Reprinted with permission from the West Side Rag July 1, 2022, all copyrights reserved. 

Bee on Stokes aster in the 91st Street Garden, photo by Meg A. Parsont.
By Meg A. Parsont
Last week was Pollinator Week, an annual event supporting the health of bees, butterflies, birds, and bats that are an essential part of our ecosystem. As they transfer pollen from flower to flower, these creatures help our gardens grow and play a key role in our city’s plant biodiversity.
At a time when pollinators’ habitats have been jeopardized, our parks and community gardens are planting more native plants that are not only beautiful, but that also have a mutually beneficial relationship with pollinators.
Here’s a look at what some of the community gardens on the Upper West Side are doing to support our local pollinators.

Monarch on monarda in the 91st Street Garden, photo by Ellen Lannon.
​In the 91st Street Garden on the Promenade level of Riverside Park, vibrant purple and red bee balm (monarda) are in full bloom and humming with bees. An early monarch butterfly also stopped by to enjoy the bee balm bounty. (Monarch sightings in NYC are more common later in the summer, as they stop over during their annual migration to Mexico.) You’ll see bee balm in plots throughout the garden, including several especially luxuriant swaths of it on the west side of the garden in both the rectangle and octagon.

Bee on coneflower in the 91st Street Garden, photo by Allison Winn.
Other pollinator-friendly plants in bloom now include echinacea, also known as coneflower (a pink perennial in the daisy family with petals that often turn downward); rue (an herb with blueish green foliage and tiny yellow flowers); and catmint (an aromatic herb with delicate purple flowers), which seems to be as irresistible to bees as it is to felines. A bit later this summer, look for other plants that attract bees and butterflies including the six-foot-tall aptly named butterfly bushes (Buddleia davidii) with their clusters of purple blooms, the spiky liatris Blazing Star—also with deep amethyst flowers and milkweed, which has large and distinctive tear-shaped seed pods.

Lilies in the Lotus Garden, photo by Shanna Forlano.
The Lotus Garden on West 97th Street is especially lush right now, brimming with lilies in shades of cream, apricot, and blush pink, roses, and bright purple drumstick allium or round head garlic (sphaerocephalon).

Hydrangea in the Lotus Garden, photo by Shanna Forlano.
Dotted throughout the garden, fluffy hydrangeas are blooming in shades of pink, lavender, and blue, as well as white. The gardener who tends one of the plots near the steps added garden aluminum sulfate to the soil to make it more acidic in the hopes of turning her hydrangea blue. Her variegated blue and white hydrangea is the stunning result of her experiment.

Variegated hydrangea in the Lotus Garden, photo by Shanna Forlano.
​These flowers attract their share of bees and butterflies, but the gardeners also grow echinacea, bee balm, and purple hyssop (an ornamental flowering herb also known as agastache), among other native plants. The herb garden plot is home to pollinator-friendly plants as well, including fennel, thyme, lemon balm, culver’s root, oregano, and chives.

Lilies in the West Side Community Garden, photo by Meg A. Parsont.
​Lilies and hydrangea reign supreme right now in the West Side Community Garden on 89th-90th Streets, with glorious crimson, yellow, orange, and white lilies flourishing in a number of the plots. The path leading to the 90th Street gate is lined with two different varieties of bountiful white hydrangea.

Lilies and bee balm in the West Side Community Garden, photo by Meg A. Parsont.
​In addition to these beauties and some annuals including begonias and impatiens, the West Side Community Garden also cultivates a number of native plants to attract and support pollinators. Several swamp milkweed plants (Asclepium Incarnata) are just beginning to bloom. By mid-summer, the plants will be three or four feet high with showy pink flowers. (“incarnata” means “flushed with pink.”)

Blanket flower in the West Side Community Garden, photo by Meg A. Parsont.
Some of the flower beds host wild geranium, a groundcover with small pinky-purple flowers that is native to US eastern woodlands. These plants are unrelated to the geraniums that typically grace window boxes and planters, and that originate in Africa. Another wonderful pollinator-friendly plant I discovered on my most recent visit to the garden is blanket flower (‘Arizona Apricot Shades’ gallardia). These cheerful bright-yellow flowers with an apricot eye are especially attractive to butterflies.

For the Bees
Olivia Cox Matise, a grad student in Columbia’s Ecology Evolution and Environmental Biology program, is conducting a study of bee movement between urban green spaces (parks, gardens, and green roofs). Both the 91st Street Garden and the West Side Community Garden are among the sites in her study. Her research involves netting bees, applying tiny blue markers to their backs, and releasing them to collect re-sighting data at several sites across Manhattan.

Bee with blue marker.
She says, “Knowledge of how bees are using and moving throughout urban green spaces can be used to inform conservation management plans for these threatened creatures.”

Plan a visit:
The West Side Community Garden (89-90th Streets, between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues)
Open 7 days/week from dawn to dusk
​NOTE: The West Side Community Garden conducts a compost collection on Sunday mornings from 11 a.m.-noon outside its 90th street entrance, between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues. They incorporate the compost into their flower beds. The public is invited to drop off fresh or frozen organic waste including vegetable and fruit peels, coffee grounds and tea bags, eggshells, shredded newspaper, and brown paper bags. The garden cannot accept meat, fish, bones, dairy, fats, pet waste, or compostable bags. Please read their guidelines before dropping off compost.
The Lotus Garden (97th Street between West End Avenue and Broadway)
Open to the public on Sunday afternoons between 1-4 pm, from April 10-mid-November
The 91st Street Garden on the Promenade level of Riverside Park
Open 7 days/week from dawn to dusk

Reprinted with permission from the West Side Rag, June 18th, 2022. All copyrights reserved.

Astilbe in the 91st Street Garden, photo by Meg A. Parsont.
In the 91st Street Garden on the Promenade level of Riverside Park, orange, pink, and scarlet (Lilium Night Flyer) lilies are budding and blooming in many of the plots. There are also clusters of golden Stella D’Oro lilies around the perimeter of the Octagon and in several of the plots near the garden gate. Astilbe, a perennial with graceful feathery flowers, has made an appearance throughout the garden in hues of crimson, mauve, and white.

Clematis in the 91st Street Garden, photo by Meg A. Parsont
​In the Octagon, look for the palest purple climbing clematis, and in the Rectangle, you can’t miss its spectacular amethyst-colored cousin.

Julia Child rose in the 91st Street Garden, photo by Meg A. Parsont.
​While you’re there, be sure to take a moment to say hello to the Julia Child rose by the entrance. Julia Child loved butter and it’s only fitting that this rose is a perfect butter yellow!

Lacecap hydrangea in 91st Street Garden, photo by Meg A. Parsont.
Another welcome sign of summer is hydrangeas. In the north end of the Octagon, look for the pale purple Lacecap (Hydrangea macropylla), with its flat caps and ornate, frilly edges. The center disk is made up of tiny, short flowers surrounded by showier, lacy flowers. The garden is home to several other types of hydrangea including the fluffy, long-lasting white blooms along the western edge of the rectangle. In the right conditions, these can grow remarkably quickly: a tiny cutting that I planted in my plot two summers ago is now over three feet high, and covered with oversized blooms!

Lilium ‘Arabian Knight’ Martagon in the Lotus Garden, photo by Shanna Forlano.
In the Lotus Garden on 97th Street, everything tends to be behind by a week or so, as it is much shadier there than the 91st Street Garden or the West Side Community Garden. Most of their lilies are just getting started, with the exception of the miniature jewel-like lilies in the easternmost plot, the red with yellow “Lilium Arabian Knight” (Martagon Lily).

Campanula Poscharskyana in the Lotus Garden, photo by Shanna Forlano. 
The pink bell-shaped campanula is still flourishing, including Campanula Posharskyana (Serbian Bellflower) which grows close to the ground, and Campanula rotundifolia ‘Olympica,’ aka the Bells of Scotland.

Campanula rotundifolia ‘Olympica’ in the Lotus Garden, photo by Shanna Forlano
Bellflowers are a popular perennial, and this particular species is especially loved in Scotland, where many poems and songs affectionately refer to it.

Graham Thomas rose in the Lotus Garden, photo by Shanna Forlana.
Keep an eye out for lovely pale purple clematis and white clematis, including one that was purchased at Trader Joe’s and has been successfully repurposed from a houseplant to an outdoor garden plant. And more roses continue to bloom daily, including the ivory-yellow Lark Ascending and yellow Graham Thomas.

Lilies in the West Side Community Garden, photo by Meg A. Parsont. 
In the West Side Community Garden, perennials and recently-planted annuals have filled in the beds where tulips used to reign supreme. Lilies are making their first appearance, along with astilbe, hydrangeas, and bright red bee balm (Monarda), a native plant that is a big draw for pollinators.

Caladium and impatiens in the West Side Community Garden, photo by Meg A. Parsont.
There are also two stunningly curated beds of impatiens and caladium (a gorgeously toned and patterned foliage plant) in shades of hot pink and green near the 89th Street entrance.

Hydrangea in the West Side Community Garden, photo by Meg Parsont. 
The path leading to the 90th Street entrance is flanked by dramatic white oak leaf hydrangeas and fluffy white hydrangeas interspersed among the red roses. And tucked into a niche on the path is a bright red hibiscus which has just come into bloom. I was amazed to see that the understated, off-white hellebore is still blooming in several of the plots. This perennial is one of the first to appear in late February/early March, and wins the prize for longest-blooming flower in the garden.

Plan a visit:
​The West Side Community Garden (89-90th Streets, between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues)
Open 7 days/week from dawn to dusk
Concerts in the Garden – Mark your calendar:
June 19 from 6-7 pm: Federico Diáz Argentenian duo, voice/guitar
June 26 from 6-7 pm: Scot Munson Jazz Quintet
The Lotus Garden (97th Street between West End Avenue and Broadway)
Open to the public on Sunday afternoons between 1-4 pm, from April 10-mid-November
The 91st Street Garden on the Promenade level of Riverside Park
Open 7 days/week from dawn to dusk

Reprinted with Permission from the West Side Rag June 3rd, 2020. All Copyrights Reserved. 

I used to think I had to go to the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx or the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to see roses, but I realize now that roses are everywhere on the Upper West Side!
They’re in the islands dividing Broadway, in apartment building planters and brownstone gardens, and in front of restaurants, stores, churches, and synagogues. (The roses in front of Church of the Holy Name of Jesus on Amsterdam Avenue at 96th are particularly beautiful). And they have emerged in full profusion over the past week or so.

The Lotus Garden on West 97th Street is home to at least 12 different types of roses. Many of them can be found in the sunnier parts of the garden, but there are also some in the middle section where the light is less consistent. The Eden rose, a pale pinky-coral climbing rose on an espalier near the ivy-covered wall, has just bloomed for the first time after having been planted two years ago. The pink Carolina shrub rose towards the center of the garden is still going strong at 30 years old.

​

Plan a visit:
The West Side Community Garden (89-90th Streets, between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues)
Open 7 days/week from dawn to dusk
Mark your calendar: Sweet Plantain classical and Latin music concert in the garden, June 5 starting at 6:00 pm

The Lotus Garden (97th Street between West End Avenue and Broadway)
Open to the public on Sunday afternoons between 1-4 pm, from April 10-mid-November

The 91st Street Garden on the Promenade level of Riverside Park
Open 7 days/week from dawn to dusk

Reprinted with permission from the West Side Rag May 20, 2022. All copyrights reserved.
By Meg A. Parsont
​After the cherry tree and crabapple blossoms have given way to foliage and the flamboyant tulips have faded, it’s hard to imagine what Mother Nature could possibly do for an encore. But as we enter full-blown spring (finally!), there are plenty of new arrivals—some showy, like the stately horse chestnut trees in Central and Riverside Parks with their massive white clusters of flowers, and some more subtle, like the delicate lily of the valley that has made an appearance this week in our community gardens.

Toad lily, blue hosta, astilbe foliage in the Lotus Garden; photo by Shanna Forlano.
​The foliage in our community gardens is just as beautiful as the flowers themselves. In the Lotus Garden, the leaves of toad lily, various varieties of hosta, Japanese fern, and astilbe—many of which will be flowering later in the season— combine to create a stunning patchwork of colors and textures.

What better way to celebrate Mother’s Day than with a visit to some of our city’s many green spaces?

Plan a visit:
The West Side Community Garden (89-90th Streets, between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues)
https://www.westsidecommunitygarden.org
Open 7 days/week from dawn to dusk
The Lotus Garden (97th Street between West End Avenue and Broadway)
https://thelotusgarden.org
Open to the public on Sunday afternoons between 1-4 pm, from April 10-mid-November
The 91st Street Garden on the Promenade level of Riverside Park
http://www.thegardenpeople.org
Open 7 days/week from dawn to dusk

Design Impression tulips in West Side Community Garden, photo by Meg Parsont.

By Meg A. Parsont
Friday, April 22 is Earth Day, and the perfect time (well, it’s always the perfect time!) to explore some of NYC’s many community gardens and green spaces. As I walked around the Upper West Side today, I saw begonias and pansies planted in tree pits, red and pink geraniums in window boxes, and crabapple trees in full profusion in Riverside Park. This is also prime tulip time, and the Upper West Side has some of the most stunning tulip displays in the city.

Tulips in West Side Community Garden, photo by Meg Parsont.

Every year, droves of nature lovers make a pilgrimage to the West Side Community Garden, which is known for its annual Tulip Festival (happening now through the first week of May, or so). The festival warrants multiple visits, since new varieties come into bloom every few days while others fade. As I stood in the entrance to the garden earlier this week blissfully taking in the remarkable variety of tulips, I overheard another visitor rave to her friend, “All of this in New York City. Who woulda thunk it?!”

Margarita tulips in West Side Community Garden, photo by Meg Parsont.
From vibrant red and yellow blooms called “Keizerskroon,” which means “Emperor’s Crown” in Dutch, to delicate pale orange tulips called “Apricot Beauty” to the full, fuchsia-colored “Margarita” which resembles a peony when it opens, the tulips in the West Side Community Garden are a veritable feast for the eyes.

Grape hyacinth in West Side Community Garden, photo by Meg Parsont.

One small but mighty flower that holds its own among the tulips is the grape hyacinth (muscari) that is in bloom now. You’ll see its electric purple blooms—which resemble petite bunches of grapes—along the borders of some of the flower beds. Interestingly, grape hyacinths aren’t actually related to true hyacinths. 
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Fun Floral Fact
Contrary to popular belief, tulips didn’t originate in Holland! They originally grew wild in Central Asia, and in the Middle Ages were brought to what is now Turkey, where they were cultivated. The word “tulip” is derived from the Persian word for “turban.” By the late sixteenth century, tulips finally reached the Netherlands, where they were such a novelty and in such high demand that they stirred up “Tulip Mania,” with prices skyrocketing as people bought and sold tulip bulbs.
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Tulips and daffodils, 91st Street Garden, photo by Meg Parsont.

Tulips are also flourishing right now in both the Lotus Garden and The 91st Street Garden in Riverside Park. In the 91st Street Garden, the daffodils are still going strong, their yellow blooms contrasting beautifully with the bright red tulips that have been planted in recent years in many of the plots, as well as a number of other tulip varieties.

Ranunculus, 91st Street Garden, photo by Meg Parsont.

Other perennials are also beginning to make an appearance in the 91st Street Garden, including a lovely patch of light blue-purple Virginia bluebells (Longwood Blue) by the gate to the rectangle section of the garden. In the plot next to the bluebells, be sure to look for several small clusters of double-ruffled ranunculus blooms in both white and vibrant enamel yellow.

Fritillaria in Lotus Garden, photo by Shanna Forlano.

Perched over a parking garage on 97th Street, the Lotus Garden is an urban Garden of Eden. It’s home to a number of plants that aren’t commonly seen in the city, in addition to some glorious tulips. Look for purple-speckled fritillaria and delicate light purple violas, which are blooming now.

Japanese Jack in Pulpit in Lotus Garden, photo by Shanna Forlano.

Also keep an eye out for a cluster of about a dozen funky-looking brown spikes growing out of the soil. Be sure to check back in on them in a few weeks. They may look like something out of a Dr. Seuss story, but they’ll grow into a huge Japanese Jack in the Pulpit!
Bonnie Mitelman, a visitor to the 91st Street Garden, observed of some of the less showy flowers that are starting to make an appearance, “It’s as if they’re saying ‘We’re here and we’re trying the best we can. We may not be able to blow it out of the water like the tulips, but we’re still part of it.’” She went on to reflect, “It says a lot about where we are now, too. And it’s so important to come to the garden, look at the beauty, and be grateful.” Very fitting for Earth Day—and beyond.

                                 
















​Cherry blossom season on the Upper West Side. Photograph by Meg Parsont.

​By Meg Parsont
After what has felt like an endless winter in so many ways, spring is finally upon us! The magnolia trees are getting ready to burst into bloom in the islands dividing Broadway, groves of cherry trees have graced us with their presence in Central and Riverside Parks, and daffodils are everywhere.
I help tend the 91st Street Garden in Riverside Park (aka The Garden People Garden or the “You’ve Got Mail” Garden), and my fellow gardeners and I have noticed that visitors have become much more connected to the garden over the past couple of years. Whether it’s because people are working from home and have more time to visit or because they are seeking a natural sanctuary, our green spaces play an essential role in our community.

Judy Robinson, President of the West Side Community Garden, reflects that “People are especially grateful for the garden now, in response to Covid restrictions over the past two years. We’re all longing for the chance to relax, feel comfortable, and be surrounded by beauty.”

Louise Kindley, Membership Chair of the Lotus Garden on 97th Street, receives notes from community members expressing their gratitude for this quiet, peaceful place. She says, “My guess is that the pandemic has made people more aware of the need to quite literally ‘stop and smell the roses.’”
So many visitors to our gardens ask, “What’s new in the garden?” This bi-weekly column will provide a glimpse into what’s happening now in the Lotus Garden, the West Side Community Garden, and the 91st Street Garden. Mother Nature can be unpredictable, but we’ll try to focus on what’s in or approaching peak bloom. There are other lovely pockets of green throughout the Upper West Side, so be sure to check them out, too.