Orchids etc at Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. photos/thoughts

[stefpix]

went to the Brooklyn Botanic on the free day. Smaller but I liked it way better than the NY Botanical in the BX. less sterile.

Admission is $8 but free on Tuesdays and before noon on Saturdays.
You can go anywhere.

The NY Botanical garden in the Bronx is 5 times larger [i think]. admission is 20 $ and wednesdays are free to access the ground bit not the conservatory.

in the hot and wet section I saw many Vanda alliance orchids in the conservatory. some had rootless keikis and were a great untangled mess. Surprised to have not seen any Dendrobiums and few Cattleyas.

Anyway there was a huge Grammatophylum speciosum and a a huge Schomburkia galeottiana.

I liked how the orchids were hanging freely with roots and keikis everywhere.

I was talking to this person that was saying they used to have a lot more - and they cleaned the place up/. less messy but also less plants.

Anyway saw a plant that looked had some sort of infestation. like tiny barnacle-like bugs and ants lurking around scale?
in the tropical section I saw a very nice Mango tree and coffee. a huge Vanilla planifolia vine [the tag mistakenly states it is the only orchid cultivated for vanilla]. some parts were driying up - made me wonder if some parts die and some branch out.

I liked the cacti/euphorbias section . convergent evolution. I was disappointed to not see any Holiday/Orchid cacti etc etc...
The store had really nice supplies. seems it caters more to the urban gardener while the store in the bronx seems to cater to the upscale wealthy interior decorator.

I got some nice /cheap hooks, found some lava rock, and super cheap 1 and 2 inch terracotta pots [29 to 49 cents each].
they had some cattleya kind on sale for 12 dollars... but no tag of any sort.
their plants had no tags. bought a tiny opuntia for 2 dollars but does not say what specie.
Anyway I liked their orchard/veggie garden and cherry trees. everything looks more natural than the NY botanical garden where there are spotless lawns trimmed perfectly and they use Martha Stewart and Mario Batali as testimonials for their edible and herb gardens that do not look like a real vegie garden

here is the link to the picasa album slideshow where i put more photos than the ones attached here:
slideshow
Picasa Web Albums - stefanog - brooklyn-botanic
album
Picasa Web Albums - stefanog - brooklyn-botanic


stefano