Central Park's Conservatory Garden - Be Kind, Thrift and Rewind

This time of year I like to get outside and do a post about a beautiful garden in New York City on occasion. Spending time in nature is not only relaxing and a good way to recharge but also a good reminder of why we should continue to recycle and be conscious of our carbon footprint. Despite all the concrete and frenetic energy in New York City there are some lovely places to see a large amount of greenery and unwind a bit.

The Conservatory Garden is the park’s only formal garden. It has a separate entrance at 105^th Street and Fifth Avenue. It is open from 8am to dusk and has large black metal fences that originally were part of the Cornelius Vanderbilt estate (1), which was destroyed in 1927. Once you enter, this is a very quiet and relaxing section of the park. If you have a bike you must walk it through the grounds of the six acres that are home to this unique and beautiful garden. The Conservatory Garden has various sections of thousands of seasonal plants, in three different styles: Italian, French and English. The garden was started in 1934 but not fully completed until in the 1980’s.

When I was much younger I used to work on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and I used to love to walk over to the garden to sit for a while either before or after work. It is such a peaceful place and the various plants are a colorful sight to see. The statues in the garden are very serene and joyful looking. The southern end of the garden has a bronze statue of a boy and a girl that was made by Bessie Potter Vonnoh in 1936. The statue is based on the book The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

The Central section of the garden has a large lawn of grass with the spraying fountain and, up above the lawn, a terraced walkway surrounded by trees and bushes, making the garden a splendid place to visit.

The North section of the garden has the statute of Three Dancing Maidens, made by the sculptor Walter Schott in 1910. The surrounding plants are arrayed in a classic French style. I have included a picture of the twirling design in one section to the side of the statute.

Well I hope you enjoyed this post and are out enjoying summer wherever you are. I am headed to Florida soon to visit family and am excited about that. My daughter just arrived here a few days ago and she went on a day trip to Philadelphia for an adventure.

I am almost finished with my Dottie Angel dress so will be able to post about that within a couple of weeks.

conservatory garden NYC