I’ve been appreciating my walks in Central Park more than ever now that almost everything else is closed because of the pandemic. The other day I was walking and heard someone lament, “There’s nothing to do but go for walks!” Movies, theater, restaurants, cafes, shops, and so many of the things that make New York, New York are closed…but the parks are open and as beautiful as ever. I still haven’t tried running in a mask yet, but I’ve been taking walks in Central Park or Riverside Park almost every day and staying far away from people while still getting some fresh air which, as I learned when I stayed in my apartment for two full weeks, is so necessary for my mental health.
One of my favorite places in the world is the Conservatory Garden in Central Park. It’s a six-acre formal garden at 105th and Fifth Avenue. If you enter from the street, you walk through the Vanderbilt Gate which was made in Paris in 1894 and originally stood at Fifth Avenue’s Vanderbilt Mansion, according to Central Park Conservatory.
The first garden you see is the Italianate Center Garden, which has a large lawn bordered by hedges and a fountain with stairs that lead to the Wisteria Pergola. There are rows of crabapple trees and benches on either side. The crabapple trees weren’t in bloom when I went a week ago, but often there is a dusting of pink and white flowers on the ground.
The French-style Garden has spectacular tulips each spring and Korean chrysanthemums in autumn. The Untermyer Fountain, featuring the Three Dancing Maidens by German sculptor Walter Schott is in the middle.
In the center of the English-style garden is sculptor Bessie Potter Vonnoh’s memorial fountain for author Frances Hodgson Burnett. “It is thought that Mary and Dickon, the protagonists of her beloved children’s book The Secret Garden, stand at the end of the small water lily pool, summoning spring year-round and igniting the imaginations of passersby,” according to Central Park Conservatory. This spot is bordered by trees, shrubs, and perennial and annual flower beds and woodland plants.
Here are a few photos I took last week!
I love NYC. We will get through this, in the meantime, finding little glimpses of magic.
