NYC Arts: The Complete Guide to Art and Culture

All five senses come alive on a stroll through the delightfully rambling 250-acre New York Botanical Garden. Virgin forest, landscaped gardens, wetlands, ponds and undulating hills entice visitors to uncover the secrets of plants and the outdoors. Visitors can experience the colors and fragrances of a dazzling array of flowers, and listen to the rushing Bronx River with its cascading waterfall. Families will enjoy touching, smelling and even tasting myriad plants, such as sweet woodruff and giant pine trees, at the Discovery Carts, or being at one with nature as they dig in the dirt and plant a garden.

The New York Botanical Garden's greatest treasure is the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, a spectacular soaring crystal palace built in 1902, which reopened in the spring of 1997 after extensive renovation. Modeled after the greenhouses of the Royal Botanic Garden in Kew, England, its 11 glass pavilions house tropical plants, palm trees, desert flora, a fern forest and various seasonal exhibits. Visiting the New York Botanical Garden provides a new appreciation and understanding of the plant world and a sense of tranquility that can only be found in the out-of-doors.

The New York Botanical Garden is one of the world's great research institutions in botany and the environment, and its international projects are reflected in both its exhibitions and its educational programs.

• Directions: Take the Metro-North Harlem local line to Botanical Garden Station. Walk across Kazimiroff Blvd. to the garden's Mosholu Gate entrance.
  By Subway: B, D, 4 train to Bedford Park Blvd. Station. From the station exit: take the Bx 26 bus east to the garden's Mosholu Gate entrance; or walk eight blocks down the hill on Bedford Park Blvd. to the end (approximately 20 minutes). Turn left onto Kazimiroff Blvd. and walk one block to Mosholu Gate entrance.

• Audio Guides: Audio Tours are accessible by cell phone and ExSite wand available free of charge at the Visitor Center Information Booth and the Conservatory.
• Disability Access: The garden, its buildings, and its tour vehicles are accessible. Due varied topography, portions of the historic landscape may be inaccessible. For information on garden accessibility, call (718) 817-8649 before you visit.
• Disability Assistance: Hearing: Assistive listening devices. Headsets, T-coil compatible neck loops and large-print and regular-print transcripts of audio tours are available at the Visitor Center Information Booth and the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory (assistive listening devices also at lecture hall events). Garden tour with an American Sign Language interpreter on the third Saturday of every month.
  Mobility Inquire at garden entrances for wheelchairs (available on first-come, first-served basis). Each tram can accommodate one wheelchair.
  Vision: The Home Gardening Center’s Helen’s Garden for the Senses, includes Braille signage. The Audio Tour Stimulating Your Senses in the Home Gardening Center includes visually descriptive commentary. Audio tour signage includes Braille text.
• Gift Shops: Wide selection of gardening products, plants, plant care items, flower arranging supplies, gardening books, and more; open year round
• On-Site Food: The Garden Café features the cuisine of Abigail Kirsch. Daily offerings include vegetarian dishes and kids' meals. For information regarding the Café or catering and facility rental, contact Abigail Kirsch Catering at (718) 220-0300. A picnic area is located near the Everett Children's Adventure Garden.
• On-Site Parking: On-site $12, enter at Southern Boulevard across from Fordham University
• Reference Center: Mertz Library open Tues-Thurs 12-6pm; Fri, Sat 12-5 pm

Get involved with New York Botanical Garden

• Donations through NYCharities.org
• Volunteer Opportunities
• Memberships