A Secret Garden In Greenwich Village, New York City

My husband and I met in the Greenwich Village neighborhood yesterday to go on a date --more about that on a future blog post. We were a little early, so we decided to walk around a bit and enjoy this charming neighborhood when we spied an unusual brick wall across the street that had an open gate. What could this be?

We walked across the street to see what it was and we saw this sign on the gate (all photos can be clicked on and they will enlarge) It was a beautiful garden of the Episcopal church Saint Luke In The Fields located at 487 Hudson Street.

We walked inside the gate --the early evening sun was shining very brightly over the garden

A flag stone path went right and left.

There are four quadrants inside planted with a large variety of shrubs and perennial flowers along with some annuals.

There are many benches to sit on and enjoy the cool shade and delightful views of the garden and all of its flowers, birds and butterflies. According to a brochure that I found near a garden shed there have been over 100 species of birds and 24 types of moths and butterflies sighted and recorded by garden volunteers.

The garden's heat retaining brick walls create a microclimate allowing a wide variety of flora and fauna to thrive in this green space in the bustling city.

An abundance of berries and flowers provides a small but important way station for migrating birds and butterflies during the spring and fall seasons.

There are rare hybrids and native American flora in the garden. According to the brochure the first planting was in 1942 of a piece of the famous English Glastonbury Thorn. The Thorn survived until 1990, when it was blown over in a wind storm. It's progeny lives on in the north garden.

We sat on a bench and observed this quiet peaceful scene, the only sound was the songs of the birds.

If you enlarge the photo below you can see there were other people enjoying the garden, writing in their journals, reading a book, sketching. I'd love to return one day to do the same!

Next are a few photo close ups of some of the flowers. Unfortunately, I only had my small pocket camera along with me this evening, but I hope I captured some of the beauty:

This was one of a few different gardens surrounding the church, which are comprised of more than three acres of walks, lawns and gardens. Some of those areas are open only on weekends and contain cherry trees and 100 year old Silver Maples. The garden we found is open 10AM until dusk, except on holidays and special occasions.

We entered the landmarked Saint Luke of the Fields church which was built in 1821. You can read about it's history on the church's web site on this link. I was enchanted to learn that One of the founding wardens was Clement Clarke Moore, a gentleman scholar of biblical Hebrew and Greek who also penned "Twas the night before Christmas," which was one of my favorite poems as a child.

The austere interior was wonderfully maintained. I was saddened to learn that in 1981, a fire destroyed much of the interior of the church, the second such fire since the church's founding, and after four years of fundraising and rebuilding, St. Luke's was reconsecrated.

A view of the back of the church and its organ.

The windows were thick wavy glass that looked out at the gardens on one side and the Saint Luke's school on the other.

The landmark sign that announces Saint Luke of The Fields as the third oldest existing church edifice in New York City. It was such a pleasure to find its beautiful garden that enabled us to enjoy a little respite before heading off to a special occasion, which I will be writing about soon.

I hope you also enjoyed these photos and I hope to show you some more "Secret Gardens" I have discovered in New York City in future blog posts.

I added this post to Susan of "A Southern Daydreamer" blog's "Outdoor Wednesday" group! Thank you, Susan, for hosting this wonderful event each week!

Please visit Susan's blog today to view more links to other blogs participating in "Outdoor Wednesday."