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Spring Awakening: The City's Top Gardens & Zoos

As of March 21st, it is officially spring. But even if the weather report doesn’t necessarily correspond with the calendar, there is a multitude of ways to enjoy the end of winter. When you think of New York City, the first things that might come to mind are the glass-and-steel buildings that make up the skyline, the big Broadway shows, internationally renowned museums, and the amenities of modern life. But outside of a trip to Central Park, you might not think to experience some of the “wildlife” and outdoor fun the city has to offer. Here are some of our favorites places to get in touch with nature.

The Bronx’s New York Botanical Garden offers a wide variety of gardens and plant collections and events, including 50 acres of the city’s historic original forest. The Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, the nation’s largest Victorian glass house, features A World of Plants -- biomes from the rain forests to the deserts -- and the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden is an indoor and outdoor interactive center where you can investigate how plants live and function. Through April 11th, they’re hosting their annual Orchid Show, with this year’s version featuring thousands of brilliantly colored orchids set among architectural vignettes from Havana and its surrounding countryside. Bronx River Parkway (Exit 7W at Fordham Rd.), The Bronx, or by Metro-North Railroad to Botanical Garden Station, 718-817-8700; www.nybg.org.

You know that winter is behind us once one of our favorite annual events pops up on the calendar: the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Hanami, a celebration of the cherry-blossom-viewing season that begins April 3rd and culminates with Sakura Matsuri, the annual two-day cherry blossom festival on May 1st & 2nd from 10am-7pm. This meditative spot is 52 carefully tended, intensively planted acres of flora, but the cherries take center stage during this weekend, with more than 60 family-friendly events and performances celebrating Japanese culture. 1000 Washington Ave., Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, 718-623-7200; www.bbg.org.

Thousands of exotic aquatic creatures reside in naturalistic habitats at the New York Aquarium in Coney Island. Permanent exhibits include: Alien Stingers, featuring sea jellies; Explore the Shore, which hosts a salt marsh, sandy shore, a rocky coast with a 400-gallon crashing wave, 12,000-gallon tanks featuring a coral reef, schooling fish, swaying kelp, and a seaside village; and Sea Cliffs, a 300-foot naturalistic habitat that’s home to walruses, seals, penguins, and sea otters. And everyone loves to watch the daily feedings of sharks, penguins, seals, and walruses. Surf Ave. & W. 8th St., Coney Island, Brooklyn, 718-265-FISH; www.nyaquarium.com.

The Bronx Zoo is the largest urban zoo in the U.S., featuring more than 4,000 animals (many endangered) in award-winning naturalistic habitats on 265 acres. The Butterfly Garden is home to up to 55 species that flutter around a meadow setting; the Russell B. Aitken Sea Bird Colony is home to Inca terns, guanay cormorants, and Magellanic penguins; JungleWorld, an indoor home for tropical Asian wildlife, includes tree kangaroos, Malayan tapirs, black leopards, and more; the Himalayan Highlands habitat is a realistic environment for endangered snow leopards, red pandas, Asian pheasants, and white-naped cranes; and the Congo Gorilla Forest is home to the largest breeding group of western lowland gorillas in North America. And don’t forget World of Birds, World of Darkness, the Baboon Reserve, and Tiger Mountain. Fordham Rd. & Bronx River Pkwy., 718-367-1010; www.bronxzoo.com.

In Manhattan, the Central Park Zoo has become an intensive zoological garden based on principles of wildlife exhibition, conservation, and education promoted by the New York Zoological Society since its founding in 1895. The zoo provides naturalistic habitats for a cross section of international wildlife, like the simulated rainforest of the Tropic Zone, the Temperate Territory, and (in case you miss winter) the Polar Zone. Central Park, Fifth Ave. at 64th St., 212-439-6500; www.centralparkzoo.com.

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