Yesterday I took a trip to Ithilien, the Garden of Gondor, where Frodo and Sam ate herbs and stewed rabbit and met Faramir. That’s how I always think of the New York Botanical Garden; when I walk through the gate I become a hobbit. The NYBG is just a short walk from my house but it’s a gateway to another world. I enter through what feels like a secret gate, the Mosholu. The public can’t park there so it’s only used by locals and employees.
The first thing you see when you enter the Grounds is the main building that houses the exhibition hall and library, and I expect administration offices. I’ve never entered it. As a Bronx resident I can enter the grounds for free, but I would need to pay for the indoor exhibits. As you can see this year the Garden has an Alice in Wonderland theme. That’s not accurate as it includes references to Through the Looking Glass. Those are two separate books, and it bothers me that so often they are treated as one. I’m still mad at my 12th grade English Teacher who wouldn’t admit they were separate books when she explained a reference wrong.
The first plant I saw of note was the infamous man-eating hydrangea,
Now we come to the first major Alice tributes.
These tall flowers remind me of the alien homicidal triffids from the book and TV movie Day of the Triffids. The Hollywood film got it all wrong. It turned an intellectual work of science fiction into a monster movie. This them of dangerous plants will continue as we make our way into the Garden.
My mind was of course in a hobbit mind-set so when I saw this sign I figured I had strayed into Mirkwood. If I hadn’t followed this sign’s injunction I would have run into giant spiders,
When you think of the Bronx do you think of waterfalls? You should, there are several in the Garden, Here’s one of them.
This tree from outer space is a Yucca thompsoniana. It’s related to the Joshua tree.
These are just pretty flowers.
Now we are back to the dangerous plants. These are Pitcher Plants found in the artificial wetland. They eat insects. The Garden won’t admit it but there are giant pitcher plants that eat people. I’m sure it happens every day.
The NYBG is not just a treasure trove of plant life but of geological wonders. This is the split rock. It was carried here by the glaciers and broke when the glaciers retreated. That’s the official explanation. I suspect the ents did it. We know they can split rocks. We’ll be seeing some ents soon.
The next two pictures are of one of my favorite parts of the NYBG, the natural wetland. Unfortunately, the trail through them was closed. They remind me of the Oakland ravine wetland, a few blocks from the house I grew up in. I spent countless hours there.
When I saw this next creature my first thought was Mr. Snuffleupagus in Willow Ent Form. I still hold that view, but this is what the sign inside the creature says.
As I walked through a section of the park featuring trees, I of course ran into this rather tall ent.
The Rose garden lies in a depression. At the top of the stairway leading to it and in the middle of it there are Alice pieces, the first from Through the Looking Glass and the second from Alice in Wonderland.
Guess what they have in the Rose Garden, Roses.
My favorite part of the NYBG is not the exotic plants or beautiful flowers but the virgin forest that looks much the same as it did before Columbus, with just a few modifications for the convenience of visitors that are not experienced woodsmen. I prefer the wild forest of Fangorn to the gardens of the Entwives. The entrance to this part of the park from the East bank of the Bronx River is the historic Hester Bridge.
This might look familiar to people of a certain age as it was shown for a while in the opening of Sesame Street. I discovered when I heard the driver of the tram tell the riders. Just upriver from the bridge is the artificial waterfall built to provide power for the mill just south of the bridge.
Once you cross the Hester Bridge you find yourself in the Thain Forest. This is of course named for the Thain of the Shire, a heredity title held by the Took Family. The official Garden story is that it’s named for the Thain Family who used to own the land. That’s just silly. I did not encounter a single soul while walking in the forest primeval. That’s part of what I love, it’s just me and the sights and sounds and yes smells of nature. It’s never silent, nature has an unceasing hum dominated by insects. As I walked the path, I kept hearing something behind me but when I stopped and looked there was nothing there. I finally figured out that I was kicking up pebbles and hearing them fall behind me. This is what it looked like.
This is on the Spice Bush Trail. That’s the longer one, so the one I take. Notice how the trees arch over the path forming a green tunnel. That’s because trees always grow to the light of the open space.
The great glaciers of the Pleistocene left their mark all over the regions. They etched striations in the bedrock. The picked up and moved huge boulders. They created this cave which has been called the bear den for as long as anyone remembers. It’s not known if bears or people ever slept in it. I bet they have, if I was a hobbit wondering through Fangorn that’s where I’d take shelter for the night.
I finally emerged from the forest onto the tram and NYBG employee road. On the far side there was a pond covered with pond scum. In the middle some great creature lurked. All we can see is how it disturbed the surface.
From there it was an uneventful walk back to the Mosholu Gate. For the day I walked 6.3 miles. Despite not keeping myself in walking shape I did this easily until I left the magic of Ithilien and returned to the Bronx. As soon as I did my legs started to feel heavy. I was quite relieved when I got home and could put my feet up.
Sorry I posted this so late. It’s after midnight and I really should get to bed but let me see how long it takes to post this and to insert all the photos.
Wise Madness 