Queens Botanical Garden

Queens Botanical Garden is a 39-acre public garden in Flushing, Queens, originally created as an exhibit for the 1939 World's Fair and relocated to its current Main Street site in 1963 ahead of the 1964 World's Fair. The garden has evolved from a traditional botanical collection into a leader in sustainable urban design and environmental education.

The garden's LEED-certified visitor center, completed in 2007, was one of the first sustainably designed public buildings in New York City, incorporating green roofs, rainwater harvesting, solar panels, and geothermal heating and cooling. The building demonstrates that public facilities can serve as models for environmental responsibility.

The garden's collections include a fragrance walk, wedding garden, bee garden, herb garden, woodland garden, and extensive perennial borders. The garden's horticultural programming reflects the diversity of the surrounding Flushing community, with exhibits and events celebrating the gardening traditions of Chinese, Korean, South Asian, and other cultures.

Queens Botanical Garden has positioned itself as a center for sustainable horticulture, offering programs in composting, native plant gardening, water conservation, and urban agriculture. The garden's environmental mission connects it to the growing awareness that urban green spaces must do more than provide beauty; they must also contribute to the ecological health of the city.

The garden serves one of the most diverse communities in the world, and its programming reflects this diversity. Events celebrating Lunar New Year, Diwali, and other cultural holidays draw visitors from across the borough, making the garden a gathering place where Flushing's extraordinary cultural richness finds expression through the universal language of gardens and growing things.