Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Here’s how you can help New York’s street trees! 🌳 Street trees live tough lives, but they still do so much for us: they cool our streets with their shade, clean our air, mitigate flooding, create wildlife habitats, and a whole lot more. The New York City Parks Department plants street trees across the five boroughs and provides ongoing care, but there’s a lot that residents can do to show them some love day to day. This video covers three top tips to help street trees survive: providing water, improving soil health, and adding tree guards. Shout out @bigreuse for the guard example in this video! At our link in bio, you can find more details on street tree care as well as useful tips from @nycparks for accessing tree guards. Plus, every summer, the BBG Community Greening team hosts workshops to help Greenest Block in Brooklyn contestants brush up on their stewardship skills, whether you’re a contestant, a budding tree care enthusiast, or just a curious neighbor. More info at our link in bio.

The 2026 Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest is OPEN! 🪴 The Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest encourages neighbors to green up their front yards, stoops, and sidewalks together. We’re celebrating its 30th year in 2026 and want you to be part of it. Gather your block and enter Brooklyn’s friendliest contest! The Greenest Block in Brooklyn is free and open to all residential blocks, commercial blocks, and community gardens in Brooklyn. This video features Jibreel Cooper, community program manager at BBG, as well as neighbors from the 300 East 25th Street Block Association, Bay Ridge Blooms, HER/King Alagantic Block Association, and Fresh Creek Civic Association. Registration runs through May 30. You can find more information, tips, and the entry form at our link in bio. The Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest is a project of Brooklyn Botanic Garden and @bkbpreynoso . Major Sponsor, Greenest Block in Brooklyn: @nationalgrid .

Dahling… the Garden is about to get REAL lush 🌿✨ Honored to be the very first After Party Chair for the @brooklynbotanic Spring Gala After Party as we celebrate 30 years of the Greenest Block in Brooklyn Contest — a legacy of neighbors, community, flowers, trees, joy, and the magic that happens when people care for where they live. And hunny… we’re taking the celebration ALL the way up 💃🏾🌿 @cheernewyork will be helping us kick off the After Party with an energetic procession through the Garden, leading guests into a night of dancing, celebration, and botanical revelry beneath the stars. Expect cheers, movement, music, and a whole lotta fabulousness. So put on your botanical best, grab your good judy, and come dance with yours truly, DJ Kharisma, seasonal cocktails, desserts, floral moments, and enough garden glam to make the pollinators blush 🌸✨ And the best part? Your ticket helps Brooklyn grow greener through community greening programs, education, and care for the living collections that make this city bloom. Tickets start at $85 for BBG members. Meet me in the Garden, dahling… Tuesday, June 2 at 9 p.m. Visit: /visit/event/gala_after_party for tickets 🎟️ 🎥 @turnerofalltrades

Visit one of Brooklyn’s greenest blocks nestled in Crown Heights. 🏡 To know Lincoln Place between New York and Nostrand Avenue is to love it. A three-time winner of the Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest, the community gardening group @p.l.a.n.t_11216 , which stewards greening on the block, has become a mentor for other blocks in the borough near and far. We stopped by early in the growing season to talk cost-effective gardening strategies and much more. Thanks to neighbors Althea, Perri, Lauren, Junior, Lily, Meri, Beverly, Johan, Ian, Kelsey, Javier, Mary, Sarah, Zoe, and Toby the cat for showing us around. Want to gather your neighbors and enter your block in Brooklyn’s friendliest competition? The Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest is free and open to all residential blocks, commercial blocks, and community gardens in Brooklyn. Entry deadline for 2026 is June 1! More info at our link in bio. For community greening groups looking for plants, seeds and support, there are a host of organizations to connect with: P.L.A.N.T recommends reaching out to @grownyc , @nyrp , and of course BBG’s Community Greening team! Local botanic gardens, @greenthumbnyc , @greenguerillas , and more are other great places to look for support. @bigreuse is a helpful resource for affordable planters, and look into @citizenscommittee Community Leaders Grants, which offer up to $5,000 for projects that bring New Yorkers together to improve neighborhood life, strengthen local leadership, and scale community partnerships.

POV: You enter a Bluebell Wood in the heart of Brooklyn. 💙 It’s a great year for Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Spanish bluebells, blooming now. Plan your visit and see what else is blooming at our link in bio.

Irises are blooming right now throughout the Garden! 💜 These plants can be found all around BBG, but look for a stunning variety of 197 irises on Fawcett Terrace, located on the west side of the Osborne Garden. BBG received these irises in 2024, planted in anticipation of the American Iris Society convention in May 2026. Plan your visit at our link in bio.

Another cherry season in the books! 🌸 BBG’s flowering cherry collection has finished blooming for a while now, but the cherry-shed memories remain. Here’s a few of our favorite snaps from visitors this year who captured the Kanzan cherry blooms. The Garden has a bounty of other plants popping right now, like bluebells, tree peonies, irises, azaleas, and more! Make sure to tag us in your photos at BBG so we spot your creativity. Plan your visit at our link in bio.

Bloom alert! 💙 Bluebell Wood is blooming right now. Stop by BBG soon to see thousands of Spanish bluebells nestled under the dappled shade of beech, elm, and birch trees. These blooms should last another couple weeks. Plan your visit at our link in bio. When you visit, please remember that Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a museum of living plants. Please don’t touch any parts of our plants, pick flowers or other plant parts, or walk in plant beds.

Let’s try this again. 🪴

Marvelous magnolia memories at BBG. 🖼️ As the last hybrid magnolias fade at the Garden, here’s a few of our favorite snaps taken by visitors of BBG’s magnolias this year. Remember to tag us in your posts so we spot your creativity! Though early spring blooms like magnolias, cherries, and daffodils are done blooming for the year, tree peonies, azaleas, tulips, and more are flowering beautifully right now, with bluebells on the way. Plan your visit at our link in bio.

Bloom alert! ❤️ Azaleas are in full bloom across the Garden. Stop by soon to see these flowers in the Osborne Garden, Rock Garden, Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden, and Shelby White and Leon Levy Water Garden. Plan your visit at our link in bio. When you visit, please remember that Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a museum of living plants. Please don’t touch any parts of our plants, pick flowers or other plant parts, or walk in plant beds.

Bloom alert! 💗 Tree peonies are popping at BBG right now. Located at the north end of Cherry Walk, the Tree Peony Collection at Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a rare planting of more than 300 specimens, highlighting six different colors. These blooms are marvels of color, scent, and size. Plan your visit at our link in bio. When you visit, please remember that Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a museum of living plants. Please don’t touch any parts of our plants, pick flowers or other plant parts, or walk in plant beds.