Here, even in shade it's funky and febrile -- but those seeking nature's calming effects have more places to see what's in bloom than just Central Park. There are a number of closeted public gardens and grassy knolls to repair one's soul on a summer afternoon. Gregory Long, president of the New York Botanical Garden, is most fond of Battery Park City's Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park. "Right now it's beautiful, blooming with shrub roses and lavenders and salvias and valerian." And depending on your mood, "it's really two gardens," he says, "one featuring hot colors deep, dark, fiery reds and yellows and the other cool soothing pale blues and pink pastels."

Related:

• Archive: “Smart City”
• Articles by Brett Kelly
• Table of Contents: Jun 14, 1999 issue of New York | Subscribe!