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The Lily Pool Terrace under construction in 1919. Photo by Louis Buhle from the collection of Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
laboratories, a photographic operating room and dark
room, research rooms, an assembly room, an herbarium,
and a library with basement storage for both exhibits and
library materials.
While science fueled the building’s activities, the gardens
were always the public draw. In 1912, the Brooklyn Institute
hired Harold Caparn as landscape architect. He would
guide the development of the garden until 1945, introducing
some of its best-known features.
The garden always emphasized the importance of education.
Taking the hands-on cue from their sister organization,
the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Caparn created the
Children’s Garden in 1914. It was a place where children
could get their hands dirty and learn about plants in the
process. It included a one-acre garden where children
could plant and grow their own vegetables. The program
became a prototype for children’s gardens across the country
and continues to this day.
The Japanese Hill and Pond Garden is perhaps the garden’s
most photographed feature. Designed by Takeo Shiota
in 1915, it was paid for in part by a generous donation by
Alfred Tredway White, who had been one of the original
garden donors. It is one of the earliest public Japanese
gardens in the United States.
The three-acre garden was entirely constructed with
carefully placed stones, winding paths connecting hills,
a waterfall and an island. The pond, filled with Japanese
koi fish, was created from a pool left by the glacier. The
first cherry trees, gifts from the Japanese government,
were planted after World War I. The famous Cherry Walk,
featuring more than 200 trees in 42 Asian and cultivated
varieties, is one of the foremost cherry blossom sites outside
of Japan. It was planted in 1941.
In 1917, the Rock Garden was built, using glacial rocks and
stone from the site. The Louisa Clark Spencer Lilac Collection,
with more than 150 species of lilac, was also completed
that year. The Laboratory and Conservatory were also
dedicated in 1917. And the same year also saw the creation
of the Botanic Garden Auxiliary.
There are so many specialty gardens and attractions to
mention. They include gifts from generous patrons as well
as important gardens and exhibitions of rare and exotic
species and plants. They were all phased in over the twentieth
century, and most were initiated under Caparn. The
Shakespeare Garden, built in 1925, features plants mentioned
in William Shakespeare’s works. The 1928 Cranford
Rose Garden features more than 1,000 types of roses, and
Magnolia Plaza, established in 1932, delights visitors in the
spring with the blossoms of 17 types of magnolias.
During the Great Depression, WPA employees built the
1938 Herb Garden, based on the design of a 1577 Elizabethan
knot garden. The next year, WPA labor built the
Italian-inspired Osborne Garden. The first garden in the