BBG: Desert Plants

Ever since I discovered that the Brooklyn Botanic Garden offers free admission from 10am - noon on Saturdays, I've gone every weekend that I've had the chance. It's been really interesting to chart the blooming progress of the various flowers/trees/plants as spring slowwwwwly arrivedand every time I go back there is something new to see.

I've raved about their permanent collections before (like the always-weird and wonderful Bonsai Museum) but I've only recently started to become slightly obsessed with their desert plants. Growing up in Ohio (or the East coast in general) doesn't afford you much exposure to desert life so I think I'll always be fascinated by cacti, succulents and every other strange, pointy or surprisingly soft desert plant.

During recent visits I've been particularly enamored with the colors — soft shades of minty green, subtle gradations, lilac purples or the occasional pop of an orange or red flower against the bright green cacti. Speaking of cacti, I had no idea that there were so many varieties, although it's hard to beat the name or shape of the "Bunny Ear" cactus.

Also, and this might sound totally strange but, every time I enter the desert section of the conservatory I find myself immediately noticing (and remarking) how wonderful it smells — I don't know if it's a combination of the dry air or the plants themselves, but if that is how real desert smells then I should book a trip to Arizona very soon. The closest I've ever come to real desert is two trips to Las Vegas, although I know that probably doesn't really count.

Maybe it's not actually a great idea to put me into a real desert environment considering the fact that in addition to the constant smelling, I just can't resist touching everything I see. The more dangerous-looking the plant, the more I feel compelled to just grab it, with one exception being the succulents — they might not look dangerous but they DO look squishy and I want to just poke and squeeze them until the end of time.