|last=Brown|first=Nicole|date=July 31, 2019|work=AM New York|access-date=October 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026165833/https://www.amny.com/news/brooklyn-botanic-garden-shadows-1.34466573/|archive-date=October 26, 2019|url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite web |last=Mixson |first=Colin |date=February 27, 2019 |title=No grow: Botanic Garden bigwigs double down on opposition to proposed Franklin Ave megadevelopment |url=https://www.brooklynpaper.com/no-grow-botanic-garden-bigwigs-double-down-on-opposition-to-proposed-franklin-ave-megadevelopment/ |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Paper |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731192625/https://www.brooklynpaper.com/no-grow-botanic-garden-bigwigs-double-down-on-opposition-to-proposed-franklin-ave-megadevelopment/ |url-status=live}}</ref> the towers were canceled after city officials rejected the project.<ref>{{cite web |last=Cifuentes |first=Kevin |date=November 7, 2022 |title=960 Franklin Avenue Project by Brooklyn Botanic Garden Sold |url=https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2022/11/07/controversial-project-site-by-brooklyn-botanic-garden-sold/ |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=The Real Deal |archive-date=August 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230802000247/https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2022/11/07/controversial-project-site-by-brooklyn-botanic-garden-sold/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

BBG was closed temporarily from March to August 2020 due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in New York City]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Clark |first=Roger |date=August 7, 2020 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden is Back in Business |url=https://www.ny1.com/nyc/brooklyn/coronavirus-blog/2020/08/06/brooklyn-botanic-garden-with-timed-entry-tickets--social-distancing-in-effect |access-date=July 25, 2023 |website=Spectrum News NY1 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725225438/https://www.ny1.com/nyc/brooklyn/coronavirus-blog/2020/08/06/brooklyn-botanic-garden-with-timed-entry-tickets--social-distancing-in-effect |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite web |last=Verde |first=Ben |date=July 21, 2020 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden to reopen August 7 |url=https://www.brooklynpaper.com/brooklyn-botanic-garden-to-reopen-august-7/ |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Paper |archive-date=March 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230320164031/https://www.brooklynpaper.com/brooklyn-botanic-garden-to-reopen-august-7/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Former city parks commissioner [[Adrian Benepe]] was selected as BBG's eighth president in late 2020, after Medbury resigned.<ref>{{cite web |last=Verde |first=Ben |date=September 15, 2020 |title=Former Parks chief tapped to head Brooklyn Botanic Garden |url=https://www.brooklynpaper.com/brooklyn-botanic-garden-adrian-benepe/ |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Paper |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731192615/https://www.brooklynpaper.com/brooklyn-botanic-garden-adrian-benepe/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The retailer [[Anthropologie]] opened a Terrain home-and-garden store at BBG in 2024.<ref>{{cite web | title=Terrain, an elevated garden shop, to open at Brooklyn Botanic Garden | website=News 12 - Long Island | url=http://longisland.news12.com/terrain-an-elevated-garden-shop-to-open-at-brooklyn-botanic-garden | access-date=June 4, 2024}}</ref> A 14-story apartment building east of BBG was again proposed in the 2020s,<ref>{{cite web | last=Yu | first=Janice | title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden takes on Continuum plan to build highrise in Crown Heights, NYC | website=ABC7 New York | date=July 30, 2024 | url=https://abc7ny.com/post/brooklyn-botanic-garden-takes-continuum-plan-build-highrise-crown-heights-nyc/15122911/ | access-date=September 24, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Gill | first=John Freeman | title=Two Projects in Brooklyn Could Imperil Popular Green Spaces | website=The New York Times | date=August 2, 2024 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/02/realestate/brooklyn-botanic-garden-prospect-park-projects.html | access-date=September 24, 2024}}</ref> amid an affordable-housing shortage in the neighborhood.<ref name="Zaveri f085">{{cite web | last=Zaveri | first=Mihir | title=Push for High-Rise Next to Brooklyn Botanic Garden Becomes Battle Over Shadows | website=The New York Times | date=October 16, 2024 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/16/nyregion/brooklyn-botanic-garden-shadows.html | access-date=October 17, 2024}}</ref> The building's developer [[Bruce Eichner]] threatened to cancel the project following opposition from BBG and local residents,<ref>{{cite web | last=Engquist | first=Erik | title=Eichner to cancel Crown Heights project, despite city approval | website=The Real Deal | date=September 23, 2024 | url=https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2024/09/23/eichner-to-withdraw-crown-heights-project-by-botanic-garden/ | access-date=September 24, 2024|postscript=none}}; {{cite web | last=Chambers | first=Kori | title=Developer pulls out of high-rise project near Brooklyn Botanic Garden | website=PIX11 | date=September 25, 2024 | url=https://pix11.com/news/local-news/brooklyn/developer-pulls-out-of-high-rise-project-near-brooklyn-botanic-garden/ | access-date=October 17, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Zaveri f085"/> but he then proposed a modified plan following negotiations with BBG and city officials.<ref>{{cite web | last=Cryan | first=Elizabeth | title=Eichner's Crown Heights project not dead yet | website=The Real Deal | date=October 15, 2024 | url=https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2024/10/15/last-ditch-effort-aims-to-save-crown-heights-apartment-project/ | access-date=October 17, 2024}}</ref>

== Location and geography ==
Brooklyn Botanic Garden is in the central part of the [[Boroughs of New York City|New York City borough]] of [[Brooklyn]], on the border of the [[Park Slope]], [[Prospect Heights, Brooklyn|Prospect Heights]], and [[Crown Heights, Brooklyn|Crown Heights]] neighborhoods. It occupies much of the city block bounded by Eastern Parkway to the north, Washington Avenue to the east, Empire Boulevard to the south, and Flatbush Avenue to the southwest.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1000 Flatbush Avenue, 11225 |url=https://zola.planning.nyc.gov/l/lot/3/1183/1 |access-date=March 20, 2020 |publisher=[[New York City Department of City Planning]]}}{{Cbignore}}</ref> BBG shares a large city block with Brooklyn's [[Central Library (Brooklyn Public Library)|Central Library]], [[Mount Prospect Park]], and the [[Brooklyn Museum]] to the west and north.<ref>{{cite report |url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/01001446.pdf |title=Brooklyn Public Library, Central Building |date=January 11, 2002 |publisher=[[National Register of Historic Places]], [[National Park Service]] |page=3 |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623201336/https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/01001446.pdf |archive-date=June 23, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> The far southeastern corner of the block contains the Brooklyn Central Office, Bureau of Fire Communications, at 35 Empire Boulevard.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Peck|first=Richard|date=March 2, 1975|title=Old Firehouses Clang in the Past|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/03/02/archives/old-firehouses-clang-in-the-past-citys-old-firehouses-are-clanging.html|access-date=July 31, 2023|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=August 2, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230802002742/https://www.nytimes.com/1975/03/02/archives/old-firehouses-clang-in-the-past-citys-old-firehouses-are-clanging.html|url-status=live}}</ref> BBG covers {{Convert|52|acre}},<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden1" /><ref name="Durham National Geographic Society (U.S.) Shaw Hannafin 2015 p. 213">{{cite book |last=Durham |first=M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SBknBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA213 |title=National Geographic Traveler - New York |author2=National Geographic Society (U.S.) |last3=Shaw |first3=P. |last4=Hannafin |first4=M. |publisher=National Geographic Society |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-4262-1360-1 |page=213 |access-date=2023-08-02 |archive-date=2023-07-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730220300/https://books.google.com/books?id=SBknBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA213 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{Efn|The [[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation]] gives a conflicting figure of {{convert|47.57|acre}},<ref name="New York City Department of Parks & Recreation 1911 a752" /> and some sources round the area to {{convert|50|acre}}.<ref name="n129144607" />}} making it much smaller than the [[New York Botanical Garden]], which covers {{Convert|250|acre}}.<ref name="n129144607" /> {{As of|2025|July|df=US}}, BBG has 9,250 unique plant [[taxon|taxa]].<ref>{{cite web |title=BBG's Plant Collection |url=https://www.bbg.org/collections/plant_collection |access-date=July 18, 2025}}</ref>

Approximately 17,000 years ago the [[terminal moraine]] of the receding [[Last glacial period#Wisconsin glaciation, in North America|Wisconsin Glacier]] that formed [[Long Island]], known as the [[Harbor Hill Moraine]], established a string of hills and [[Kettle (landform)|kettles]] as well as a lower lying [[outwash plain]].<ref>{{cite web |date=December 7, 2001 |title=Prospect Park: Wetlands of New York City |url=http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=11760 |access-date=November 20, 2007 |publisher=[[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation]] |archive-date=March 12, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050312132325/http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=11760 |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite web |year=2004 |title=NYC Regional Geology: 62 Prospect Park |url=http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/nyc/parks/loc62.htm |access-date=November 20, 2007 |publisher=United States Geological Survey |archive-date=November 9, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071109174955/http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/nyc/parks/loc62.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> Mount Prospect (or Prospect Hill), near the intersection of [[Flatbush Avenue (Brooklyn)|Flatbush Avenue]] and [[Eastern Parkway (Brooklyn)|Eastern Parkway]], is one of the tallest hills in Brooklyn, rising 200 feet (61&nbsp;m) above sea level.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tate |first=Alan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8xPwBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA220 |title=Great City Parks |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-317-61298-8 |page=218 |access-date=January 29, 2019 |archive-date=August 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230802002742/https://books.google.com/books?id=8xPwBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA220 |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite map|publisher=[[United States Geological Survey|USGS]]|title=Brooklyn (NY) Topographical Map|url=https://prd-tnm.s3.amazonaws.com/StagedProducts/Maps/USTopo/PDF/NY/NY_Brooklyn_20130328_TM_geo.pdf|date=2013|access-date=January 19, 2019}}</ref> As a result of the Wisconsin glaciation, there were a large number of rock [[outcropping]]s on the site prior to BBG's development.<ref name="n128966347" /><ref name="Gager p. 341">{{harvnb|Gager|1912|ps=.|p=341}}</ref> The northwestern and eastern edges of the site contained outcroppings, while the rest of the site was in an [[overwash]] plain.<ref name="Gager p. 341" /> Boulders from the site were used in the rock garden, the native flora garden, bridges and dams across the artificial brook, and pedestals for various memorial tablets.<ref name="n128966347">{{Cite news |date=July 3, 1932 |title=Noah's Flood Missed Brooklyn, Says Botanic Garden Record |pages=7 |work=Times Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-noahs-flood-missed-brooklyn/128966347/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727182952/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-noahs-flood-missed-brooklyn/128966347/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In addition to 18 boulders in the rock garden, there are six outcroppings in other parts of BBG.<ref name="BD pp. 142–143">{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|pp=142–143}}</ref>

A brook runs across the garden from the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden in the north to the Shelby White and Leon Levy Water Garden in the south. Water from the Water Garden flowed into a storm drain prior to 2019, when the Water Conservation Project was completed. As a result of the project, water from the Water Garden is recirculated to the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden.<ref>{{cite web |date=October 22, 2020 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |url=https://www.mvvainc.com/projects/brooklyn-botanic-garden |access-date=July 31, 2023 |publisher=Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731151320/https://www.mvvainc.com/projects/brooklyn-botanic-garden |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite web |last=Schmidt |first=Sarah |date=April 18, 2019 |title=The Water Conservation Project Is Open |url=https://www.bbg.org/article/water_conservation_project_is_open |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=August 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230802002742/https://www.bbg.org/article/water_conservation_project_is_open |url-status=live}}</ref> This project was intended to save over {{Convert|21|e6gal|L|sp=us}} of water per year,<ref name="Mixson 2016 e375" /><ref name="wsj-2016-08-24" /> reducing by 95 percent the amount of water that the brook drew from the [[New York City water supply system]].<ref name="wsj-2016-08-24" />

=== Entrances ===
[[File:BBG_south_gate_jeh.jpg|left|thumb|Entrance on Flatbush Avenue]]
Brooklyn Botanic Garden contains three entrances.<ref name="nyt-2012-05-08">{{Cite news |last=Nobel |first=Philip |date=May 8, 2012 |title=At Garden's Visitor Center, a Welcome Transparency |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/arts/design/a-new-visitor-center-at-brooklyn-botanic-garden.html |access-date=July 26, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 9, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120809112732/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/arts/design/a-new-visitor-center-at-brooklyn-botanic-garden.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The southwest entrance, at Flatbush Avenue near Empire Boulevard, is near the [[New York City Subway]]'s [[Prospect Park station (BMT lines)|Prospect Park station]].<ref name="BD p. 108" /> McKim, Mead & White designed an Italian Renaissance Revival-style gate at Flatbush Avenue. The gate measures {{convert|20|ft}} tall by {{convert|23|ft}} wide and is made of brick and limestone. It contains three arches measuring {{convert|6.75|ft}} deep, with a large central arch flanked by smaller entry and exit arches.<ref name="n128961538" /><ref name="n128961709" /> Three similar arches were proposed, one on Eastern Parkway and two on Washington Avenue, but were not built.<ref name="n128961538" /><ref name="n128961709" /> In the early 21st century, a visitor center was added next to the Flatbush Avenue entrance.<ref>{{cite web |date=January 8, 2019 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |url=https://www.aro.net/brooklyn-botanic-garden/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |website=ARO Architecture Research Office |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727171428/https://www.aro.net/brooklyn-botanic-garden/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

The northern entrance on Eastern Parkway is adjacent to an entrance to the New York City Subway's [[Eastern Parkway–Brooklyn Museum station]].<ref name="BD p. 108" /> Prior to 2003,<ref name="nyt-2003-11-16" /> it contained a decorative metal gate dating from 1946.<ref name="n128993816" /><ref name="BD p. 108" /> The gate contained plaques symbolizing three major crops, namely rice, maize, and wheat. In addition, there were vertical reliefs that symbolize plant evolution.<ref name="BD p. 108" /> The entrance was rebuilt in 2003 with a {{convert|16|ft|m|-wide|adj=mid}} stainless-steel gate flanked by {{convert|12|ft|m|-high|adj=mid}} curved steel walls. The new entrance, designed by [[James Polshek]], also contains a {{convert|50|ft|m|-high|adj=mid}} cast-glass cone, as well as an embankment with information and ticket kiosks.<ref name="nyt-2003-11-16" /> Just within the entrance, there are boulders from New Jersey on either side of the path, as well as an overhanging birch branch.<ref name="BD p. 108" />[[File:Brooklyn_Botanic_Garden_New_York_May_2015_003.jpg|thumb|The deck above the visitor center on Washington Avenue]]
The eastern entrance on Washington Avenue abuts the Brooklyn Museum's parking lot.<ref name="BD p. 108" /> This entrance contains the Diane H. and Joseph S. Steinberg Visitor Center, designed by Weiss/Manfredi,<ref name="wsj-2012-05-15">{{Cite news |last=Iovine |first=Julie V. |date=May 15, 2012 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304192704577404233149416726.html |access-date=July 26, 2023 |issn=0099-9660 |archive-date=August 22, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822204642/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304192704577404233149416726.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="New York Magazine 2019 a329">{{cite web |last=Davidson |first=Justin |date=May 3, 2012 |title=When the House Is the Yard |url=https://nymag.com/arts/architecture/features/brooklyn-botanic-garden-2012-5/ |access-date=July 26, 2023 |website=New York Magazine |archive-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124094746/https://nymag.com/arts/architecture/features/brooklyn-botanic-garden-2012-5/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and faces the botanical garden's northeastern corner.<ref name="nyt-2012-05-08" /> The structure is accessed by a set of stairs, which lead to a concrete plaza with a rock garden on its northern border (abutting the Brooklyn Museum's parking lot).<ref name="nyt-2012-05-08" /> The visitor center's Washington Avenue facade is made of concrete and glass, with a [[Gable roof|gabled copper roof]], while the northern and southern facades of the visitor center are curved.<ref name="wsj-2012-05-15" /><ref name="nyt-2012-05-08" /> The interior consists of a rectangular pavilion to the east, which houses the gift shop, and a {{Convert|480|ft|4=-long|adj=mid}} curving pavilion to the west, with kitchens, event spaces, offices, and exhibits.<ref name="wsj-2012-05-15" /> The visitor center has a sloped [[green roof]],<ref name="New York Magazine 2019 a329" /> covering {{convert|10000|ft2}}.<ref name="Dailey 2012" /><ref name="nyt-2012-05-08" /> The structure is heated by a [[ground source heat pump]] system.<ref name="Dailey 2012" />

==Specialty gardens and collections==
=== Osborne Garden ===
[[File:Brooklyn_Botanic_Garden_-_20200911_-_03_-_Osborne_Garden.jpg|thumb|The Osborne Garden as seen from its southern end|left]]
At the extreme north end of BBG, just south of the Eastern Parkway entrance,<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden Map">{{cite web |title=Garden Map |url=https://www.bbg.org/map |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=July 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230711231802/https://www.bbg.org/map |url-status=live}}</ref> is the Osborne Garden, a {{convert|3|acre|ha|adj=on}} [[Italian garden|Italian-style garden]] that features pergolas.<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden Osborne Garden">{{cite web |title=Osborne Garden |url=https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/osborne_garden |access-date=July 25, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725225436/https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/osborne_garden |url-status=live}}</ref> The Osborne Garden also contains a memorial with four columns, a fountain, sinks, and seats.<ref name="n128969634" /><ref name="BD p. 108" /> The columns are arranged in two pairs, one each at the northern and southern end. Each set of columns is [[Fluted column|fluted]] and is {{Convert|35|ft}} high, with ginkgo leaves inscribed into the pedestals of each column. There is a stone flower bed between the northern and southern pairs of columns, which originally served as a reflecting pool.<ref>{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|pp=108–110}}</ref> The fountain is located near the southern pair of columns and is surrounded by limestone benches, which are arranged in a semicircle. The benches are nicknamed the "whispering chairs" because people sitting on the benches at either end can hear each other clearly even when whispering.<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden Osborne Garden" /><ref name="BD p. 110">{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|p=110}}</ref> A staircase at the south end of the Osborne Garden descends to the Louisa Clark Spencer Lilac Collection.<ref name="BD p. 110" />

===Native Flora Garden===
[[File:Fall In the Native Flora Garden.jpg|thumb|right|Native Flora Garden Expansion]]

The Native Flora Garden, formerly the Local Flora Section,<ref name="nyt-1986-11-14" /> is located at BBG's northwestern corner, just southwest of the Osborne Garden.<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden Map" /> It was the first of its kind in North America. It was originally a wildflower planting but was redesigned in 1931 as a woodland habitat with plants native to the New York metropolitan area.<ref name="n128728533" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Native Flora Garden History |url=http://www.bbg.org/discover/gardens/native_flora_garden#/tabs-2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228114344/http://www.bbg.org/discover/gardens/native_flora_garden#/tabs-2 |archive-date=December 28, 2014 |access-date=December 9, 2014 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden}}</ref> The 1931 redesign divided the Native Flora Garden into eight sections, each corresponding to a different "ecological zone".<ref name="n128728533" /><ref name="BD pp. 112–114">{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|pp=112–114}}</ref> The Native Flora Garden was closed from 1963 to 1983 due to a lack of funding.<ref name="n128728533" />

Until the 2000s, the Native Flora Garden's ecological zones consisted of a [[Serpentinite|serpentine]] rock formation, a [[kettle pond]] with dry meadow, a [[bog]], a limestone ledge, a [[pine barrens]], a wet meadow, and a deciduous woodland.<ref name="nyt-2013-06-12" /><ref name="BD pp. 112–114" /> The garden was expanded in the late 2000s and early 2010s to provide space for local plants that were shaded out by the original garden's mature canopy. The current design, by [[Darrel Morrison]], dates to 2013.<ref name="nyt-2013-06-12" /><ref name="Geberer 2013 w950" /> The expansion has a [[tallgrass prairie]], dry meadow, pine barrens, kettle pond, and a wooden bridge.<ref>{{cite web |title=Native Flora Garden Expansion |url=http://www.bbg.org/news/native_flora_garden_expansion |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318232340/http://www.bbg.org/news/native_flora_garden_expansion |archive-date=March 18, 2015 |access-date=December 9, 2014 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden}}</ref> There are over 15,000 specimens within the older Native Flora Garden and the expansion.<ref name="Geberer 2013 w950" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Sharp |first=Sonja |date=June 10, 2013 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden Stresses 'Locally Grown' in Native Flora Expansion |url=https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130610/prospect-heights/brooklyn-botanic-garden-stresses-locally-grown-native-flora-expansion |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=DNAinfo New York |archive-date=June 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210615031656/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130610/prospect-heights/brooklyn-botanic-garden-stresses-locally-grown-native-flora-expansion/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Cranford Rose Garden===
[[File:Bbg Rosegarden.jpg|thumb|Cranford Rose Garden]]

The Cranford Rose Garden is in the northern section of BBG, between the Cherry Esplanade to the east and the Native Flora Garden to the west.<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden Map" /> It is named after Walter V. Cranford, a [[construction engineer]] whose firm built many of Brooklyn's subway tunnels, and who had donated $15,000 to BBG for a rose garden.<ref name="n128957879" /><ref name="n128959955">{{Cite news |date=April 30, 1928 |title=Cranford Gift to Boro Ready for Inspection |pages=14 |work=The Brooklyn Citizen |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-cranford-gift-to-bo/128959955/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727172937/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-cranford-gift-to-bo/128959955/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The Cranford Rose Garden was designed by landscape architect Harold Caparn and BBG horticulturist Montague Free.<ref name="n128960398" /> The garden originally measured {{convert|500|by|93|ft}} across and contained 15 beds with 3,000 total roses, each bed being surrounded by wooden trellis panels.<ref name="n128959955" /><ref name="wsj-2006-06-21">{{Cite news |last=Rossi |first=Lisa |date=June 21, 2006 |title=A Glorious Garden of Roses Grows in Brooklyn |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB115084404198585652 |access-date=July 31, 2023 |issn=0099-9660 |archive-date=May 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515062451/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB115084404198585652 |url-status=live}}</ref> The varieties of roses were originally arranged in chronological order, with older varieties to the north and newer varieties to the south. There was also a pavilion and a pergola, as well as a triangle south of the pavilion with space for historical roses.<ref name="n128959955" />

During the late 20th century, it was the United States' third-largest rose garden that was open to the public.<ref name="p1037915186" /><ref name="n129144607" /> At the time, the Cranford Rose Garden had 5,000 bushes, representing 900 varieties.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Langer |first=Richard W. |date=July 14, 1976 |title=Two Botanical Remedies For New York's Tumult |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/14/archives/two-botanical-remedies-for-new-yorks-tumult.html |access-date=July 30, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730191125/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/14/archives/two-botanical-remedies-for-new-yorks-tumult.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Many of the original plants were still in the garden in the early 21st century.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rose Garden |url=https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/rose_garden |access-date=July 23, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723173909/https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/rose_garden |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="BD p. 118">{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|p=118}}</ref> A 2001 guidebook cited the Cranford Rose Garden as having 1,200 varieties of roses.<ref name="BD p. 118" /> The garden features many varieties of roses including the [[Rosa 'Knock Out'|Knock Out rose]], the [[Julia Child rose]], and the [[Rosa 'Harison's Yellow'|Yellow Rose of Texas]].<ref name="wsj-2006-06-21" /> In addition, there are numerous [[All-America Rose Selections]], as well as roses honoring celebrities such as actors [[Angela Lansbury]] and [[George Burns]].<ref>{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|pp=118–119}}</ref>

=== Cherry Walk and Cherry Esplanade ===
[[File:Bbg cherry esplande.jpg|thumb|Cherry Esplanade|left]]

Brooklyn Botanic Garden has more than 200 [[cherry]] trees, representing 42 Asian species and cultivated varieties, across its Cherry Walk and Cherry Esplanade.<ref name="CherryWatch">{{cite web |title=Cherry Blossoms at BBG – CherryWatch |url=http://www.bbg.org/collections/cherries |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324145416/http://www.bbg.org/collections/cherries |archive-date=March 24, 2016 |access-date=March 25, 2016 |publisher=Brooklyn Botanic Garden}}</ref> Depending on weather conditions, the Asian flowering cherries bloom from late March or early April to mid-May, though the many species flower at slightly different times.<ref name="CherryWatch" /> The original cherry trees date to 1921 when BBG planted 30 trees on the Cherry Walk.<ref>{{cite book |author=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A9c4AQAAIAAJ |title=Plants & Gardens |publisher=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |year=1950 |page=34 |issue=v. 6-7 |access-date=2023-08-02 |archive-date=2023-07-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726014657/https://books.google.com/books?id=A9c4AQAAIAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> The Cherry Walk connects the pond with the Cherry Esplanade in the north-central portion of BBG.<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden Map" /><ref name="BD p. 119">{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|p=119}}</ref>

The Cherry Esplanade features two rows of tall cherry trees,<ref name="nyt-2003-04-25" /><ref name="p285383018">{{cite news |last=Himmel |first=Eric |date=August 8, 1986 |title=Gardens Of Earthly Delight |page=1 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|285383018}}}}</ref> as well as several rows of shorter cherry trees.<ref name="BD p. 119" /> There are 76 trees on the Cherry Esplanade, which represent 21 varieties.<ref name="p1037915186" /> There is a {{Convert|7.25|ft|adj=on}}-high limestone fountain in the Cherry Esplanade, which consists of a circular limestone bowl above a {{convert|28.5|ft|m|-wide|adj=mid}} concrete water basin.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 8, 1930 |title=Fountain and Span to Botanic Garden |pages=7 |work=Times Union |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-fountain-and-span-to-botanic/128964486/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727172935/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-fountain-and-span-to-botanic/128964486/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="n128964099" /> The southern end of the esplanade contains the Rose Arc Pool, consisting of three beds of roses arranged in a semicircle.<ref name="n128968485" />

===Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden===

[[File: Bridge to Eden.jpg|thumb|Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden]]

BBG's Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden is at the northeast corner, east of the Cherry Esplanade.<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden Map" /> It was one of the first [[Japanese garden]]s to be created in an American botanic garden, and reportedly the first one to be accessible free of charge.<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden1">{{Cite web |title=A Brief History of BBG |url=https://www.bbg.org/about/history |access-date=January 13, 2020 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |language=en |archive-date=December 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206182348/https://www.bbg.org/about/history |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Brown Cobb 2013 p. 117">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N0jRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT117|title=Quiet Beauty: The Japanese Gardens of North America|last1=Brown|first1=K.H.|last2=Cobb|first2=D.M.|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|year=2013|isbn=978-1-4629-1186-8|series=NONE|pages=117–118|access-date=January 13, 2020|archive-date=August 2, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230802002742/https://books.google.com/books?id=N0jRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT117|url-status=live}}</ref> It was constructed for $13,000, a gift of early BBG benefactor and trustee [[Alfred Tredway White]].<ref name="Brown Cobb 2013 p. 117" /> The garden was created by Japanese landscape designer [[Takeo Shiota]].<ref name="Brown Cobb 2013 p. 117" /><ref name="BD p. 129">{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|p=129}}</ref> Shiota never fully documented his design before his death in 1943, and various renovations over the years have modified Shiota's original plans for the Japanese Garden.<ref name="nyt-1999-02-21" /><ref name="BD p. 132">{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|p=132}}</ref>

The {{convert|3|acre|ha|adj=on}} garden contains three man-made hills signifying earth, heaven, and humanity; an artificial waterfall and island, and rocks.<ref name="Brown Cobb 2013 p. 117" /><ref>{{cite news|title=Japanese Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden|date=July 26, 1930|work=Brooklyn Life|via=newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/brooklyn-life-and-activities-of-long-isl/42222209/|pages=5, [https://bklyn.newspapers.com/clip/42222130/ 12]|access-date=July 27, 2023|archive-date=July 27, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727171851/https://www.newspapers.com/article/brooklyn-life-and-activities-of-long-isl/42222209/|url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=November 4, 1928 |title=A Japanese Garden in Brooklyn |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/11/04/archives/a-japanese-garden-in-brooklyn.html |access-date=July 27, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727171427/https://www.nytimes.com/1928/11/04/archives/a-japanese-garden-in-brooklyn.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The garden also contains a curved pond; although it is commonly cited as being shaped after the Chinese character for "heart", the pond predates BBG.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Raver |first=Anne |date=May 18, 2000 |title=Human Nature; Revealing a Japanese Garden As Serene Melting Pot |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/18/garden/human-nature-revealing-a-japanese-garden-as-serene-melting-pot.html |access-date=July 27, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922040147/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/18/garden/human-nature-revealing-a-japanese-garden-as-serene-melting-pot.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Among the architectural elements of the garden are wooden bridges, [[stone lantern]]s, a viewing pavilion, a ''[[torii]]'' (gateway), and a [[Shinto]] shrine.<ref name="BD p. 132" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/clip/42219429/|title=Replica of Japanese Garden a Feature of Brooklyn Botanical Display|date=July 10, 1915|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=January 13, 2020|page=13|via=Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com|archive-date=August 2, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230802002743/https://bklyn.newspapers.com/article/42219429/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="BBG 2015 e949">{{cite web |date=November 24, 2015 |title=BBG's Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden: A History |url=https://www.bbg.org/article/bbgs_japanese_hill_and_pond_garden_a_history |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725213638/https://www.bbg.org/article/bbgs_japanese_hill_and_pond_garden_a_history |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |access-date=July 25, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden}}</ref> The pond is filled with hundreds of Japanese [[koi fish]] that visitors can view at the torii or along the garden's trail.<ref name="Brown Cobb 2013 p. 117" /> The center of the pond contains Turtle Island, a small rock that contains a granite lantern.<ref name="BD p. 132" /> There is also a Japanese temple dedicated to [[Inari (god)|Inari]], the fox [[kami]].<ref name="Brown Cobb 2013 p. 117" /><ref name="BD p. 129" /> A {{convert|10|ft|m|-high|adj=mid}} [[shogun]] lantern, installed in 1980, celebrates the fact that Tokyo is a [[List of sister cities in New York#N|sister city of New York City]].<ref name="BD p. 129" /> The brook from this garden leads through several other parts of Brooklyn Botanic Garden, terminating at the Water Garden.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens|title=Gardens & Conservatories|website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden|language=en|access-date=January 13, 2020|archive-date=March 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200319014954/https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens|url-status=live}}</ref>

The shrine and viewing pavilion were both rebuilt in the 1960s after burning down.<ref name="Brown Cobb 2013 p. 117" /> The Japanese Garden was renamed the Oriental Garden during World War II<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/clip/42223591/|title=Jaunt Along the Waterfront|date=May 9, 1951|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=January 13, 2020|page=21|via=Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com|archive-date=August 2, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230802002743/https://bklyn.newspapers.com/article/42223591/|url-status=live}}</ref> and restored in 1950 following an extended wartime closure.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42223516/|title=Crown Queen Tomorrow in Botanic Garden|date=April 30, 1950|work=New York Daily News|access-date=January 13, 2020|page=613|via=newspapers.com|archive-date=August 2, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230802003244/https://www.newspapers.com/article/42223516/|url-status=live}}</ref> The Japanese Garden's 2000 restoration, costing $3&nbsp;million,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/18/travel/travel-advisory-japanese-garden-restored.html|title=Travel Advisory; Japanese Garden Restored|last=Raver|first=Anne|date=June 18, 2000|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 13, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=October 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221005103759/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/18/travel/travel-advisory-japanese-garden-restored.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Brown Cobb 2013 p. 117" /> was recognized with the [[New York Landmark Conservancy]]'s 2001 Preservation Award.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www1.nyc.gov/site/ddc/about/awards.page|title=Awards|publisher=[[New York City Department of Design and Construction]]|access-date=January 13, 2020|archive-date=January 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113181758/https://www1.nyc.gov/site/ddc/about/awards.page|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Shakespeare Garden===

BBG's original Shakespeare Garden was funded by a donation from [[Henry Clay Folger]], founder of the [[Folger Shakespeare Library]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name="New York City Department of Parks & Recreation 1911 a752" /><ref name="Nast 2016 o969">{{cite web |last=Borrelli-Persson |first=Laird |date=June 24, 2016 |title=How to Plant Your Own Shakespeare Garden to Mark the Bard's 400th Anniversary |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/william-shakespeare-garden-anniversary |access-date=July 23, 2023 |website=Vogue |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723173908/https://www.vogue.com/article/william-shakespeare-garden-anniversary |url-status=live}}</ref> The original garden was overshadowed by [[Austrian pine]]s, so it was relocated in 1979.<ref name="BD p. 127">{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|p=127}}</ref> The modern-day Shakespeare Garden, sited just east of the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden,<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden Map" /> is one of two in New York City, the other being in [[Central Park]].<ref name="Nast 2016 o969" /><ref name="nyt-1980-06-02">{{Cite news |date=June 2, 1980 |title=Shakespeare Gardens Flourish 'Under the Blossom That Hangs on the Bough'; Contains 80 Plants No Qualms About Choices |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/06/02/archives/shakespeare-gardens-flourish-under-the-blossom-that-hangs-on-the.html |access-date=July 23, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723173911/https://www.nytimes.com/1980/06/02/archives/shakespeare-gardens-flourish-under-the-blossom-that-hangs-on-the.html |url-status=live}}</ref> This English [[cottage garden]] has more than 80 plants that are mentioned in [[William Shakespeare]]'s plays and poems.<ref name="nyt-1980-06-02" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Shakespeare Garden |url=https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/shakespeare_garden |access-date=July 23, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723173908/https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/shakespeare_garden |url-status=live}}</ref> Plants are labeled with their common, Latin and Shakespearean names, relevant quotations, and in some cases a graphic representation of the plant. Some of the specimens in BBG's Shakespeare Garden were not mentioned in Shakespeare's work but were planted because they were suited to the [[climate of New York City]].<ref>{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|pp=126–127}}</ref>

===Alice Recknagel Ireys Fragrance Garden===
[[File:Fragrance_Garden_-_Brooklyn_Botanic_Garden_-_Brooklyn,_NY_-_DSC07926.JPG|left|thumb|The Fragrance Garden]]
Next to the Shakespeare Garden, just north of the Laboratory Administration Building, is the Fragrance Garden.<ref name="p1037915186" /><ref name="BD p. 127" /> It was created by landscape architect [[Alice Recknagel Ireys]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Deitz |first=Paula |date=December 17, 2000 |title=Alice Ireys, 89, Dies; Designed Elegant Landscapes Bridging Traditions |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/17/nyregion/alice-ireys-89-dies-designed-elegant-landscapes-bridging-traditions.html |access-date=July 28, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806230314/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/17/nyregion/alice-ireys-89-dies-designed-elegant-landscapes-bridging-traditions.html |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite book |last1=Dümpelmann |first1=S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B7WgBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT265 |title=Women, Modernity, and Landscape Architecture |last2=Beardsley |first2=J. |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-317-55654-1 |page=265 |access-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728172738/https://books.google.com/books?id=B7WgBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT265 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Fragrance Garden was the first in the U.S. to be designed for the vision-impaired<ref>{{cite web |date=May 6, 2013 |title=Alice Recknagel Ireys |url=https://www.tclf.org/pioneer/alice-recknagel-ireys |access-date=July 28, 2023 |website=TCLF |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728172740/https://www.tclf.org/pioneer/alice-recknagel-ireys |url-status=live}}</ref> and has [[braille]] information signs for visitors with [[vision impaired|impaired vision]].<ref name="p1037915186" /><ref name="BD p. 127" /> Visitors can rub the fragrant or pleasingly textured leaves of the plants between their fingers.<ref name="BD p. 127" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=October 4, 1955 |title=Sorority Party Will Benefit Garden for Sightless People |pages=29 |work=Newsday (Nassau Edition) |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-sorority-party/129025124/ |access-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728175745/https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-sorority-party/129025124/ |url-status=live}}</ref> There are four themed sections in the garden; plants to touch, plants with scented leaves, plants with fragrant flowers, and kitchen herbs. The garden is wheelchair-accessible, and all planting beds are high enough for people in wheelchairs to touch. There is also a fountain that is used as a washbasin.<ref>{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|pp=127–128}}</ref>

===Children's Garden===
[[File:BBG Children's Garden.jpg|thumb|Children's Garden at Brooklyn Botanic Garden]]The Children's Garden, at the southeastern corner,<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden Map" /> is one of the world's oldest children's gardens,<ref name="Oldfield 2010 p.2"/> as well as the oldest in the U.S.<ref name="BD p. 155">{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|p=155}}</ref> It was founded by BBG educator [[Ellen Eddy Shaw]]<ref name="n128815980" /> and was initially divided into plots measuring {{cvt|8|by|10|ft}} or {{Cvt|10|by|12|ft}}.<ref>{{cite news |date=May 4, 1925 |title=Gardening Taught Brooklyn Children |page=13 |work=The Christian Science Monitor |id={{ProQuest|511580475}}}}</ref> The Children's Garden has historically taught 200 to 300 children per season.<ref name="n129144607" /><ref name="nyt-1971-07-11" /> Youth grow vegetables rather than flowers. A BBG staff member quoted in 1971 said that "a variety of vegetables provides a greater range of examples of plant growth than flowers; many kinds grow quickly; and they provide a substantial and tangible reward for a child's labor".<ref name="nyt-1971-07-11">{{Cite news |date=July 11, 1971 |title=Green Thumbs Grow in the Botanic Garden |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/07/11/archives/green-thumbs-grow-in-the-botanic-garden.html |access-date=July 30, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730180216/https://www.nytimes.com/1971/07/11/archives/green-thumbs-grow-in-the-botanic-garden.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

By the 2010s, the Children's Garden attracted 1,000 youth per year.<ref name="wsj-2014-05-16" /> The Children's Garden continues to operate as a [[community garden]] for children<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden Childrens Garden">{{cite web |title=Children's Garden |url=https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/childrens_garden |access-date=July 26, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=July 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726012514/https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/childrens_garden |url-status=live}}</ref> and is open to Garden Apprentice Program interns and to children between 2 and 17 years of age.<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden Childrens Garden" /> It also has a [[compost]] area that is maintained by interns and staff.<ref>{{cite web |title=BBG's Guide to Composting |url=https://www.bbg.org/gardening/composting |access-date=July 26, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=July 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726012512/https://www.bbg.org/gardening/composting |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Herb Garden ===
The Herb Garden, on the western boundary, contains fruit trees, corn stalks, cabbages, and other medicinal and agricultural plants.<ref>{{cite web |title=Herb Garden |url=https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/herb_garden |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607050619/https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/herb_garden |archive-date=June 7, 2023 |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden}}</ref> It includes 300 herb plants, including those used to create medicines and food flavors. Interspersed with the herbs are two knot-shaped [[Japanese barberry]] and [[boxwood]] hedges. The western portion of the hedge garden is a modern adaptation of a 1577 garden designed by Thomas Hill, while the eastern portion copies Hill's original design.<ref>{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|pp=123–124}}</ref> By 2001, the Herb Garden contained seven planting beds: six are divided by function and use, while the other planting bed is for miscellaneous herbs.<ref>{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|p=124}}</ref>

=== Discovery Garden ===
The Discovery Garden, designed for children, is at the southwest corner of BBG, next to the Flatbush Avenue entrance.<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden Map" /> It covers about {{convert|1|acre}} and contains 250 trees, 2,600 grass specimens, and 9,500 perennials. It is divided into three portions that contain meadows, marshes, and woodlands.<ref>{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Rachel Holliday |date=January 27, 2015 |title=Rebuilt Children's Garden to Open at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in June |url=https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20150127/prospect-heights/rebuilt-childrens-garden-open-at-brooklyn-botanic-garden-june |access-date=July 27, 2023 |website=DNAinfo New York |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727030627/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20150127/prospect-heights/rebuilt-childrens-garden-open-at-brooklyn-botanic-garden-june/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> The garden includes a boardwalk that winds around four large trees,<ref name="nyt-2015-06-11" /> in addition to several exhibits and a "hiding tree" for children.<ref name="BD p. 155" />

=== Water Garden ===
Located in the south-central section of BBG,<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden Map" /> the Shelby White and Leon Levy Water Garden is a {{Convert|1.5|acre|ha|adj=on|abbr=out}} [[wetland]] and [[riparian]] environment with numerous sustainability features. It contains a pond that serves as the terminus of the brook that flows from the Japanese Garden.<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden Water Garden">{{cite web |title=Water Garden |url=https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/water_garden |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601062009/https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/water_garden |archive-date=June 1, 2023 |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden}}</ref> A renovation of the Water Garden was completed in 2016.<ref name="Mixson 2016 e375" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=October 24, 2016 |title=New Brooklyn Botanic Garden water garden inspired by NY wetlands |url=https://archpaper.com/2016/10/brooklyn-botanic-garden-water-garden/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113181305/https://archpaper.com/2016/10/brooklyn-botanic-garden-water-garden/ |archive-date=January 13, 2020 |access-date=January 13, 2020 |website=Archpaper.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Designed by landscape architecture firm [[Michael Van Valkenburgh|Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates]], the renovated Water Garden contains plants such as black tupelo, sedges and rushes.<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden Water Garden" />

===Other gardens and landscape features===
[[File:Peach Glow water-lily at Brooklyn Botanic Garden.jpg|thumb|left|A ''[[Nymphaea]]'' 'Peach Glow' water-lily in one of the lily pools]]
The Lily Pool Terrace, in front of the Laboratory Administration Building to the east, has two large display pools of lilies and koi fish<ref>{{cite web |title=Lily Pool Terrace and Borders |url=https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/lily_pool_terrace_and_borders |access-date=July 25, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725225439/https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/lily_pool_terrace_and_borders |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="BD pp. 143–146">{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|pp=143–146}}</ref> and is surrounded by over 6,000 annuals and perennials.<ref name="BD pp. 143–146" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Lyons |first=Bill |date=May 2, 2015 |title=NYC-area day trips by ferry & train: Brooklyn Botanic Garden |url=https://www.silive.com/seen/2015/05/nyc-area_day_trips_by_ferry_an_1.html |access-date=July 28, 2023 |website=silive |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728182358/https://www.silive.com/seen/2015/05/nyc-area_day_trips_by_ferry_an_1.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Mixed perennials are planted to the east of the Lily Pool Terrace, while annuals are planted to the west.<ref name="BD p. 146">{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|p=146}}</ref> The Elizabeth Scholtz Woodland Garden, at BBG's northwest corner,<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden Map" /><ref>{{cite web |date=September 17, 2021 |title=The Woodland Garden at Brooklyn Botanic Garden |url=https://www.mvvainc.com/projects/the-woodland-garden-at-brooklyn-botanic-garden-copy |access-date=July 28, 2023 |publisher=Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728000633/https://www.mvvainc.com/projects/the-woodland-garden-at-brooklyn-botanic-garden-copy |url-status=live}}</ref> contains an open-air "walled garden" surrounded by ruins which is intended to resemble a forest in the Northeastern U.S.<ref name="nyt-2020-10-22">{{Cite news |last=Russell |first=James S. |date=October 22, 2020 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden Turns Over a New Leaf |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/22/arts/design/brooklyn-botanic-garden-reopen.html |access-date=July 25, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725225435/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/22/arts/design/brooklyn-botanic-garden-reopen.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Woodland Garden |url=https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/woodland_garden |access-date=July 28, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728000634/https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/woodland_garden |url-status=live}}</ref> The Louisa Clark Spencer Lilac Collection, also at the northwest corner near the Osborne Garden, contains 150 lilac bushes, which represent 20 species of lilacs.<ref>{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|pp=110–111}}</ref> The Rock Garden, on the western boundary of BBG, contains alpine plants<ref name="nyt-1986-11-14" /><ref name="BD pp. 142–143" /> around 18 boulders left behind by glaciers during the [[Last Glacial Period|Ice Age]].<ref name="BD pp. 142–143" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Rock Garden |url=https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/rock_garden |access-date=July 25, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725225439/https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/rock_garden |url-status=live}}</ref> On the western side of BBG, a bronze strip crosses a path, marking the former boundary of Brooklyn and Flatbush; a tablet marking the boundary line is mounted onto a nearby rock.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1935-01-13|title=Old Brooklyn-Flatbush Line Marked in Botanic Garden|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-old-brooklyn-fl/140577008/|access-date=2024-02-09|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|pages=14}}</ref>

The Plant Family Collection, within the center of BBG, includes plants and trees arranged by [[Family (biology)|family]] to show their evolution.<ref>{{cite web |title=Plant Family Collection |url=https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/plant_family_collection |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221127050841/https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/plant_family_collection |archive-date=November 27, 2022 |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden}}</ref><ref name="BD p. 134">{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|p=134}}</ref> Unlike the rest of BBG, the collection is not confined to a specific plot but is instead scattered across the botanical garden.<ref name="BD p. 134" /> The northern end of the collection is just south of the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden. From north to south, the collection contains primitive plants (ferns and conifers), ginkgos, beeches and birches, elm and pawpaw trees, laurels and roses, legumes and citruses, heath and olive families, and monocots.<ref name="BD pp. 134–142">{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|pp=134–142}}</ref> These are separated by a small stream.<ref name="p285383018" /><ref name="BD pp. 134–142" />

A Celebrity Path honors famous Brooklynites such as [[Barbra Streisand]], [[Woody Allen]], and [[Walt Whitman]] with a trail of engraved paving stones.<ref name="BD pp. 132–133" /><ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden Celebrity Path">{{cite web |title=Celebrity Path |url=https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/celebrity_path |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=May 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510155957/https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/celebrity_path |url-status=live}}</ref> The Celebrity Path consists of {{convert|18|by|24|in|adj=on}} concrete blocks and leads from a hill south of the Japanese Garden to the [[Alfred Tredway White Memorial|Alfred T. White Amphitheater]].<ref name="n129206258" /><ref name="BD pp. 132–133">{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|pp=132–133}}</ref> Outlines of leaves surround each of the names, which are laid in bronze letters.<ref name="n129206258" /> After [[Marty Markowitz]] became Brooklyn's borough president in 2002, he stopped adding names to the path,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Barry |first=Dan |date=May 12, 2004 |title=About New York; A Path Of Glory, So Fleeting |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/12/nyregion/about-new-york-a-path-of-glory-so-fleeting.html |access-date=July 31, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=December 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230175242/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/12/nyregion/about-new-york-a-path-of-glory-so-fleeting.html |url-status=live}}</ref> but names are added from time to time.<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden Celebrity Path" /> {{As of|2024|July}} there are 151 names.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Beery |first=Zoë |date=July 8, 2024 |title=The Untold Saga of the Guy Who Defaced Alan Dershowitz's Honorary Stone at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden |url=https://hellgatenyc.com/alan-dershowitz-stone-defaced-brooklyn-botanic-garden/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=July 8, 2024 |work=[[Hell Gate (website)|Hell Gate]]}}</ref> The stones of Allen, alongside [[Alan Dershowitz]], are often requested to be removed.<ref name=":0" />

BBG also has an overlook along its northern border, known as the Robert W. Wilson Overlook.<ref>{{cite web |title=OverlookBrooklyn Botanic Garden |url=https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/overlook |access-date=July 25, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725225438/https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/overlook |url-status=live|postscript=none}}; {{Cite web |date=May 22, 2018 |title=Robert W. Wilson Overlook |url=https://www.architectmagazine.com/project-gallery/robert-w-wilson-overlook_o |access-date=July 25, 2023 |website=Architect |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725225438/https://www.architectmagazine.com/project-gallery/robert-w-wilson-overlook_o |url-status=live}}</ref> The overlook was built on a hill that was created using dirt excavated from the site of the neighboring Brooklyn Museum.<ref name="nyt-2020-10-22" /><ref name="Davidson 2019 h862">{{cite web |last=Davidson |first=Justin |date=November 20, 2019 |title=The Brooklyn Botanic Garden Renovates, and Faces an Existential Threat |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/11/review-new-visitor-center-at-the-brooklyn-botanic-garden.html |access-date=July 26, 2023 |website=Intelligencer |archive-date=July 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726005356/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/11/review-new-visitor-center-at-the-brooklyn-botanic-garden.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Originally, the hill was intended as a terrace abutting the unbuilt southern wing of the Brooklyn Museum. The modern-day overlook sits atop BBG's visitor center.<ref name="Davidson 2019 h862" /> The top of the overlook is {{Convert|26|ft}} above the rest of BBG. After the overlook was redesigned by [[Weiss/Manfredi]] in 2019, the hill was rebuilt with a curving {{Convert|680|ft|4=-long|adj=mid}} path lined by retaining walls.<ref name="nyt-2020-10-22" /> The overlook has over 40,000 total specimens of plants.<ref>{{cite web |last=Spivack |first=Caroline |date=November 18, 2019 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden unveils sculptural path with scenic vista |url=https://ny.curbed.com/2019/11/18/20970823/brooklyn-botanic-garden-new-path-views |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Curbed NY |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725225437/https://ny.curbed.com/2019/11/18/20970823/brooklyn-botanic-garden-new-path-views |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Structures ==
Because of the limited space available, most of Brooklyn Botanic Garden's buildings are located on the eastern edge of the site.<ref name="Canty p. 110" /><ref name="nyt-2012-05-08" /> These structures include the Steinhardt Conservatory, the Laboratory Administration Building, the Palm House, and a house for the Children's Garden.<ref name="nyt-2012-05-08" />

=== Steinhardt Conservatory ===
[[Image:BBGIndoor.JPG|thumb|Steinhardt Conservatory desert collection]]The '''Steinhardt Conservatory''' occupies the eastern portion of Brooklyn Botanic Garden, just south of the Laboratory Administration Building.<ref name="n128724987" /> The conservatory consists of four structures: a main wing along Washington Avenue to the east, as well as three octagonal pavilions.<ref name="n128724987" /><ref name="nyt-1988-07-03" />  These structures, each measuring up to {{Convert|60|ft}} tall,<ref name="p371465007" /> cover {{Convert|40000|ft2}} and are connected internally via tunnels. The facade of the conservatory is clad with {{convert|60000|ft2}} of glass panes measuring {{convert|3|by|7|ft}}.<ref name="n128724987" /> The metal on the exterior of the conservatory's structures is painted green to match the color of the Laboratory Administration Building's facade.<ref name="Canty p. 110" /><ref name="nyt-1988-07-03" /> The conservatory is twice the size of the Palm House, which it replaced.<ref name="BD p. 146" />

The main conservatory building. measuring {{Convert|245|ft}} long,<ref name="p371465007" /> contains a bonsai museum, an aquatic greenhouse, and the Trail of Evolution exhibit.<ref name="n128724987" /><ref name="nyt-1988-07-03" /> The lower part of the main wing has a stucco facade that is only visible from Washington Avenue,<ref name="Canty p. 110" /><ref name="nyt-1988-07-03" /> as well as a gabled entrance.<ref name="Canty p. 114">{{harvnb|Canty|1989|ps=.|p=114}}</ref> The C. V. Starr Bonsai Museum hosts the second-oldest collection of bonsai in the U.S., behind Boston's [[Arnold Arboretum]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Bonsai Museum |url=https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/bonsai_museum |access-date=July 23, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=April 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421134313/https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/bonsai_museum |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="BD pp. 147–148">{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|pp=147–148}}</ref> Originally composed of 32 bonsai,<ref name="n129144607" /> the collection had grown to 400 bonsai by 2025.<ref name="Frishberg s072">{{cite web | last=Frishberg | first=Hannah | title=The Brooklyn Botanic Garden celebrates 100 years of its bonsai collection | website=Gothamist | date=June 13, 2025 | url=https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/the-brooklyn-botanic-garden-celebrates-100-years-of-its-bonsai-collection | access-date=June 14, 2025}}</ref><ref name="Paper v522">{{cite web | last=Martinez | first=Regina | title=Rooted in time: Brooklyn Botanic Garden celebrates 100 years of bonsai | website=Brooklyn Paper | date=June 5, 2025 | url=https://www.brooklynpaper.com/brooklyn-botanic-garden-bonsai-100-years/ | access-date=June 14, 2025}}</ref> The museum usually displays 100 bonsai simultaneously,<ref name="BD pp. 147–148" /> while the smaller bonsai are stored in a nursery above larger bonsai, out of public view.<ref name="Frishberg s072"/> The Robert W. Wilson Aquatic House has a collections of tropical water plants, insect-eating plants, and [[orchid]]s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Aquatic House and Orchid Collection |url=https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/aquatic_house_and_orchid_collection |access-date=July 23, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723165732/https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/aquatic_house_and_orchid_collection |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|pp=148–151}}</ref> The Trail of Evolution, named for BBG botanist Stephen K-M Tim,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fountain |first=Henry |date=November 29, 1998 |title=Stephen Tim, 61, Plant Expert At Brooklyn Botanic Garden |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/29/nyregion/stephen-tim-61-plant-expert-at-brooklyn-botanic-garden.html |access-date=July 23, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723165731/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/29/nyregion/stephen-tim-61-plant-expert-at-brooklyn-botanic-garden.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="BD pp. 146–147">{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|pp=146–147}}</ref> measures {{convert|100|by|17|ft}}.<ref name="p1832762678" /><ref name="nyt-1988-04-10">{{Cite news |last=Fan |first=Maureen |date=November 29, 1989 |title=North Hempstead Will Tend Garden |pages=17 |work=Newsday |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-north-hempstead/129192599/ |access-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-date=August 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230802003244/https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-north-hempstead/129192599/ |url-status=live}}</ref> It traces the history of plant evolution and the effects of climate change over 3.5 billion years.<ref name="BD pp. 146–147" /><ref name="nyt-1988-04-10" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Trail of Plant Evolution |url=https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/trail_of_plant_evolution |access-date=July 23, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723165726/https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/trail_of_plant_evolution |url-status=live}}</ref>

A stairway descends beneath the main structure's exterior terrace to the basements of the three octagonal pavilions.<ref name="nyt-1988-07-03" /><ref name="Canty p. 113">{{harvnb|Canty|1989|ps=.|p=113}}</ref> Each pavilion is accessed by a stairway leading from the basement, as well as stairways from the garden's paths.<ref name="Canty p. 113" /> The pavilions are themed to different climates and showcase tropical, warm temperate, and desert flora.<ref name="n128724987" /><ref name="n128724868" /><ref name="Canty p. 113" /> The tropical pavilion, the largest of the three pavilions at {{Convert|6000|ft2}},<ref name="BD pp. 151–153">{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|pp=151–153}}</ref> contains tropical plants and a waterfall.<ref name="n128724987" /><ref name="p1832762678" /> The desert pavilion hosts plants from American and North African deserts<ref name="p1832762678" /><ref name="BD pp. 151–153" /> and is designed to resemble a desert environment.<ref name="Canty p. 114" /> Finally, the temperate pavilion includes Mediterranean plants.<ref name="p1832762678" /><ref>{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|pp=153–155}}</ref> The tops of each pavilion contain cupolas with ventilation openings.<ref name="Canty p. 114" />

=== Laboratory Administration Building ===
[[File:Brooklyn_Botanic_Garden_New_York_October_2016_008.jpg|thumb|The Laboratory Administration Building]]
[[William M. Kendall]] of McKim, Mead & White designed the Laboratory Administration Building (also known as the Laboratory Building or Administration Building), a [[New York City designated landmark]], in the [[Italianate architecture#United States|Tuscan Revival]] style.<ref>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2007|ps=.|p=1}}</ref> The structure measures {{Convert|240|by|50|ft}} across<ref name="n128786682" /><ref name="Gager p. 341" /> and was inspired by European churches, with a [[Greek cross]] layout as viewed from the air.<ref name="n128816577" /><ref name="landmarks">{{Cite landmarks|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=o8ym5NeiylkC&pg=PA518 518]}}</ref><ref name="NYCL (2007) p. 4">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2007|ps=.|p=4}}</ref> The center section is topped by a terracotta [[cupola]] with round-arched windows, while the outer sections are topped by octagons with round-arched windows.<ref name="NYCL (2007) p. 4" /> Outside the building is Magnolia Plaza, which contains a circular compass rose and bronze [[armillary sphere]].<ref name="n128966919" /><ref name="Paper 2008 x4152" /> Created in 1932, Magnolia Plaza was named for Judith D. Zuk in 2005.<ref name="Paper 2008 x4152" />

The Laboratory Administration Building's facade is made of reinforced concrete and brick, covered with stucco. The building has [[hip roof]]s with Spanish tiles.<ref>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2007|ps=.|pp=4–5}}</ref> The names of 68 famous botanists are inscribed in a [[frieze]] running across the building's facade;<ref>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2007|ps=.|p=5}}</ref><ref name="landmarks" /> these names were selected through a vote in 1911.<ref name="Gager p. 341" /><ref>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2007|ps=.|pp=2–3}}</ref> The original main entrance is on the second floor of the western facade, accessed by a staircase.<ref name="n128786682" /><ref name="Gager p. 342">{{harvnb|Gager|1912|ps=.|p=342}}</ref> The modern-day main entrance is on the first story. A [[portico]] provided a secondary entrance on Washington Avenue.<ref name="n128786682" />

When the Administration Building was completed, it was intended to contain laboratories and storage space.<ref name="n128786682" /><ref name="landmarks" /><ref name="Gager p. 342" /> The main entrance led to a rotunda, which connected with a library to the east. The northern pavilion was intended for BBG's offices, the director's laboratory, and offices for various departments. The southern pavilion was intended to contain classrooms, instructor's room, and various other laboratory rooms.<ref name="n128786682" /><ref name="Gager p. 342" /> The basement had service rooms and a lecture hall.<ref name="n128786682" /><ref name="Gager p. 343">{{harvnb|Gager|1912|ps=.|p=343}}</ref> By the 21st century, the Administration Building's second floor contained BBG's library,<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden Library" /> while the rest of the building was used for offices and as a visitor center.<ref name="landmarks" />

=== Palm House ===
The Palm House was built as Brooklyn Botanic Garden's original conservatory<ref name="BD p. 107" /> and was designed by McKim, Mead & White.<ref name="nyt-1984-01-07" /><ref name="Durham National Geographic Society (U.S.) Shaw Hannafin 2015 p. 213" /> The central section of the Palm House measures {{convert|104|by|44|ft}} across and {{convert|36|ft}} high and was originally used for tropical plants.<ref name="Gager p. 343" /><ref>{{cite magazine |date=July 1914 |title=Opening of the Tropical Economic House |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0JrOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA91 |magazine=The Record |publisher=Brooklyn Botanic Garden. |volume=3 |issue=3 |page=91 |ref=none}}</ref> It is flanked by two wings each to the north and south, which each measure {{convert|50|by|22.5|ft}} across. Originally, the northeast wing had classrooms, while the southwest, southeast, and northwest wings contained greenhouses; there were stables and other rooms under the southern wings.<ref name="Gager p. 343" /> The interior of the Palm House is climate-controlled by a steam heating system.<ref name="Curbed NY 2012 b074">{{cite web |date=May 10, 2012 |title=Architects Triumph With New Botanic Garden Visitor Center |url=https://ny.curbed.com/2012/5/10/10372354/architects-triumph-with-new-botanic-garden-visitor-center |access-date=July 30, 2023 |website=Curbed NY |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730220257/https://ny.curbed.com/2012/5/10/10372354/architects-triumph-with-new-botanic-garden-visitor-center |url-status=live}}</ref>

During the 1980s, the Palm House was converted to an education center and event space,<ref name="NY2000" /><ref name="nyt-1988-03-10" /> with a 300-seat restaurant.<ref name="p371465007" /> Part of the Palm House was also converted to host temporary exhibits.<ref name="p1832762678" /> Since 2017, one wing of the Palm House has contained the Yellow Magnolia Café.<ref name="nyt-2017-04-11" /> By the 21st century, the Palm House was frequently being used for weddings,<ref name="Curbed NY 2012 b074" /> such as that of singer [[Art Garfunkel]].<ref name="BD p. 146" />

==Programs==
===Education programs===

[[File:Redwood bonsai.JPG|thumb|left|A [[bonsai]] [[Sequoia sempervirens|redwood]] in Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Bonsai Museum]]From its inception in the early 20th century, BBG offered free lectures and classes to local students.<ref name="n128864452" /> In the 21st century, BBG has continued to operate programs in youth education, conservation, and community horticulture. BBG, Prospect Park Alliance, and [[New York City Department of Education]] operate the [[Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment]] (BASE), a small public high school dedicated to science, environmental studies, and urban ecology.<ref>{{harvnb|Rakow|Lee|Raven|2011|ps=.|p=332}}</ref>

Since 2004,<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden1" /> BBG's Garden Apprentice Program has provided internships for students in grades 8 through 12 in gardening, science education, and environmental issues.<ref>{{harvnb|Rakow|Lee|Raven|2011|ps=.|p=423}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Garden Apprentice Program |url=https://www.bbg.org/learn/gap |access-date=July 27, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=July 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727010358/https://www.bbg.org/learn/gap |url-status=live}}</ref> Some of the teenagers with plots in the Children's Garden also become junior instructors for that garden.<ref name="BD p. 155" /> The Discovery Garden hosts weekly workshops for children, with interactive exhibits and a small plot with a variety of vegetables.<ref>{{cite web |title=Discovery Garden |url=https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/discovery_garden |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=May 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230514070205/https://www.bbg.org/collections/gardens/discovery_garden |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Project Green Reach]], launched in 1990, is a science-focused school outreach program for teachers and students in grades K–8 in underserved neighborhoods.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Morgan |first1=Susan Conlon |last2=Hamilton |first2=Susan L. |last3=Bentley |first3=Michael L. |last4=Myrie |first4=Sharon |date=July 2009 |title=Environmental Education in Botanic Gardens: Exploring Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Project Green Reach |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3200/JOEE.40.4.35-52 |journal=The Journal of Environmental Education |language=en |volume=40 |issue=4 |pages=35–52 |doi=10.3200/JOEE.40.4.35-52 |bibcode=2009JEnEd..40d..35M |s2cid=143983038 |issn=0095-8964 |access-date=2023-08-02 |archive-date=2022-06-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220615160219/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3200/JOEE.40.4.35-52 |url-status=live|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Plant science and conservation===
[[File:Greenery at Brooklyn Botanic Gardens IMG 0649.JPG|thumb|The [[Monocotyledon|Monocot Border]] in early July at Brooklyn Botanic Garden]]In BBG's early years, officials hosted annual "spring inspections" for BBG members and invited guests.<ref>{{cite news |date=May 12, 1935 |title=25th Birthday To Be Observed By Brooklyn Botanic Garden: Many Notables to Take Part in Four-Day Program Beginning Tomorrow |page=30B |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1221960668}}}}</ref> It also hosted events such as an annual Fall Rose Day.<ref>{{cite news |date=11 Oct 1949 |title=Going On in New York: Brooklyn Botanic Garden To Conduct 'Fall Rose Day' |page=24 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1327502844}}}}</ref> Scientists at Brooklyn Botanic Garden launched the New York Metropolitan Flora project, a comprehensive study of the plants of metropolitan New York City, in 1990.<ref name="McCully 2007 p. 108">{{cite book | last=McCully | first=B. | title=City at the Water's Edge: A Natural History of New York | publisher=Rutgers University Press | series=Biologia e historia natural | year=2007 | isbn=978-0-8135-3915-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7xYt7pTjwAC&pg=PA108 | access-date=March 2, 2024 | page=108}}</ref><ref name="nyt-1998-09-13">{{Cite news |last=Stamler |first=Bernard |date=September 13, 1998 |title=Neighborhood Report: New York on Line; Going Green on Screen |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/13/nyregion/neighborhood-report-new-york-on-line-going-green-on-screen.html |access-date=July 31, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731170420/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/13/nyregion/neighborhood-report-new-york-on-line-going-green-on-screen.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The study was intended to catalog and describe all [[vascular plant]]s growing in the region.<ref>{{cite web |date=April 2, 2010 |title=The New York Metropolitan Flora Project |url=https://www.wnyc.org/story/60370-the-new-york-metropolitan-flora-project/ |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=WNYC |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731161822/https://www.wnyc.org/story/60370-the-new-york-metropolitan-flora-project/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

BBG started creating magnolia cultivars in the 1950s.<ref name="Paper 2008 x4152" /> Among the species cultivated there were ''[[Magnolia × brooklynensis]]'', three magnolia hybrid cultivars grown by BBG, as well as [[Magnolia 'Elizabeth'|''Magnolia'' 'Elizabeth']], a yellow magnolia hybrid cultivar for which BBG received a patent in 1977.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Flint |first1=H.L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q1_fAywb_bkC&pg=PA355 |title=Landscape Plants for Eastern North America: Exclusive of Florida and the Immediate Gulf Coast |last2=Lyverse |first2=J.M. |publisher=Wiley |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-471-59919-7 |pages=355–356 |access-date=2023-08-02 |archive-date=2023-07-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730210151/https://books.google.com/books?id=Q1_fAywb_bkC&pg=PA355 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden Herbarium collection holds over 300,000 specimens representing over 1,400 species of preserved plants.<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden Herbarium">{{cite web |title=Herbarium |url=https://www.bbg.org/collections/herbarium |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=August 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230802002910/https://www.bbg.org/collections/herbarium |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Global Plants on JSTOR |url=https://plants.jstor.org/partner/BKL |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Global Plants on JSTOR |archive-date=November 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128084604/https://plants.jstor.org/partner/BKL |url-status=live}}</ref> These specimens, some from as early as 1818, aid scientists in tracking species, analyzing the spread of [[invasive plant]]s, and modeling changes in the New York metropolitan area's vegetation. There are also holdings from the western United States, the [[Galapagos Islands]], Bolivia, and Mauritius.<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden Herbarium" /> The Brooklyn Botanic Garden Library, which is housed in the Laboratory Administration Building, has a collection of books on horticulture and botany that is available to home gardeners, professionals, and staff.<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden Library">{{cite web |title=BBG Library |url=https://www.bbg.org/gardening/library |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730214654/https://www.bbg.org/gardening/library |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Community horticulture===
Since 1993,<ref name="Rakow (2020) p. 16">{{harvnb|Rakow|2020|ps=.|p=16}}</ref> Brooklyn Botanic Garden has run the Community Greening program (formerly known as Brooklyn GreenBridge<ref>{{cite web |date=April 23, 2016 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Go Green Brooklyn |url=https://gogreenbk.org/brooklyn-botanic-garden-greenbridge/ |access-date=July 30, 2023 |website=Go Green Brooklyn |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730012023/https://gogreenbk.org/brooklyn-botanic-garden-greenbridge/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Rakow (2020) p. 16" />), which offers residential and commercial gardening programs to [[City block|block]] associations, [[community garden]]s, [[community center]]s, and other groups.<ref name="Rakow (2020) p. 16" /> Under the Community Greening program, BBG has run the annual Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest since 1994,<ref>{{cite web |date=August 10, 2022 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden makes Brooklyn greener far beyond its own walls |url=https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2022/08/10/brooklyn-botanic-garden-makes-brooklyn-greener-far-beyond-its-own-walls/ |access-date=July 30, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Eagle |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730012021/https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2022/08/10/brooklyn-botanic-garden-makes-brooklyn-greener-far-beyond-its-own-walls/ |url-status=live}}</ref> which gives awards in various categories.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ricciulli |first=Valeria |date=August 9, 2019 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden crowns the borough's greenest block |url=https://ny.curbed.com/2019/8/9/20798757/crown-heights-greenest-block-brooklyn-botanic-garden |access-date=July 30, 2023 |website=Curbed NY |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730012021/https://ny.curbed.com/2019/8/9/20798757/crown-heights-greenest-block-brooklyn-botanic-garden |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=August 10, 2022 |title=The Greenest Block Grows in Brooklyn |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/10/nyregion/urban-garden-award-brooklyn.html |access-date=July 30, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730012021/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/10/nyregion/urban-garden-award-brooklyn.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Rakow (2020) p. 17">{{harvnb|Rakow|2020|ps=.|p=17}}</ref> Since 1982, BBG has hosted Making Brooklyn Bloom,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Klockenbrink |first=Myra |date=February 13, 1986 |title=Learning the Care of Street Trees |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/13/garden/learning-the-care-of-street-trees.html |access-date=July 31, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731151316/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/13/garden/learning-the-care-of-street-trees.html |url-status=live}}</ref> an annual event with various workshops and activities.<ref name="Rakow (2020) p. 17" /> The Community Greening program also includes the Community Garden Alliance, for community gardens in Brooklyn,<ref name="Rakow (2020) p. 16" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Community Garden Alliance |url=https://www.bbg.org/community/cga |access-date=July 30, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730012021/https://www.bbg.org/community/cga |url-status=live}}</ref> and the Street Tree Stewardship program, for individual trees on streets.<ref>{{cite web |title=Street Tree Stewardship |url=https://www.bbg.org/community/street_trees |access-date=July 30, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730012022/https://www.bbg.org/community/street_trees |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Benfield |first=Richard W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t3cREAAAQBAJ&pg=PA132 |title=New Directions in Garden Tourism |publisher=CABI |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-78924-176-1 |page=132 |access-date=2023-08-02 |archive-date=2023-07-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730012021/https://books.google.com/books?id=t3cREAAAQBAJ&pg=PA132 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Rakow|2020|ps=.|pp=16–17}}</ref> The NYC Compost Project (formerly the Urban Composting Project<ref>{{cite news |last=Bazzi |first=Mohamed |date=February 10, 1995 |title=Green Movement Gets the Blues Composting projects by funding cuts |page=B15 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|278838327}}}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Raver |first=Anne |date=June 16, 2001 |title=Cuttings: A Land Rush for Compost in the City |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/16/living/cuttings-a-land-rush-for-compost-in-the-city.html |access-date=July 31, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731180730/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/16/living/cuttings-a-land-rush-for-compost-in-the-city.html |url-status=live}}</ref>), supported by the [[New York City Department of Sanitation]], offers composting assistance and resources, as well as information on composting in residential backyards.<ref>{{cite web |title=BBG's Guide to Composting |url=https://www.bbg.org/gardening/composting |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=July 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726012512/https://www.bbg.org/gardening/composting |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Publications and resources==
BBG began publishing a magazine, the ''Record'', in February 1912;<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 18, 1912 |title=Botanic Garden Scheme Outlined in 'Record' |pages=42 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-botanic-garden/128786590/ |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724174548/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-botanic-garden/128786590/ |url-status=live}}</ref> members received the publication for free.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 10, 1912 |title=Institute Is in Favor of Endowed Theatre |pages=6 |work=The Brooklyn Citizen |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-institute-is-in-fav/128787008/ |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724174548/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-institute-is-in-fav/128787008/ |url-status=live}}</ref> BBG's director C. Stuart Gager was editor of the ''Record'' until his death in 1943.<ref name="p1282797944" /> The last edition of the ''Record'' was published in 1944.<ref>{{cite web |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden Record archives |url=https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=bklynbotgardrec |access-date=July 27, 2023 |website=The Online Books Page |archive-date=January 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230103053248/https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=bklynbotgardrec |url-status=live}}</ref> BBG launched a series of gardening handbooks in 1945;<ref>{{cite web |date=November 28, 1998 |title=The Holly & the Ivy: Holiday Books |url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1998-11-28-9811280447-story.html/ |access-date=July 27, 2023 |website=Hartford Courant |archive-date=July 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210707154037/https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1998-11-28-9811280447-story.html |url-status=live}}</ref> the first volume in the series was ''Lilies and Their Culture: Use in the Garden''.<ref name="Brooklyn Botanic Garden1" /> Brooklyn Botanic Garden's ''Guides to a Greener Planet'' contain information on garden design, sustainability, and native plants.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Imprints - Sterling Publishing |work=Sterling Publishing |url=https://www.sterlingpublishing.com/imprints/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830235239/https://www.sterlingpublishing.com/imprints/ |archive-date=August 30, 2017 |access-date=September 17, 2017}}</ref> In addition, the botanical garden has published reference books such as the ''Brooklyn'' ''Botanic'' ''Garden'' ''Gardener's Desk Reference'' (1998).<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Hansell |first=Betsey |date=December 18, 1998 |title=Reference is Designed to Delight a Browser: 816 Pages of Data Gleaned From the Brooklyn Botanic Garden |magazine=Philadelphia Inquirer |page=E.1 |id={{ProQuest|1842458051}}}}</ref>

BBG launched its website in 1996.<ref name="nyt-1998-09-13" /> The website includes events, classes, and information on its gardens and collections, as well as a blog and practical gardening advice.<ref name="CherryWatch" /> BBG's collection of historic photographs and [[lantern slide]]s is also available online.<ref>{{cite web |title=Historic Images |url=https://www.bbg.org/collections/historicimages |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=August 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230802002804/https://www.bbg.org/collections/historicimages |url-status=live}}</ref> The website includes an interactive map named CherryWatch, which tracks whether each cherry blossom tree has bloomed during the spring.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Solis |first=Marie |date=March 20, 2023 |title=When Cherry Blossom Heads Know It's 'Game Time' |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/20/style/cherry-blossom-trackers.html |access-date=July 31, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731215853/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/20/style/cherry-blossom-trackers.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The Laboratory Administration Building has a Gardener's Resource Center that provides reference services.<ref>{{cite web |title=Volunteer |url=https://www.bbg.org/support/volunteer |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |archive-date=July 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701103229/https://www.bbg.org/support/volunteer |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Spencer |first1=T.S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uWWY9pXjKmUC&pg=PA256 |title=Gardens Across America: The American Horticultural Society's Guide to American Public Gardens and Arboreta |last2=Russell |first2=J.J. |publisher=Taylor Trade Pub. |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-58979-102-2 |series=G - Reference,Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series |page=256 |issue=v. 1 |access-date=2023-08-02 |archive-date=2023-08-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230802003243/https://books.google.com/books?id=uWWY9pXjKmUC&pg=PA256 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Former BBG properties ==
BBG formerly operated three other sites in the [[New York metropolitan area]]. The first to open was a {{Convert|223|acre|ha|adj=on}} research facility at Kitchawan Preserve in Westchester County,<ref name="nyt-1982-07-11">{{Cite news |last=Faust |first=Joan Lee |date=July 11, 1982 |title=Botanic Study Unit Takes a New Name |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/11/nyregion/botanic-study-unit-takes-a-new-name.html |access-date=July 29, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729202257/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/11/nyregion/botanic-study-unit-takes-a-new-name.html |url-status=live}}</ref> on land that it purchased from Elizabeth Van Brunt in 1956.<ref name="nyt-1956-10-20" /><ref name="n129028559" /> [[Yorktown, New York]], officials approved the research center in early 1959;<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 13, 1959 |title=$10,000,000 IBM Laboratory at Yorktown Waits Approval |pages=76 |work=The Daily Item |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-item-10000000-ibm-laborator/129083724/ |access-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729190523/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-item-10000000-ibm-laborator/129083724/ |url-status=live}}</ref> the complex included a double-level laboratory near an abandoned railroad station on the [[New York and Putnam Railroad]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 17, 1958 |title=Research Unit Set by Botanic Garden |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/10/17/archives/research-unit-set-by-botanic-garden.html |access-date=July 29, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729184706/https://www.nytimes.com/1958/10/17/archives/research-unit-set-by-botanic-garden.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Dade |first=Denslow M. |date=November 9, 1958 |title=Botanic Garden Starts Work on Antibiotics Lab |page=33 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1324049284}}}}</ref>  After the research center opened in 1960,<ref name="n129085727" /> it was described as "the most important single development since the founding of the Botanic Garden 50 years ago".<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 20, 1962 |title=Big Nursery Boon to Botanic Garden |pages=546 |work=Daily News |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-big-nursery-boon-to-botanic-g/129108983/ |access-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730012021/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-big-nursery-boon-to-botanic-g/129108983/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The research center was originally known as the Kitchawan Research Laboratory.<ref name="nyt-1982-07-11" /> A herb garden and perennial border garden were dedicated at Kitchawan in 1981,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ames |first=Lynne |date=September 27, 1981 |title=Kitchawan Honoring 2 Hardy Perennials |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/27/nyregion/kitchawan-honoring-2-hardy-pe-rennials.html |access-date=July 30, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730210149/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/27/nyregion/kitchawan-honoring-2-hardy-pe-rennials.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and the research center was renamed the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Research Center in 1982.<ref name="nyt-1982-07-11" /> BBG sold off most of Kitchawan to the Westchester County government in 1988.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ames |first=Lynne |date=July 31, 1988 |title=The View From: The Kitchawan Field Station; A Shrinking World of Microscopes Still Broadens Horizons |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/31/nyregion/the-view-from-the-kitchawan-field-station-a-shrinking-world-of.html |access-date=July 29, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729202257/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/31/nyregion/the-view-from-the-kitchawan-field-station-a-shrinking-world-of.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Tea_Town_Lake.jpg|alt=Teatown Lake Reservation in Westchester County, New York|thumb|BBG co-produced programming at the [[Teatown Lake Reservation]] until 1980.]]
A second property in Westchester County, the [[Teatown Lake Reservation]], was established in 1963, a year after Gerard Swope Sr. bequeathed {{convert|250|acre|sqkm|spell=}} to BBG.<ref name="nyt-1977-05-06">{{Cite news |last=Bryant |first=Nelson |date=May 6, 1977 |title=Out of Doors |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/06/archives/out-of-doors.html |access-date=July 29, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729202256/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/06/archives/out-of-doors.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Yonkers Times 2018 l705">{{cite web |date=May 30, 2018 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden Transfers 245 Acres to Teatown |url=http://yonkerstimes.com/brooklyn-botanic-garden-transfers-245-acres-to-teatown/ |access-date=July 29, 2023 |website=Yonkers Times |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729210153/https://yonkerstimes.com/brooklyn-botanic-garden-transfers-245-acres-to-teatown/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Over the years, the reservation grew through additional bequests.<ref name="nyt-1977-05-06" /> BBG and Teatown staff co-produced programming at the reservation until 1980, when Teatown began leasing the land from BBG,<ref name="Yonkers Times 2018 l705" /><ref name="McKinney 2018 f885">{{cite web |last=McKinney |first=Michael P. |date=May 22, 2018 |title=No worries, Teatown hikers and visitors: Land will be protected |url=https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/ossining/2018/05/22/teatown-hikers-visitors-land-protected/632409002/ |access-date=July 29, 2023 |website=lohud.com |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729202256/https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/ossining/2018/05/22/teatown-hikers-visitors-land-protected/632409002/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and the Teatown Lake Reservation became a legally separate entity in 1984.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Faust |first=Joan Lee |date=June 5, 1988 |title=An Island of Sequestered Wildflowers |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/05/nyregion/an-island-of-sequestered-wildflowers.html |access-date=July 29, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729202256/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/05/nyregion/an-island-of-sequestered-wildflowers.html |url-status=live}}</ref> BBG continued to own a {{convert|245|acre|ha|adj=on}} portion of the Teatown Lake Reservation until May 2018.<ref name="Yonkers Times 2018 l705" /><ref name="McKinney 2018 f885" /> BBG retains a [[conservation easement]] on the Teatown site.<ref name="McKinney 2018 f885" />

The lawyer [[Grenville Clark]] donated the {{Convert|12|acre|adj=on}} [[Clark Botanic Garden]] in [[Albertson, New York|Albertson]], on [[Long Island]], to BBG in 1966.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 11, 1966 |title=Botanic Garden Given 12-Acre Estate on L.I. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/06/11/archives/botanic-garden-given-12acre-estate-on-li.html |access-date=July 29, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729205113/https://www.nytimes.com/1966/06/11/archives/botanic-garden-given-12acre-estate-on-li.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=June 18, 1966 |title=Memorial Garden to Open in '68 |page=35W |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|915503393}}}}</ref> BBG's Fanny Dwight Clark Memorial Garden opened on the site in 1969,<ref>{{cite web |last=Hendrixson |first=Jed |date=January 8, 2019 |title=Town's Clark Botanic Garden to receive renovations in 50th year - News |url=https://theisland360.com/news-98/towns-clark-botanic-garden-to-receive-renovations-in-50th-year/ |access-date=July 29, 2023 |website=The Island 360 |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729205124/https://theisland360.com/news-98/towns-clark-botanic-garden-to-receive-renovations-in-50th-year/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=October 4, 1969 |title=Garden Notes |pages=38 |work=Newsday (Nassau Edition) |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-garden-notes/129109329/ |access-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730012021/https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-garden-notes/129109329/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and BBG used the Clark Botanic Garden as an outreach station, with instructors from the Brooklyn Museum.<ref name="nyt-1975-05-18">{{Cite news |last=Bernstein |first=Phyllis |date=May 18, 1975 |title=Brooklyn Garden Touches Nassau |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/05/18/archives/brooklyn-garden-touches-nassau-early-harvest.html |access-date=July 29, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729205113/https://www.nytimes.com/1975/05/18/archives/brooklyn-garden-touches-nassau-early-harvest.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The Clark Botanic Garden had three small lakes, as well as a children's garden and a rock garden, which were similar to those in the original BBG.<ref name="nyt-1975-05-18" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Bea |date=May 1, 1975 |title=Clark Memorial Garden-- Brooklyn's oasis on LI |page=13A |work=Newsday |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-clark-memorial/129143970/ |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|920923343}} |access-date=August 2, 2023 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730185707/https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-clark-memorial/129143970/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Although the Clark Botanic Garden was operated by BBG, the two gardens were legally separate entities, and the Clark Garden charged admission, whereas the original garden did not.<ref name="nyt-1975-05-18" /> The [[North Hempstead, New York|North Hempstead]] town government acquired Clark Botanic Garden from BBG in 1989.<ref>{{cite web |date=December 10, 2018 |title=Clark Botanic Garden to celebrate 50 years in 2019 |url=https://theislandnow.com/clark-botanic-garden-to-celebrate-50-years-in-2019/ |access-date=July 29, 2023 |website=The Island Now |archive-date=July 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729202256/https://theislandnow.com/clark-botanic-garden-to-celebrate-50-years-in-2019/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="nyt-1988-04-10" />

== Membership, events, and operations ==
{{As of|2023}}, BBG membership starts at $75 for individuals. Members can attend events in the spring and summer months, including themed sunset picnic nights.<ref>{{cite web | title=Membership Rate Change | website=Brooklyn Botanic Garden | date=January 3, 2023 | url=https://www.bbg.org/support/membership_rate_change | access-date=March 1, 2023 | archive-date=March 1, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301140450/https://www.bbg.org/support/membership_rate_change | url-status=live}}</ref> Each spring, a month-long cherry blossom viewing festival called ''[[Hanami]]'' is held at the Cherry Esplanade.<ref name="nyt-2023-04-13" /><ref name="BD p. 121">{{harvnb|Berenson|DeMause|2001|ps=.|p=121}}</ref> This culminates in a weekend celebration called ''[[Sakura Matsuri]]'', which was first hosted in the 1980s,<ref name="BD p. 121" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Schmidt |first=Ann W. |date=26 Apr 2016 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Cherry Blossom Festival Returns to Prospect Park |page= |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|1784025184}}}}</ref> although this event has not been held since the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref name="nyt-2023-04-13">{{Cite news |last1=Carmel |first1=Julia |last2=Meko |first2=Hurubie |date=April 13, 2023 |title=Where to See New York City's Cherry Blossoms |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/article/nyc-cherry-blossoms.html |access-date=July 31, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731180736/https://www.nytimes.com/article/nyc-cherry-blossoms.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Other events include the Chile Pepper Festival, which has been held annually since the 1990s,<ref>{{cite web |last=Sprung |first=Shlomo |date=October 3, 2017 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden holds 25th Annual Chile Pepper Festival |url=https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2017/10/03/brooklyn-botanic-garden-holds-25th-annual-chile-pepper-festival/ |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Eagle |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731180730/https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2017/10/03/brooklyn-botanic-garden-holds-25th-annual-chile-pepper-festival/ |url-status=live}}</ref> and Lightscape, a [[light art]] show that is hosted at the end of each year.<ref>{{cite web | last=Weaver | first=Shaye | title=This eye-catching light extravaganza is now open in Brooklyn | website=Time Out New York | date=October 23, 2023 | url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/things-to-do/lightscape-at-brooklyn-botanic-garden | access-date=January 27, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Bisram | first=Jennifer | title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden lights up for the holidays | website=CBS New York | date=November 18, 2023 | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/brooklyn-botanic-garden-lightscape-holiday-show-2023/ | access-date=January 27, 2024}}</ref>

{{As of|2019}}, BBG had an annual operating budget of $23 million.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kadet |first=Anne |date=June 4, 2019 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden Draws Visitors in Spades on a Modest Budget |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/brooklyn-botanic-garden-draws-visitors-in-spades-on-a-modest-budget-11559656801 |access-date=July 31, 2023 |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731170419/https://www.wsj.com/articles/brooklyn-botanic-garden-draws-visitors-in-spades-on-a-modest-budget-11559656801 |url-status=live}}</ref> BBG recorded $20,869,967 in revenue and $20,988,655 in expenses for fiscal year 2020, meaning its net income was negative $118,688.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Suozzo |first1=Andrea |last2=Schwencke |first2=Ken |last3=Tigas |first3=Mike |last4=Wei |first4=Sisi |last5=Glassford |first5=Alec |last6=Roberts |first6=Brandon |date=May 9, 2013 |title=Brooklyn Botanic Garden Corporation - Nonprofit Explorer |url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/112417338 |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=ProPublica |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731170420/https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/112417338 |url-status=live}}</ref> BBG had more than 800,000 annual visitors {{As of|2015|lc=y}}.<ref name="ENR 2015 l894">{{cite web |date=November 11, 2015 |title=Best Small Project: South Garden Undergoes Renovation |url=https://www.enr.com/articles/37913-best-small-project-south-garden-undergoes-renovation |access-date=July 31, 2023 |website=Engineering News-Record |archive-date=October 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026082826/https://www.enr.com/articles/37913-best-small-project-south-garden-undergoes-renovation |url-status=live}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of botanical gardens in the United States]]
* [[List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City]]

== References ==

=== Notes ===
{{Notelist}}

=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* {{cite book |last1=Berenson |first1=Richard J. |url=https://archive.org/details/completeillustra0000bere |title=The Complete Illustrated Guidebook to Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden |last2=DeMause |first2=Neil |publisher=Silver Lining Books |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-7607-2213-8 |pages=102–155 |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite magazine |author=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=soUbnwL8HUYC&pg=PA104 |title=A Brief History of the Botanic Garden Idea in Brooklyn |magazine=The Record |publisher=Brooklyn Botanic Garden |date=Oct 1918 |volume=7 |issue=4}}
* {{Cite magazine |last=Canty |first=Donald |date=Nov 1989 |title=Reconstructing a Victorian Legacy |url=https://usmodernist.org/AR/AR-1989-11.pdf |magazine=Architectural Record |volume=177 |issue=13}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Gager |first=C. Stuart |date=April 1912 |title=The Brooklyn Botanic Garden |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uCIDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA339 |magazine=Popular Science |publisher=Bonnier Corporation |issn=0161-7370}}
* {{cite report|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2214.pdf|title=Laboratory Administration Building, Brooklyn Botanic Garden|date=March 13, 2007|publisher=[[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]]|ref={{Harvid|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2007}}}}
* {{cite book |last1=Rakow |first1=D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O4mn5aWTCKsC&pg=PT423 |title=Public Garden Management: A Complete Guide to the Planning and Administration of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta |last2=Lee |first2=S. |last3=Raven |first3=P.H. |publisher=Wiley |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-470-90459-6}}
* {{cite book |last1=Rakow |first1=D.A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sjPRDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA16 |title=Public Gardens and Livable Cities: Partnerships Connecting People, Plants, and Place |last2=Gough |first2=M.Z. |last3=Lee |first3=S.A. |last4=Medbury |first4=S. |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-5017-5176-9 |ref={{harvid|Rakow|2020}}}}
* {{cite magazine |date=April 1913 |title=Second Annual Report of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 1912 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435055901862&seq=37 |magazine=The Record |volume=2 |issue=2 |ref={{sfnref|The Record|1913}} |via=HathiTrust}}
* {{cite magazine |date=April 1917 |title=Sixth Annual Report of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 1916 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nnc1.cu06176500?urlappend=%3Bseq=39 |magazine=The Record |volume=6 |issue=2 |hdl=2027/nnc1.cu06176500?urlappend=%3Bseq=39 |ref={{sfnref|The Record|1917}} |via=HathiTrust}}
* {{cite magazine |date=April 1914 |title=Third Annual Report of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 1913 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435055901912&seq=41 |magazine=The Record |volume=3 |issue=2 |ref={{sfnref|The Record|1914}} |via=HathiTrust}}

== External links ==
{{commons and category|Brooklyn Botanic Garden|Brooklyn Botanic Garden}}
* [https://www.bbg.org/ Brooklyn Botanic Garden website]
* [https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/brooklyn-botanic-garden Brooklyn Botanic Garden at Google Cultural Institute]

{{Protected areas of New York City}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:1911 establishments in New York City]]
[[Category:Art museums and galleries in Brooklyn]]
[[Category:Botanical gardens in New York City]]
[[Category:Environmental organizations based in New York City]]
[[Category:Japanese gardens in the United States]]
[[Category:Japanese-American culture in New York City]]
[[Category:Museums in Brooklyn]]
[[Category:Museums established in 1911]]