BBG: Roses

Before going to Coney Island for fireworks, we spent most of the Fourth hanging around Prospect Park, including a walk through the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. I hadn't been to the BBG since the very beginning of spring, and it's always a nice place to spend a sunny afternoon. We planned on checking out the rose garden, specifically, and found it to be past its peak but still worth the trip.

I was initially disappointed to have missed out on peak bloom, but quickly became enamored with the garden in its current state—roses that were still amazingly fragrant and beautiful despite the fact that they were mostly dying or already dead. It wouldn't have done anyone any good to be sad that we had missed out on this season's most beautiful blooms, and it was nice to instead shift my focus to appreciating the imperfectness of nature and the elusiveness of perfect timing.

I'm forever impressed by gardens—and the fact that plants can not only grow and survive, but can sometimes produce extraordinary flowers. Plants are such a mystery to me that I think I probably marvel at them more than a seasoned gardener probably would, but I'm just grateful that I can visit such beautiful gardens without having to actually figure out how to keep plants alive on my own.