Reading Paradise for the Big City Dweller

When I travel, I am always on the lookout for interesting gardens, parks, or flowers.  I am a garden junkie and not afraid to admit it.

I need trees.  I need color.  I need green.  I must have it.  Daily.

On a recent trip to New York City, (by far the biggest city I’ve ever been in) I was amazed at the amount of green space tucked  between tall buildings.  Busy streets have trees with small flower beds surrounding them.   Apartments buildings have small courtyards filled with plants, water features and seating.  Roof tops are spotted with trees, chairs and I’m sure a  tomato plant or two.  Even alleys are flower-lined.  Not what I was expecting at all!

This is Bryant Park next to the NYC Public Library.  You can see the huge skyscrapers but the lawn area was very quiet and peaceful.  There were small reading tables surrounding the lawn, food vendors,  and pergolas with massive hanging baskets.  Loved it!

I could sit there all day

I was also amazed at how many people you can fit on a street.

Looked busy to me but according to our bus driver it wasn’t

One morning, we had a couple of hours free of any planned activities and we decided to take a morning stroll to Central Park.

For those of you that don’t know, Central Park is 800 some odd acres in the middle of the city.

And for those of you that don’t know, you can not walk that in a couple of hours.

View from one of the lakes

We decided that if for some reason we had to pack up and move to the city, we would have to live near this park.

The beautiful paths, pockets of flower gardens, and benches strategically placed to enjoy the view, made this walk one of our favorite walks.  It amazes me that this is in the middle of the city.

Plenty of room to stroll

Walking from Lower Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge, you end up in the neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights.  This was a very charming part of Brooklyn with knock out views of Manhattan.  The area is known for their Brownstone apartments built in the early 1900’s. Some even had backyards which is rare and a luxury for these apartments dwellers.

Brooklyn Heights brownstone

Brooklyn Heights backyard

Brooklyn Heights Window Box

Rooftop Patio

Every now and then I could see rooftops with flowers and trees.  It made me smile.  It’s good to know that there are people like me that can live in a big city and enjoy their gardens as  much as I love mine in the country.

Rooftop Geraniums

Of course, we did not go to New York City to look at gardens but I really enjoyed the ones I did find.  The fact that Manhattan alone has almost as many people as my whole state, made me anxious to get back to my little neck of the woods.

Goodbye city life. Green Acres here I come!