Recently, I visited Brooklyn Botanical Garden as my sit spot before I leave for New Zealand. It’s not exactly a place I visit often, though it is a special natural (or at least, natural for NYC) spot for me. It was a very special visit too, as their Amorphophallus gigas (i.e. corpse flower!!) was blooming! After standing in line for an hour and a half to view it (it was, in fact, pretty smelly despite the bloom dying), I decided to go sit in the tropical region of the botanical garden for a bit. 

 

The sounds of the fans whirring in the background stood out to me, as well as the quiet chatter of people looking at all the beautiful specimens. I thought there was something beautiful about the fact that despite it being 23 degrees outside with wind chill, it was warm in the greenhouse, and plants from all over the world are thriving here. I was also (a little painfully) aware of the humidity, both in how it felt and strangely, how it smelled. The air in the greenhouse was heavy with water and the scents of all the plants. There were so many colors and shapes of plants: I saw plants with red, pink, and orange flowers, as well as one plant in the shape of a ball hanging from the ceiling. The diversity in the plants was astounding to me. My favorite was known as the Starburst plant, and it had unbloomed flowers that looked like bunches of Q-Tips. The flowers that had bloomed truly did look like a starburst. Even though the botanic garden may not be a completely natural structure, I felt a deep appreciation for this pocket of greenness within my city.