Brooklyn Botanic Garden Wander

The cherry blossoms were just a shade past full bloom, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a short 15min walk from my apartment, and free on Saturdays from 10-12, so I headed over there for the first time in over a year for a little wander.
  
Click here for the wander map.

We strolled through Prospect Park, with a little breakfast slider picnic pause, and then entered the garden at Flatbush and Empire. We kept to the left and headed past the rose garden, where some sort of virus killed a number of the roses and has forced the gardeners to cull the entire collection of rose bushes, some were around 100 years old. The southern part of the garden is ready for replanting:

....past Cherry Esplanade to the Lilac Collection.

Back to Cherry Esplanade for a long photo shoot.

Then up to Osborne Garden. Beautiful reds.

Back past the blossoms...

and over to Magnolia Plaza for a bathroom break. Lovely facilities, but happy to be a man at this one -- ladies line up was around the corner.

Next we cut over to the Rock Garden......

....then back to the Lily Pool Terrace.

Through the Fragrance Garden....

...and past Shakespeare Garden, where all of the plants were referenced by Shakespeare.

A quick piece of advice: do not take a stroller around the Japanese Gardens, the trail was not made for two SUV strollers to pass each other. I learned the hard way (yes, I was that guy. Sorry again).

Back to the Cherry Blossoms one last time...

....and out of the gardens....

 ...and back home through the park. It's lovely in the snow, but nothing compares to spring time.

 Looks like Scooby had a rough time at a birthday party