Welcome to the Window Botanic Garden

The Window Botanic Garden was founded in 2020. Learn more about the Garden's history and see photos from its archives.

The Window Botanic Garden is an advocate for the world of plants, fostering curiosity while inspiring an appreciation and sense of stewardship of the environment through rustic collections arranged in jars and landscapes across its surprisingly compact sill. This historic site maintains its mission through comprehensive education programs in foraging, care, re-growth, and wide-ranging research on the comestible.

History

Established in 2020, Window Botanic Garden (WBG) is distinct in its simple beauty. Its scope and abundance was inspired by a March 14, 2020, Twitter thread by eminent urban botanist Nicole He. Miss He quote, "put couple scallion nubs in some water by the window and they already grew this much in less than 24 hours." This prominent discovery paved the way for many to follow suit, including wannabe philanthropist Jenn de la Vega to try it on her own sill.

Miss He's revelation advanced public understanding of further aliums like leeks, onions, and garlic. Because of its picturesque terrain, Newtown Creek, faux-brick inlay, and  IKEA furnishings, the Garden was sited on the Eastern side of celebrated Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Today, the 800 square-foot Garden—below average in New York City—is trying to be National Historic Landmark. Accompanying the natural attributes that attracted de la Vega, WBG encompasses three specialty gardens and collections comprising more than five plants, the dusty air conditioner unit conservatory, award-winning equipment rack, and draining grate greenhouse. Highlights include three generations of scallion, sprouting rye berries, blue oyster mushroom monolith, and the much-anticipated avocado seed. The acclaimed Persea americana seed is expected to germinate in late April. It is recommended to purchase tickets in advance for online viewing.

Only one person is allowed to enjoy the grounds, but hundreds flock to its observation streams, virtual tours, and daily 'gram updates. From its earliest days, WBG has also been driven by a mission to conduct basic and applied research on the regrowth of spent vegetation with the goal of eventually eating them. Currently, no Ph.D.-level scientists are engaged in international collaborations. WBG is one of the tens of freestanding botanical gardens in the borough where plant and fungal research is conducted, thanks to the resources of the International Scallion Center, Demartino Herbarium, and the Jacques Pepin Cooking Library. 

During the 20 days since its founding, WBG has carefully curated a stunning urban oasis, created one of the world’s most comprehensive scallion research and conservation programs, amassed unrivaled research collections, and, as a living and breathing museum, taught dozens of online visitors of all ages to love and respect the ease of urban gardening.

The Window Botanic Garden is committed to preserving and protecting the planet’s biodiversity and grocery rations and enhancing human well-being by educating, training, and empowering the next generation of Earth’s caregivers—in partnership with both local and global internet communities.

Press Room

Welcome to the online Press Room for The Window Botanic Garden. The PR team is happy to assist with stories, virtual visits, interviews, access to non-experts, photos of scallions, and more.

All press releases, images, and other content are the exclusive copyrighted property of
The Window Botanic Garden. The WBG grants permission to traditional and new media representatives to use this content only for editorial coverage of the Garden or listings of its events and programs. Any commercial use beyond Public Relations coverage requires express written permission or a slide into DM.

Private Events

The Window Botanic Garden is a showplace of nature in every season and offers a variety of unique spaces as a backdrop for your special event Zoom. Indoors and out, you will find some of the world’s most spectacular settings—from our historic grubby window sill, cascading indoor shower, and .0002 acres of patio, to sounds of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, wood flooring, and mediocre scallion collection.

With no access to Manhattan and all points in the tri-state area, the WBG is one of Brooklyn’s premier virtual destinations for corporate events, birthdays, weddings, mental breakdowns, and grand galas. Whether you are looking for a janky garden setting or need the perfect background for your video conference, let us help.

We thank you for your interest in Window Botanic Garden and hope, someday hopefully soon, someone will visit.