Ready for some botanical brilliance with a Bronx twist? Let’s dig into the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG)—where science, history, and a whole lot of greenery come together.
The Origin Story
In 1891, after a visit to London’s Kew Gardens, Nathaniel and Elizabeth Britton thought, “New York deserves this.” So they got to work. Thanks to the New Parks Act, land from the Lorillard estate, and funding from names like Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and J.P. Morgan, the NYBG took root—literally.
Fun (and slightly wild) Facts
• The tallest tree at NYBG? A 155-foot tulip tree towering in the Azalea Garden.
• Puffed rice—the crunchy breakfast icon—was invented here in 1901 when botanist Alexander Pierce Anderson blasted rice with steam.
• The Enid A. Haupt Conservatory has 17,000 panes of glass and serious greenhouse glam.
• The Thain Family Forest is 50 acres of old-growth trees—some older than the Declaration of Independence.
• The oldest tree in the garden? A 275-year-old red oak that’s seen centuries of Bronx history.
• The Bronx River, NYC’s only freshwater river, flows through the garden and once powered the historic Lorillard Snuff Mill, which still stands today.
• The Rock Garden features at least one plant species for every letter of the alphabet—from A to Z. Yes, even the tricky letters.
• Every September, hummingbirds turn the Perennial Garden into their personal battleground. You’ve never seen territorial drama like this.
• NYBG’s living collections contain over one million plants—and it’s helped launch more than 300 community gardens through the Bronx Green-Up program.
• The Lillian Goldman Fountain of Life is a 1905 sculpture full of sea nymphs, seahorses, and pure whimsy.
From cereal breakthroughs to old-growth forests, the NYBG isn’t just a garden—it’s a full-blown living legend in the Bronx.
