It’s not exactly what you would expect to see along the Belt Parkway in Bay Ridge — a field of lavender, the fragrant flowering plants.
They are growing at the nearly 30-year-old Narrows Botanical Gardens, which is holding its “Lavender Weekend” on June 22 and June 23.
The gardens were transformed from neglected parkland by volunteers starting in 1995. The gardens feature a variety of flowers, plants and trees, as well as a turtle sanctuary and ponds with frogs in Brooklyn.
“It’s a little hidden spot in Brooklyn that we are growing the lavender, but then we are harvesting all of this fantastic lavender and we are bringing it to the public so they can enjoy it,” Jimmy Johnson, co-founder of the gardens and the landscape designer, said.
The gardens are located on a once-neglected piece of parkland within Shore Road Park. Overlooking the garden is the body of water which connects lower and upper New York Bay.
It was transformed by volunteers starting in 1995. There are about 4.5 acres of flowers, plants, trees, a turtle sanctuary and ponds with frogs.
“It’s peaceful, it’s relaxing and people love it,” Johnson said.
Volunteers will be harvesting the lavender too. They have been growing it for about two years, and it can be used for dried flowers, essential oils, soaps, candles and more.
“When you cut the lavender, you put it on boards and let it dry in a dark dry place, for about a week or more and that’s what we will be doing this week,” he said.
There is a science behind harvesting the lavender at just the right time, so it will be as fragrant as possible.
“As far as harvesting goes this is kind of tricky, you want it just when the buds are just breaking, because that’s when the most oil is in the flower, so that’s when we are going to be harvesting it, so we have it with a deep fragrance after we dry them,” he said.
For more information, visit narrowsbg.org.