Within the chilly months we crave a vacation. Only a break. A distinct view. New smells. Unique crops. An environment that pulls the chilliness from our bones. And we are able to’t all the time journey. However—at the very least for these of us who stay in massive cities—there’s usually a botanical compromise: a neighborhood inexperienced home, or conservatory, a spot the place crops are stored underneath glass in situations that defy the climate exterior and mimic, as an alternative, the climates the place their progenitors had been born. In Brooklyn, on the east facet of Prospect Park, the conservatories of the Brooklyn Botanic Backyard supply respite from the chilly—and a therapeutic immersion in aromatic steam.
Come for a stroll via a handful of climates worlds away from winter.
Images by Marie Viljoen.
Puffer jackets might be unzipped, woollen hats eliminated, gloves peeled off.
Throughout the huge, clear panes of the conservatories’ nice glass homes, the transition from out of doors chilly to moist warmth is instantaneous. To acclimate, I head for the Bonsai Museum, essentially the most average and ethereal room, the place a rotating bonsai assortment invitations quiet admiration.
After which I’m going dwelling. Not throughout the park, to the place I stay, however to my homeland, South Africa: Downstairs.
On this acquainted local weather (not too heat, not too cool), it’s spring.
Lachenalias in bloom give a customer a tiny style of the spectacular spring effusion that envelopes South Africa’s West Coast and Northern Cape, within the Southern Hemisphere’s spring.
The Heat Temperate Pavilion’s local weather, characterised by cool, moist winters and sizzling, dry summers (usually better-known as a Mediterranean local weather), is shared by different, numerous geographic areas, together with southern and southwestern Australia, central Chile, coastal California, and the Mediterranean Basin. Right here, they’re underneath one domed roof. And it’s a riot for the senses. Citron could also be fruiting, and all the time, there’s an intense scent.
