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Oh, hoppy day! Going down the White Rabbit hole at the New York Botanical Garden.

HOPPY DAYS ARE HERE: A 12-foot-tall White Rabbit made from plants greets visitors to 鈥淲onderland: Curious Nature,鈥 an exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden based on Lewis Carroll鈥檚 books.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

October 16, 2024

Alice might have thought she found Wonderland, but she hadn鈥檛, because she never made it to the New York Botanical Garden鈥檚 latest exhibit. Here, you don鈥檛 need to go down a rabbit hole to encounter a 12-foot-tall White Rabbit made entirely of plants ... or to stand beneath larger-than-life kinetic mushroom sculptures.聽

Installations inspired by Lewis Carroll鈥檚 beloved children鈥檚 books are sprinkled throughout the 250-acre garden as part of the 鈥淲onderland: Curious Nature鈥 exhibit, which runs through Oct. 27. Inside the garden鈥檚 conservatory are many plant specimens appropriate to Carroll鈥檚 Victorian era. Leaves of elephant ear plants, already large, can grow as big as umbrellas.

Diana Dil poses for a photo encircled by her little girls, all in blue except for the youngest in pink. Behind them, the conservatory pool is filled with giant water lilies. A multicolored Alice peeks out from the foliage in the distance. The family has excitedly visited the 鈥淲onderland鈥 exhibit twice.

Why We Wrote This

Lewis Carroll鈥檚 鈥淎lice鈥檚 Adventures in Wonderland鈥 has delighted children since the Victorian era. Some of his beloved characters are in larger-than-life form at this topiary exhibit in New York.

鈥淚 want to live here,鈥 says Ms. Dil.

ARE WE HAVING FUNGI YET? A garden cottage at the exhibit was built with bricks constructed from mycelium, a network of fungal threads. The exhibit runs through Oct. 27.
Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
THRILLING LILIES: The botanical garden is a favorite destination for Diana Dil and her children, pictured near a pool of water lilies.
Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
WALK UP AND SMELL THE ROSES: A visitor strolls toward the botanical garden鈥檚 Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, decorated for the 鈥淲onderland鈥 exhibit.
Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
HERE鈥橲 LOOKIN鈥 AT YOU, KID: Vashti Arsala performs a puppet show for her mother, Maeve Roughton, and a young visitor in the garden鈥檚 pop-up play area.
Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
SHROOMS WITH A VIEW: Giant mushrooms are part of the "Wonderland" exhibit.
Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
LEAFING AN IMPRESSION: A caladium, or elephant ear plant, grows as part of the exhibit.
Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

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