Victorian “Age of Wonder,” Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, a Fascinating Exhibit

NYBG opened its latest exhibit this weekend. Inspired by the classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and the sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, And What Alice Found There, by Lewis Carroll, the all-new garden-wide exhibition is whimsical and full of fun and surprising features.

Today, Sunday is the Opening Weekend Garden Party Celebration from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Daffodil Hill. You can dine as a special guest at the Queen’s Tea. And you can encounter The Mad Hatter, Alice, the Red Queen, and other Wonderland characters popping up on the walkways throughout the Garden.

OPENING WEEKEND GARDEN PARTY CELEBRATION TODAY, SUNDAY, MAY 19

Today, May 19, Sunday, there are lawn games like croquette, and other craft activities. Or if you prefer to meditate and reflect as you relieve the stresses of a hard work week, just enjoy a self-guided tour following the digital signs as you appreciate the Garden in its glorious pageantry in the spring. Everywhere you look there is a plant wonderland and themes from Carroll’s works and the Victorian era’s new age of exploration and wonder.

And as you are swept up in the Garden’s heavenly beauty you just may see a Cheshire Cat grinning out at you, for real. Certainly, if you let go, that Cheshire is there smiling at your happiness that you’ve treated yourself and your family to the Garden’s fantastical retreat.

Follow the Signs

Plants Inspired by Oxford Botanical Gardens, Where Lewis Carroll Walked

The Wonderland Exhibit continues at LuEsther T. Mertz Library. Visit the galleries to see the contemporary global artists, i.e. Abelardo Morell, Beverly Semmes, Agus Putu Suyadnya and others inspired by Carroll’s books. There are artworks reflect the global appreciation of the wacky characters and settings found in Alice’s Adventures. And in the rotunda of the Library look at the exhibit of dried mind-altering plants, their descriptions, and the songs and books they inspired which reference Carroll’s work. Some of these plants like opium and various mushrooms promoted altered states. The plants influenced Carroll’s idea about perception that he incorporated in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, And What Alice Found There.

Wonderland: Curious Nature runs until October 27, 2024

The events run from this weekend through October 27th across three seasons, spring, summer and fall. There are programs for the entire family and even the characters from the fantastical books by Lewis Carroll show up to entertain and frolic down the Garden’s pathways always ready for a photo or chat with the more serious patrons wanting to find out more about the characters they portray.

Wondrous people and plants.

Look out for unusual characters and unusual plants that enjoy a marriage with insects like the fern below.

Wonderland: Curious Nature is not only fun, it is ingenious. From the spectacular flower show in the main galleries of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory to the scheduled tea parties and brunches in the Stone Mill near the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden and different menu offerings at the Hudson Garden Grill, there is something for everyone. I will update the exhibit coverage in weeks to come.

For specific programming, go to the New York Botanical Garden site: https://www.nybg.org/event/wonderland-curious-nature/wonderland-curious-nature-programs/wonderland-curious-nature-opening-weekend/