We had started to wonder if we were going to have another nearly snowless winter here in New York City by the time a major snow storm arrived this weekend. After a rather unpromising icy rain on Friday evening magically morphed into snow overnight, by Saturday morning Winter Storm Nemo had transformed Brooklyn into a fairyland.
Photographs by Jeanne Rostaing except where noted.
Above: Photograph by Emily G. via Flickr.
Elsewhere in the Northeast the storm was a force to be reckoned with, dumping record breaking amounts of snow, paralyzing highways, and causing all sorts of nasty havoc. But we were lucky here in Brooklyn. About a foot of snow fell... just enough to cause an exodus of kids, towing grown-ups and sleds, to Prospect Park.
Photograph by Liz Ronk via Flickr.
The hills aren't very high there but that didn't seem to bother anybody, based on the shrieking from the sledding revelers. Nearby, the staff at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden spent the morning clearing paths and opened up the doors at noon. For a quieter, more peaceful snow experience the garden is a perfect place.
It won't be long before the lilacs will be filling the air with fragrance, but for now these residents of the Luisa Clark Spenser Lilac Collection are waiting quietly under their snow blanket.
The wisteria vines in the Cranford Rose Garden are believed to be as old as the rose garden itself (which opened in 1928, 18 years after the establishment of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden).
The crabapple trees in the Osborne Garden, the formal area just inside the Eastern Parkway gate.
The Cherry Esplanade features two allees of Prunus "Kanzan,"a double flowering cherry which will fill this area with pink blossoms in spring.
Araucaria araucana, Monkey Puzzle trees in containers outside the new Visitors Center which was just opened in May of 2012. The trees are native to the Andes and, in their native habitat, can grow to be 100 feet tall and 30 feet wide.
A row of scarlet oak trees, known as the Liberty Oaks and planted in tribute to the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The walkway from the Fragrance Garden into the Shakespeare Garden which features more than 80 plants mentioned in the author's works.
Lagerstroemia, Crepe myrtles, used to be just a Southern mainstay, but climate changes and new cold-tolerant varieties have brought them to the Northeast. They are plants for all seasons, decorating the landscape even in winter with their beautiful peeling bark.
The Rock Garden features boulders deposited by glaciers in the Ice Age. One of the oldest areas in the botanic garden, it was opened in 1917.
Witch Hazel, Hamamelis x intermedia 'Diane', putting on a striking winter show just outside the Rock Garden.
For more about the botanic garden, see Surviving a Storm: Expert Tips From the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and For Kids Only: A Hidden Garden in Brooklyn.