Daffodil Project 2010

Update 2010-10-22: Manhattan distribution date changed.
Updated 2010-10-09: Bronx distribution date and location changed.
Updated 2010-09-23: Added distribution dates and sites.

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Daffodil bulbs just planted in place in a tree bed on Cortelyou Road in November 2007.


Today and tomorrow are the last two days to request Daffodil bulbs from New Yorkers for Parks for this year's Daffodil Project. Bulbs will be distributed in October. In Brooklyn, bulbs will be available for pick up on Saturday, October 23, from 8am-11am, at Grand Army Plaza at the Greenmarket Manager's tent near the white flagpole.

Spring Cleaning on Cortelyou Road

The daffodils are pushing up along Cortelyou Road and they would be so much prettier if they don't bloom in the midst of garbage! Join Sustainable Flatbush and your neighbors from the Beverley Square West Association to help clean up the tree beds.

When: Sunday, March 21st
Where: Meet up at 10am in front of the Library, near the Greenmarket tent, at the corner of Argyle and Cortelyou Roads.
If you miss the meet-up, look for us along Cortelyou Road between Coney Island Avenue and East 16th Street.

Bring gloves and rakes if you have them; we will also have some to share. Children are welcome to join us!

Flatbush Daffodil Project - 11/14 & 11/15

11/14 ONLY - CANCELLED due to rain (remains of Hurricane Ida). Join us Sunday, 11/15, for a beautiful day of Daffodil bulb planting!

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Join Sustainable Flatbush and your fellow urban gardeners to beautify neighborhood tree beds by planting daffodil bulbs!

The Daffodil Project was originally created to commemorate September 11th; a Dutch bulb grower donates 500,000 bulbs each year to NYC community groups who plant them in neighborhoods all over the five boroughs. This year, New Yorkers for Parks distributed more than 125,000 Daffodil bulbs for planting throughout the City. Sustainable Flatbush received 500 bulbs for planting in tree beds and other public areas in our neighborhood.

This will be Sustainable Flatbush's second year of co-sponsoring the Daffodil Project locally. If you enjoy gardening, feel like digging in some dirt, or if you just want to delight in the company of your neighbors, join us this weekend!

WHAT: Flatbush Daffodil Project
WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, November 14th and 15th, from 10:00am until 12:00pm
WHERE: Meet in front of Vox Pop Cafe at 9:45, 1022 Cortelyou Road (corner of Stratford Road)

(Please note: rain cancels this event! Call us at 718-208-0575 if in doubt)

Daffodil Project 2009

Update 2009.10.18: Kensington date of 10/18 was rained out. Rain date is 10/25.

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The Daffodil Project 2009 distribution at the Greenmarket in Grand Army Plaza, outside Prospect Park, Saturday, October 10, 2009

The Daffodil Project was originally created to commemorate September 11. ... The Daffodil Project is made possible in part by the generosity of a Dutch bulb supplier, Hans van Waardenburg of B&K Flowerbulbs, who has pledged to donate 500,000 daffodil bulbs to the project each year as long as there are volunteers willing to plant them. More than 20,000 volunteers have responded to his challenge so far. And thanks to their efforts, more than 3 million yellow daffodils [bloomed] in over 2,000 individual sites across the five boroughs in the spring of 2009.
- The Daffodil Project, New Yorkers for Parks

Here are some locations in Brooklyn where you can get your bulb on with the Daffodil Project this season.

The Daffodil Project is in bloom on Cortelyou Road

Cortelyou Daffodil


This evening I came home via the Cortelyou Road stop on the Q train. I wanted to stop by John's Bakery to pick up some munchies. I had to cross the street: the Daffodils are just starting to bloom.

They've started on the north side of the street, as I expected. The south side has been shaded by the stores and apartment buildings until recently. The soil in the tree pits there has not been warmed by the sun which the north, unshaded side of the street has been getting.



Last fall, two dozen volunteers planted 1,000 Daffodil bulbs and 400 Crocus corms over two weekends. The Crocus are all but spent now; just a few raggedy blooms hanging on here and there. The Daffodils are just getting started.



As in past years, there's no way to know what you're going to get when you plant the bulbs in the Fall. I saw at least four different kinds in bloom today.



It seems a far remove from 9/11, the inspiration for the Daffodil Project. But it was very much in the consciousness of at least some of us who planted these bulbs. And certainly in the minds and hearts of my neighbors who took the initiative to request these bulbs to be planted in their neighborhood.

Related Posts

My Flickr photo set of this project
Cortelyou Crocuses!, March 6, 2008
Cortelyou Road Crocus Watch, February 4, 2008
Tree Pits are not Dumpsters, November 18, 2007
The Daffodil Project Plantings on Cortelyou Road, November 4, 2007
1,000 Daffodils for Cortelyou Road, October 27, 2007
The Daffodil Project: Grief & Gardening #5, November 26, 2006

Links

The Daffodil Project

Cortelyou Crocuses!

This morning I took a slight detour from my commute routine to check the tree pits along Cortelyou Road for blooming Crocuses. I was rewarded:



It may not look like much, but this is only one of the 400 Crocuses neighborhood volunteers planted last fall in some of the tree pits along Cortelyou Road between Coney Island Avenue and East 17th Street.

It also has a companion blooming in the same tree pit:



Until the rest of them start blooming, if you're not looking for them, you'll probably overlook them. Here's how they appear in situ as you walk by the tree pit:




The Crocuses have been up for a month; these are the first blooms. The Daffodils are also emerging in several of the tree pits.

Someone's (or someones') been doing a good job keeping the tree pit fairly clear of garbage. Nevertheless, you can identify several fragments of urban street detritus, including chewing gum, bits of plastic straw, and um, organic material.

This morning I didn't see any bags of garbage in the tree pits themselves. When I see this, I try to stop and lift the bags out to place them on the outside of the protective fences. But for the past few days I've also seen a bike locked to the inside of the fence, right where the bulbs are coming up. I want to make up some signs to put along all the tree pits to remind folks:

LIVE PLANTS
NO TRASH
NO BIKES
NO DOGS

The bike locked up so it's crushing the emerging bulbs deserves its own sign.

Over the next two weeks we should see a succession of different Crocus blooming. These yellow ones look like Crocus chrysanthus or something similar. Other may be purple, blue, or even white. I purchased "mixed" Crocus for this planting, so that's what we should expect!

Related Posts

Cortelyou Road Crocus Watch, February 4
Tree Pits are not Dumpsters, November 18, 2007
The Daffodil Project Plantings on Cortelyou Road, November 4, 2007
1,000 Daffodils for Cortelyou Road, October 27, 2007
The Daffodil Project: Grief & Gardening #5, November 26, 2006

Links

The Daffodil Project

Cortelyou Road Crocus Watch

Update 2008.03.06: The Crocuses are blooming!

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Despite this morning's brief snow flurry, Spring is nearly upon us. That means that the 1,000 Daffodils and 400 Crocus which dozens of neighborhood volunteers planted along Cortelyou Road last fall will soon bloom. The crocuses are already up and may bloom within the next two weeks.

This is a good time to remind businesses, building owners and managers, residents and visitors along Cortelyou Road that tree pits contain live plants. They should not put bags of garbage in them. This is especially important now that the plants are coming up.

Most building and business owners do not use the tree pits as dumpsters. I've only seen it done twice in the past two months. But all it takes is one thoughtless dumping of garbage, and the whole season of growth in that tree pit will be destroyed.

Beyond not damaging what's growing there, any care that owners and businesses can take to keep tree pits neat and clean will make a big difference. Keeping the tree pits clear of litter is the single most effective thing they can do. Just like graffiti and broken windows, keeping after trash shows that people care for the area, and are watching out for it.

Over two dozen people turned out to help plant the tree pits last fall. That's a big turnout for something that was organized very informally. This shows that residents value the new streetscape along Cortelyou Road. Studies have shown that people spend more time, and are willing to spend more, on commercial streets that have green, growing things. Keeping the tree pits clean and free of trash is not just neighborly. It's good business as well.

Related Posts

Tree Pits are not Dumpsters, November 18, 2007
The Daffodil Project Plantings on Cortelyou Road, November 4, 2007
1,000 Daffodils for Cortelyou Road, October 27, 2007
The Daffodil Project: Grief & Gardening #5, November 26, 2006

Links

The Daffodil Project

The Daffodil Project on Cortelyou Road

Many hands make light work

Today we planted the last of 1,000 Daffodils and 400 Crocus along Cortelyou Road. Over two weekends, we covered every block from the Q subway stop to Coney Island Avenue. We were able to plant all but one of the new tree pits, running out of bulbs before the last one.

Observe: Experts at work


This weekend's volunteers included:

• Aowyn
  
• Barzeli
  
• Mela
  
• Jan A.
  
• Jan R.
  
• John
  
• Linda
  
• Matt
  
• Ronan
  
• Sally
  
• Susan
  

I know I've left out at least one name. If I've omitted or misspelled your name, please let me know.

Cortelyou Gothic


And again this weekend, this was an opportunity or me to meet neighbors for the first time. The flowers may bloom next Spring, and they may multiply over the years. The sustained consequences of the Daffodil Project are the communities it helps to build.

Related Posts

The Daffodil Project Plantings on Cortelyou Road, November 4
1,000 Daffodils for Cortelyou Road, October 27
The Daffodil Project: Grief & Gardening #5, November 26, 2006

Links

The Daffodil Project

Sunday: Bonus Daffodil Planting on Beverly Road

Sunday morning there will be additional Daffodil planting along Beverly Road. I've been in correspondence with a neighbor, Natasha, from Beverly Square East. She wrote me earlier today:

This is just a quick note to let you know that I'm planning to plant Daffodils on Sunday 11/11 starting at 10am. I'll be meeting some friends on Beverley between 16th and 17th street. We're going to start at 16th Street and head towards Flatbush. I borrowed some extra planting implements from a friend, so people should feel free to come even if they don't have tools.

So Sunday you have two opportunities for planting Daffodil bulbs. Meet at 10am on Beverly Road between 16th and 17th Street; planting will proceed east along Beverly Road. Or meet at 10am at the library plaza on Cortelyou Road at Argyle; planting will proceed west toward Coney Island Avenue.

Reminder: Plant Daffodils on Cortelyou Road This Weekend

There's also Daffodil planting on Beverly Road this Sunday.

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Green Thumbs Up! Some of the crew of volunteers who planted Daffodils last Sunday.


Weather permitting (as long as it's not raining), we'll continue planting Daffodil bulbs in the tree pits along Cortelyou Road this Saturday and Sunday morning. We'll meet up at 10am in front of the library at the northeast corner of Argyle Road. Please bring your own tools and work gloves, if you have them. If you don't we'll have enough on hand to keep you busy!

This weekend, we'll begin working our way West from Argyle Road toward Coney Island Avenue. If you can't join us at 10am, look for the folks digging in the tree pits! Last weekend we finished up by 12:30pm, so please feel free to stop by and see how we're doing.

And if you come on Sunday, bring some shopping bags and pick up some seasonal fruits and vegetables at the Greenmarket, which is open through the end of the month.

Related Posts

The Daffodil Project Plantings on Cortelyou Road, November 4

Links

The Daffodil Project

The Daffodil Project Plantings on Cortelyou Road

Parallel Pit Planting


We had a great turnout this weekend for planting Daffodils along Cortelyou Road. I couldn't make it yesterday; I heard we had 7 or 8 people. Today we had 13, half of them children.

Yesterday all the new tree pits between Argyle and Rugby Roads were planted. Today we planted nine more: 8 between Marlborough and Rugby, plus the one tree pit between Marlborough and the train station, which has an Oak tree. With 13 people we finished up in a little over two hours.

This is my neighbor, Stacey, one of those who ordered and picked up the bulbs from the Daffodil Project and got this whole thing going.








Thanks to everyone who turned out this weekend, including (in alphabetical order):

• Ben
  
• Cecile
  
• Chaakam
  
• Emma
  
• Faith
  
• Hugo
  
• Jan
  
• Jonathan
  
• Kaya
  
• Liena
  
• Natasha
  
• Stacey
  
• Tracey
  
• Zariya
  

(If I've omitted or misspelled your name, please let me know!)

I'm bad with names, and faces, well, people, basically, but I'm pretty sure I'd never met any of the folks I worked with today. I've spoken with some on the phone, or corresponded by email. With most I'd had no previous contact. This is the remarkable community aspect of these kinds of activities. I hope we can do more of them.

Weather permitting, we'll do it again next Saturday, November 10. We'll meet at 10am in front of the library at Argyle and Cortelyou. We'll plant the block from Argyle to Westminster, at least.

The following Sunday, November 11, if we still have bulbs to plant, we'll schedule it later in the day. There will be another gardening-related community event that morning. I'll post the details as they're confirmed.

Links

The Daffodil Project
My Flickr photo set from today

Reminder: Cortelyou Road Daffodil Planting, This Weekend and Next

See 1,000 Daffodils for Cortelyou Road for details.

We're also looking for volunteers to plant along Beverly Road between East 16th and East 19th Streets. Leave a comment or send me an email if you're interested.

1,000 Daffodils for Cortelyou Road

Two weeks ago I put out a call for volunteers to plant Daffodils along Cortelyou Road, from East 17th Street to Coney Island Avenue. My neighbor Stacey had arranged for 300 bulbs from the Daffodil Project.

Well, she got her order increased to 500 bulbs and received them today. And Friends of Cortelyou and the Cortelyou Road Merchants Association (CORMA) is getting another 500 bulbs for the effort. So we have 1,000 Daffodil bulbs to plant this season which will bloom along the new streetscape of Cortelyou Road next Spring.

The dates for planting are the first two weekends in November, Saturday and Sunday, 11/5 and 11/6, and 11/11 and 11/12. To help us estimate how many hands we'll have on deck, please fill out the survey in the sidebar, "What date could you help plant bulbs along Cortelyou Road?" To join us, meet at P.S. 139 at the northwest corner of Cortelyou Road and Rugby Road at 10am. You'll need to bring your own gardening tools for planting: trowels, gloves, gardening forks or spades. But if you don't have tools of your own, don't let that stop you; how about bringing some hot chocolate?!

How to plant Daffodil bulbs

When to plant

Keep bulbs cool and dry until you're ready to plant. You can plant when nights start getting cool. You can plant as long as the ground isn't frozen. I've even planted when the top inch of soil was frozen by frost. I just lifted the top slab of frozen earth, planted my bulbs, then replaced the slab.

Depth

The rule-of-thumb is to plant most bulbs at a depth 3x the height of the bulb. For larger Daffodils, this places the base of the bulb about 6-8 inches down. Smaller varieties, with smaller bulbs, should be planted at a shallower depth.

Spacing

You can space the bulbs about as far apart as the depth you plant them. It depends on the look you want. I like a natural, informal look, so I like to scatter the bulbs gently over the planting area, then plant them where they land.

Plant the bulbs with the nose, the pointy end, facing up, resting on the flat base.

Tips

When planting larger areas, you can dig out the bed to the depth you want to plant, dig in any fertilizer, then place all the bulbs at once before back-filling with the soil you removed.




You can plant other, smaller bulbs at a shallower depth over the Daffodil bulbs before completely filling the hole. Bulbs that bloom earlier, such as Crocus (which are corms, not true bulbs, which serve the same function), will extend the Spring bloom season. Anything which blooms later may get smothered or covered by the Daffodil foliage, depending on how densely you've planted them.




Bulbs already have stored most of the food and energy they need to bloom once. To give them a boost, you can dig a little fertilizer into the bottom of each hole before placing the bulb. More important, to keep them blooming and spreading year after year, leave the leaves on the plants after they bloom until they turn brown. It will look messy, but that's how the bulbs store food for next year's blooms. Perennials and annuals can be planted alongside the bulbs; their leaves will help cover the dying foliage and keep the area looking neat.

News, NYC, April 20: The Daffodil is now our official flower

[Updated, 2007.02.22 10:00 EDT: The Parks Department finally posted the Press Release on their Web site.]

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced today [April 20] that the daffodil has been honored as the official flower of New York City.

"I am pleased to announce that the daffodil has been selected as the official flower of the City of New York," said Mayor Bloomberg. "This flower has earned the distinction, the Daffodil Project makes the City a more beautiful place every year, and bring us all together by serving as a living memorial to the victims of September 11th."

- The Daffodil Named The Official Flower Of The City Of New York, Parks Press Release

I wrote about the Daffodil Project last fall as part of my series of posts about Grief & Gardening. 2006 was the first year that Daffodils were made available to NYC residents through neighborhood associations and other community organizations. In previous years, the daffodils were planted in parks, along parkways, and in other public areas by the Parks Department.

In October 2001, the Parks Department teamed up with New Yorkers for Parks (NY4P) and landscape architect Lynden Miller to launch the Daffodil Project, a citywide initiative to create a living memorial of hope after the tragedies of September 11. Since the inception of the Daffodil Project, over 20,000 volunteers and Parks staffers have planted over three million bulbs in 1,200 parks, playgrounds, schools, community gardens and patches of green space throughout the City.

"One of the most brilliant and dependable harbingers of spring is the annual re-emergence of three million daffodils," said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe. "Thanks to the energy and generosity of our many partners, communities throughout the City have been united through the act of planting this hope-bearing flower. As the official flower of our City, daffodils will continue decorating our landscape with fields of gold."

"After the attacks of 9/11, New Yorkers for Parks was honored to work with the City of New York to create the Daffodil Project," said Christian DiPalermo, Executive Director of New Yorkers for Parks (NY4P). "The blooming daffodils represent a living memorial of hope and we are delighted that Mayor Bloomberg is recognizing the its significance as New York City's official flower."

The Daffodil Project is the largest volunteer planting effort in New York City’s history. The Daffodil Project is made possible in part by the generosity of Dutch bulb supplier, Hans van Waardenburg of B&K Flowerbulbs. He has pledged to donate 500,000 daffodil bulbs to the project each year as long as there are volunteers willing to plant them.

- The Daffodil Named The Official Flower Of The City Of New York, Parks Press Release

Just in time for spring, the city has a new official flower.

The city announced Friday that the daffodil has been chosen as the city's official flower.

The flower took on a special significance after the September 11th attacks, when the city launched the Daffodil Project.

To remember those who lost their lives, volunteers have planted more than three million bulbs in parks and playgrounds across the five boroughs.
- Daffodil To Bloom As The City's Official Flower, NY1 News

The Daffodil Project: Grief & Gardening #5

Today I planted bulbs in the front yard, including daffodils I received through the Beverly Square West Neighborhood Association, which were donated through The Daffodil Project. With this act, our front yard becomes part of a living memorial to those murdered on September 11, 2001.

The Daffodil Project was originally created to commemorate September 11. ...
The Daffodil Project is made possible in part by the generosity of a Dutch bulb supplier, Hans van Waardenburg of B&K Flowerbulbs, who has pledged to donate 500,000 daffodil bulbs to the project each year as long as there are volunteers willing to plant them. More than 20,000 volunteers have responded to his challenge so far. And thanks to their efforts, nearly 3 million yellow daffodils bloomed in over 1,300 individual sites across the five boroughs in the spring of 2006.
- The Daffodil Project, New Yorkers for Parks

... This act of immense generosity has been coupled with that of Joseph Temeczko, a Minnesotan handyman who willed his entire life-savings of $1.4 million to New York City, $300K of which will pay for the shipping of these precious bulbs for the following 5 years. Temeczko, who is said to have been a Nazi prison camp survivor, entered the U.S. through Ellis Island and lived for a time in New York City where he worked at the Statue of Liberty. Following September 11th, 2001, he redirected his estate "to honor those who perished in the disaster." An avid gardener, himself, he loved to share his garden's harvest with others, and passed away only a month later while working in his own garden.
- My Community Hero: The Daffodil Project, Claudia Herrera Hudson

This Daffodil Project is distinct in that it involves no particular site. All public parks and community gardens are potential sites for the Daffodil Project. After 9/11, New Yorkers turned to their parks as a common ground where they could congregate, debate, memorialize, grieve, and find spiritual and physical renewal. The Daffodil Project is a lasting tribute to the people that died and the heroes that were born that day, it is a symbol of remembrance and rebirth in the heart of what is common ground for all of the citizens of New York: their public parks.
- The Daffodil Project, The Living Memorials Project

Here are some more photos of me in the act this afternoon, graciously taken by my neighbor, Jeff Tolbert. (Since this is my photographic debut on my own blog, I decided not to upload the flattering butt-crack photos.)

Related Posts

The Daffodil Project

Links

Plans for bequest made by Joseph Temeczko, Press Release, Parks, February 12, 2003