A Plant Grows in Brooklyn

An inspirational example of cross-borough cooperation.



This cutting from the Queens Botanical Garden (and specifically their booth at the Dragon Boat Festival) has thrived during the past 12 days of benign neglect and sporadic watering in Brooklyn. It has already doubled in size, which suggests that it has sent out roots into the soil. My mom always puts cuttings in water until they are sufficiently rooted, then sets them into the soil afterward. But apparently this new-fangled "direct soil" approach works too. The plant is possibly Tradescantia zebrina.

Intriguingly, each borough except Manhattan has its own botanic garden:

• Brooklyn Botanic Garden
• New York Botanical Garden (in the Bronx)
• Queens Botanical Garden
• Staten Island Botanical Garden

Manhattan has a six-acre Conservatory Garden in Central Park, but it looks a lot smaller in person. There are some small gardens at the Cloisters too.