Monday, August 11, 2008

Brooklyn Botanical Garden


Yesterday I went to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden with my friend Brian, who is about to move away to the snowy midwest. (He’s from Minnesota, so he won’t mind snow.) We walked the entire garden, and found lots of interesting things along the way. For starters, there were dozens of turtles sunning themselves in the pond at the Japanese Garden.

And, of course, flowers of every size and shape:




Many of the flowering plants seemed past their prime, but that’s OK, because the gardens were still very green -- even the water!


At the rock garden, boulders that had been rolled along and deposited by prehistoric glaciers were displayed, with plaques indicating their origin as determined by geologists. One was found to have been rolled all the way from the Adirondacks, while another came from Paterson, N.J. (How they could tell that, I’m not sure.)

Our best find: A tree called the “Caucasian Wingnut,” which made me think immediately of Dick Cheney.

15 comments:

  1. Turtles! I can relate to those.

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  2. The Dick Cheney comment is PRICELESS . . . and brilliant!

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  3. A tree called the “Caucasian Wingnut,” which made me think immediately of Dick Cheney.

    lol!

    What beautiful pics. LOVE the turtles!

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  4. Great comment and wonderful photos. I would love to visit the botanical gardens.

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  5. I used to live near the Brookyn Botanical Garden and pushed my babies around there in strollers. It holds really special memories for me, so it's nice to get an update. Those daisies are just burstng out of your photo!

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  6. Sorry, but I don't get the Dick Cheney comment. Can you explain? Sometimes I'm a little slow...

    Love the picture of the turtles.

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  7. From the Urban Dictionary:
    WINGNUT _ n. An outspoken, irrational person with deeply held, nominally conservative, political views. A person who chooses on principal to be flagrantly ignorant. A "right-wing nut."

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  8. I will have to add the Urban Dictionary to my collection of reference materials! Thanks for the explanation. And yes, you are quite correct!

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  9. Those turtles: how very cute!!

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  10. PS hey you're American: are you aware of David and Victoria Beckam?... what do you think of them?... and did you know they named their eldest kid Brooklyn..??

    PPS also is it true Brooklyn is THEE place to be nowadays..? and that the arty crowd are shipping out en masse from Manhattan over that there Brooklyn Bridge and not coming back..??

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  11. Gledwood: Brooklyn, particularly the neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Bushwick, became a favored destination for artists who were priced out of Manhattan. But even Brooklyn is getting pricey these days, so I'm not sure where they'll all go next!

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  12. Ooh, this brings back happy memories! Lettuce and I spent a wonderful day in April, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and then wandering around the Botanical Gardens, marvelling at the cherry blossom.
    I liked Brooklyn!

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  13. I grew up very near the Brooklyn Botanic Garden many happy memories of the place! Thanks for reminding me I have to get myself back to my old neighborhood soon before summer ends .

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  14. I'm just wondering if it's plants or algae making the water the turtles in sooo green?

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  15. I'd say it's a substantial algae problem, Alan!

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