Taught over the course of ten weeks by BBG educators, these BUG graduates learned the fundamentals of urban gardening and community greening, as well as how to interact with communities and engage stakeholders around environmentally focused projects. Through this experience, the certified BUG graduates also gained skills in collaboration, team building, planning, documentation, and conflict resolution. These committed Brooklynites are ready to continue their good work in the Borough’s streets, gardens, schools, senior centers, block associations, and more.

The progress on-site only hints at the scientific rigor that went into the conception and planning of this project. The expansion will be home to approximately 15,000 new plants, representing over 150 species, some of which are thought to be in cultivation for the first time. In fact, many plants in the garden were sustainably sourced from the very ecosystems it emulates. At least 25 species are of special conservation concern, including pixie-moss and the swamp pink. Several of them were first identified as such through BBG’s New York Metropolitan Flora Project, a 20-year study cataloging all native and invasive plants in the region. In their new home, these rare plants will attract a diverse group of pollinators and other wildlife adapted to live in the unique habitats being re-created in the garden.

BBG's horticulture team has conceived of this garden as an experiment that will unfold over time, with a wild aesthetic that mimics nature’s patterns. Lead Conceptual and Ecological Designer Darrel Morrison notes that the expansion has been “designed with evolution in mind. It will become more beautiful as species migrate and grow.”

In many ways the Native Flora Garden expansion carries forward the founding principles upon which BBG’s original 102–year-old Native Flora Garden was based: rigorous science, education for people of all ages, and a strong commitment to the study and preservation of the flora of the New York metropolitan region.

Top two photos © Albert Vecerka / ESTO. Bottom photo by Uli Lorimer.

Both BUG and the Alliance are part of the Campaign’s suite of expanded community horticulture projects that, together, are composed of hundreds of Brooklynites working in concert to reinvigorate community greening initiatives across the borough. It’s wonderful to know that the beloved plants from the original Discovery Garden are finding new homes with Brooklyn community gardeners who will truly appreciate them. What a terrific opportunity to help make our bruised borough a little greener next year.

There is lots of cleanup work ahead of us and we have lost some irreplaceable mature specimen trees in the northwest and south end of the Garden. We have posted some images of the damage and cleanup on BBG’s Flickr page.

The process of renewal is familiar, however, to all gardeners. We take comfort in the continued progress of Campaign projects that are addressing critically important environmental issues such as plant conservation, sustainable horticulture practice, and water use and discharge. One of BBG’s major priorities has been to replenish and restore the beauty and diversity of its extraordinary horticultural collections—and that has become all the more essential now.

This garden, along with two others surrounding the Visitor Center, are not only beautifully landscaped areas but part of an innovative storm-water management system that includes the building’s living roof, its landscaped berms, and the new and existing tree beds along Washington Avenue. The total water savings from these components is anticipated to be in the hundreds of thousands of gallons annually. Learn more about all the sustainable features of the new Visitor Center.

The Flatbush Avenue entrance, used by a third of all Garden visitors, is also the primary gateway for the hundreds of school groups who visit BBG annually. The new design will usher them through the historic brick archway into a lushly landscaped new garden featuring early-spring-flowering plants. A sustainably constructed pavilion will further enhance the experience with expanded ticketing facilities and restrooms.

Also sharing the award was the design for a new stainless-steel outdoor kiosk for the Garden’s popular Terrace Café.

Both projects are slated to break ground in early 2013 and are part of a series of transformative new projects in the south Garden that will better serve visitors of all ages.

Photos by Liane Stegmaier.

This historic addition to the Garden is not just a building but also a landscape exhibiting over 100,000 new plants in multiple gardens. These expansions to the Garden’s horticultural collections, while visually compelling, are not without a larger purpose—they compose the first elements in a new garden-wide water conservation project. Both the living roof, a stunning sweep of meadow perennials and grasses, and the rain gardens, sunken plazas filled with both water-loving and drought-tolerant plants, act as sponges and filters for rainwater, to reduce the Garden’s burden on the municipal water supply. These are only two of the many innovative, sustainable features that make this building a leader in the field of green architecture. Read more about the building’s green features at BBG’s website.

During the week before the garland cutting, we were honored to welcome donors who made early gifts to the Campaign for the Next Century—as well as all our members—with a series of preopening celebrations held behind the construction barricades. In over three days of events, we hosted more than 1,200 close friends of the Garden, who were excited to explore the new spaces and exhibits throughout the building.

The new Visitor Center entrance is now open. Please come and pay a visit!

In the coming months, construction will begin on a boardwalk and grading work will prepare the terrain for a pond, bog, savannah, and woodland. The bulk of this work is slated for completion in June, with the actual planting set to begin after the most intense summer heat comes to an end in late August. However, the process of ecological replication is a slow-growing splendor that will unfold over generations! To learn more about the expanded Native Flora Garden, please click here.