The Sixties era in the United States evokes so many images and sounds — psychedelic art, protests, love-ins, rock ‘n’ roll, the counterculture. The New York Botanical Garden opened Flower Power in May to “evoke the free-spirited heart of the 1960s peace and love movement.” The garden stressed the botanical side of the era, as well it should, in the conservatory as well as in pop-up displays throughout the grounds.
I lived through the 60s. I am grateful for the garden’s efforts to remind us of our history, and maybe educate new generations. But I do admit to walking through the show wondering if this really represented the times I lived through.
In the NYBG Conservatory
“Just kicking down the cobblestones,
Looking for fun and feelin’ groovy.”
By the time I got to college in 1967, more than 200,000 young American men each year were being drafted to fight in the jungles half a world away. The culture on campuses across the country was reported as focusing on sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, and protests against the war were grabbing headlines. Also in that environment were the simmering black liberation and women’s liberation movements.
Despite all these distrations, students kept studying and learning, and believing there was a possible future, if we just paid attention and fought for what we believed in. The Sixties were a time of chaos, but also a time of great hope. Young people were discovering new sounds, new ways of dressing, new political realities. Yet our male classmates were looking at the draft and trying to figure out how to dream of a future that didn’t involve dying or getting injured in a country few had even heard of.
I put together a video to show the Flower Power show as I experienced it on June 26 (the show closes on October 18).
Before entering the conservatory, visitors get to see a painted VW bus surrounded by flowers. So far, so good! (We drove from Boulder, Colorado, to a concert in Fort Collins in a painted VW bus.)
The first sight to greet you once inside the conservatory is a collection of joyful, colorful flowers, a butterfly and a dove of peace.
The flowers in the conservatory were lovely when I went in late June, and my understanding is that the flowers changed as the summer progressed. These are the ones I got to see.
The walkway featuring counterculture banners and plantings was evocative of that aspect of the 60s.
After the passage with the banners, you enter a circular area featuring a giant painted flower (or perhaps a giant painted sun?) surrounded by real flowers. After vibing out on the plantings, I headed outside to the lily pond, where the lotus blossoms and water lilies took my breath away.
An added highlight on the day I visited were a mother mallard and her three little ducklings. What joy!
An adventurous mallard duckling, braving the lotus leaves to explore the pool.
Mama Mallard looking for her kids.
Mama Mallard leads the way.
Outside the conservatory, there are tie-dyed banners shading benches convenient for rest and reflection. There is also an area where knitting and fabric projects are displayed, a nod to those young people who sought to create their own clothes and wall hangings (yes, I knitted and sewed many of my own outfits when I was in college, and did macrame, often with beads).
Some of the other NYBG displays include a peace symbol with flower plantings, as well as another painted van and a “Magic Bus” named Flower Power leading into the education building. Inside the building is an art exhibition with photos and memorabilia from the 60s.
The peace symbol on the NYBG grounds.
This painted van is outside the cafe.
The planted side of the peace symbol.
A magic bus leading into the art exhibition.
The grounds of the New York Botanical Garden are full of wildlife. Outside the conservatory, I heard the “Ooo-eeee” call of a young red-tailed hawk. In the native plantings area, I got to see a little lizard scurrying across the gravel path.
It was fascinating to watch the much younger visitors encounter an era that in so many ways defined who I became and the values I still hold dear — peace, love, music, creativity and the magic of flowers and wildlife. Could the NYBG capture all of the 1960s, into the 70s? No, but there was much here to evoke memories, and perhaps a little enlightenment. The show ends on October 18.
