After New York City’s coldest and snowiest winter in eleven years, New Yorkers have an opportunity to shake off the winter blues and cabin fever at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which announced its lineup of public programs, exhibitions, events, education programs, and seasonal highlights for 2026.
The celebrations kick off with BBG in Bloom from April 1 to May 10, featuring the garden’s famed cherry blossoms as well as magnolias, daffodils, tulips, bluebells, lilacs, peonies and roses. There are some new additions, too, an iris planting on Fawcett Terrace in the Osborne Garden and a rose-testing bed near the Rose Arc. The not-to-be-missed rite of spring offers extended morning and evening hours and special programs to make the most of the season.
The popular Hanami Nights returns from April 21 to 24, when BBG’s cherry blossom trees are in peak bloom.
The Japanese tradition invites visitors to enjoy the beauty of the cherry blossom season, go for a stroll in the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden and along Cherry Walk, and enjoy live performances and Japanese snacks, dinner, and sake for purchase.
On May 3 and 10, Weekends in Bloom celebrate the spring blooms at BBG with casual, pop-up music and dance performances, morning programming for kids and families in the Discovery Garden, and Garden tours. The programs are included with Garden admission.
On May 23, BBG launches the Heidi Nitze Art × Environment Fellowship, a biennial program that invites visionary artists and environmental thinkers to collaborate on site-specific installations that inspire ecological stewardship, promote scientific discovery, and spark public engagement.
The inaugural fellows, Brooklyn-based artist Olalekan Jeyifous and the environmental art and architecture practice AD-WO, are presenting “Ancestral Ecologies,” a series of installations in BBG’s north end that explore how Latinx and African Diasporic rituals and beliefs about nature can inform contemporary ecological knowledge and stewardship, on display from May 23 through Oct. 25.
On June 2, BBG’s Spring Gala, the garden’s largest fundraiser of the year, will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest. In honor of the milestone birthday, BGB is hosting “Block by Block,” an exhibition on view from May 23 through Oct. 25 celebrating the gardeners, organizers, elders, kids and families, activists and neighbors who turn stoops and sidewalks into beautiful, green community spaces.
After a busy spring, BBG will kick off summer with sunrise and sunset Summer Solstice performances on June 21, presented in partnership with Metropolis Ensemble, and Jazz in July returns with live jazz on Thursday evenings, presented in partnership with local arts organizations.
During the summer months, the Garden offers extended evening hours, live music and performances, and pop-up programs for kids and adults. Visitors can stay late on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from May through September; BBG members also enjoy Members’ Summer Evenings on Wednesdays in the summer with exclusive access and special programming, including Members’ Rose Night, Pride Night, and Movie Night.
The fifth annual Little Caribbean Last Lap Garden Fête, presented by BBG and I AM caribBEING, on August 25, closes out summer by celebrating Brooklyn’s West Indian community, featuring live DJs, a curated cocktail and food menu inspired by Caribbean flavors, and a tour of tropical and Caribbean plants.
Though spring has just begun, BBG is already preparing for cooler days. Its fall line-up includes free public programming in BBG’s Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden on Sept. 12, as part of Gardens for Peace, organized by the North American Japanese Garden Association, and the Fall Plant Sale on Oct. 15 offers a curated selection of plants for your home and garden.
Aspiring gardeners can practise their green-thumb skills through the year with a variety of educational programs, such as the Children’s Garden Classes, where kids plant their own crops and flowers and harvest them under the guidance of instructors, the Family Gardening Hours one-day programs, or the Garden Apprentice Program for teens.
