While summer is winding down in New York City, there’s still plenty you haven’t done outdoors. Before fall events begin and you all go into hibernation, take a trip to one (or more) of New York City’s botanical gardens and check out some of the events still going on while we can still call it “summer.” When you do go, don’t forget the history of botanic gardens which date back to 16th and 17th centuries in order to study and cultivate medicines and new species of plants from different countries.

1. Brooklyn Botanical Garden

Probably the most popular of gardens in New York, the Brooklyn Botanical Garden is an easily accessible green space where you can pretend you’re not in one of the most chaotic cities in the world. This garden lives up to Brooklyn’s trendy rep.: there’s a green roof, a zen Japanese garden, a Shakespeare garden with the plants mentioned in his works, and a hip gift shop with plant-filled glass orbs. There’s also an impressive conservatory with three different controlled climates inside.