NYC Gardens

Queens continues celebrating the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs, and the Queens Botanical Garden is part of the festivities with a variety of programs. Foremost among them is Harvesting Our History: The Story of Queens Botanical Garden, running through September 28, which documents the garden's birth as part of the 1964 World's Fair and its continued growth in the years since. Also organised the World's Fair Train Show (May 24–26) and Taste the World: Botanical Brew Fest (July 19). In the Bronx, the New York Botanical Garden featured Groundbreakers, which chronicles women's contributions to garden design; the Big Backyard BBQ & Music Festival (June 14–15), a Father's Day weekend fete with live music; and as ever, the million-plus plants that call the grounds home year-round.

At the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, there's a tree house installation designed by Roderick Romero (ongoing) and an exhibition celebrating the Children's Garden's centennial (through September 21). The options at Wave Hill included regular yoga and meditation sessions amid the soothing scenery, along with tours of the grounds. Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden brought out the garden alternatives this season with its own slate of programming, including SprinklerFest 2014 (July 14).