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What's Blooming on the Upper West Side

5/20/2022

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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.
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Azaleas in the 91st Street Garden; photo by Meg Parsont.
The air is noticeably sweeter as you approach the 91st Street Garden in Riverside Park. The lilac bush by the gate of the octagon is at its most fragrant, and its scent blends beautifully with the lily of the valley and some brand-new roses that have just bloomed this week. The linden trees in the park and lining Riverside Drive are also on the verge of bursting into bloom, when their pale yellow flowers will fill the air with their honeyed perfume.
In the 91st Street Garden, the peony bushes are peppered with buds waiting to explode, the roses have begun their long season of blooming, and the bearded irises are beginning to make an appearance. We often think of irises as being purple—and many are—but irises grow in a surprising range of colors, and there are several along the western edge of the garden that are a unique coppery orange with streaks of yellow on the petals.
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Clematis in the 91st Street Garden; photo by Meg Parsont.
The purple and mauve bearded irises will be blooming any day now, but meanwhile, for anyone craving a burst of purple, be sure to look for the vibrant climbing clematis plants near the gate to the rectangle portion of the garden. And for another blast of color, the fuchsia and light coral-colored azaleas in the octagon are at their peak right now.
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Irises and lilacs in the Lotus Garden; photo by Shanna Forlano.
​As you walk up the steps to the Lotus Garden, the fresh scents of lilacs and lily of the valley permeate the air, enhancing the Garden of Eden feeling of this green space perched over a parking garage on 97th Street. Purple bearded irises and both purple and white allium (Mt. Everest allium) are blooming, along with patches of bluebells.
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Rose in the Lotus Garden; photo by Shanna Forlano.
​There are also some lovely early roses including a pale pink one called Jeanne Lejoie. The gardener who tends the plot where this rose grows says it’s actually a miniature rose, although it can grow to be quite tall! It’s been in the garden since the garden was founded in 1983.
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Allium in the West Side Community Garden; photo by Meg Parsont.
Fun floral Fact: With a single globe-like flower that can reach more than three or four inches in diameter perched on top of a stem that towers over most other plants in the garden, it’s hard to imagine the allium is a close relative of the humble onion!

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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.
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Oxalis in the West Side Community Garden; photo by Meg Parsont.
​
And in the West Side Community Garden, the amethyst-colored leaves of an oxalis (a common houseplant that’s also a perennial in the garden) provide a welcome splash of color.
This is a time of transition in the West Side Community Garden as their gardeners clear out approximately 12,000 tulip bulbs (which they give away or compost) to make room for the next wave of perennials and annuals.
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White bleeding heart in the West Side Community Garden; photo by Meg Parsont.
Among the perennials now making an appearance are white bleeding hearts and aquilegia, a native plant which grows throughout the garden in a wide range of colors including deep purple, cream, orange with yellow, and two-toned purple and white. There’s also an elegant peachy-orange calla lily in one of the plant beds towards the fence that’s not to be missed.
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Bearded irises in the West Community Garden; photo by Meg Parsont.
A cluster of mauve and velvety burgundy bearded irises stands tall toward the back of the garden. And cascading over the trellis on the path heading to the 90th Street entrance, the aptly-named beauty bush is in peak bloom right now. Unlike the mauve-colored hellebore, which started blooming in March and is still going strong, the beauty bush only blooms for a few weeks. During that time, the bench under the trellis is the best seat in the house!
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

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What’s Blooming on the Upper West Side – Mother’s Day Edition

5/6/2022

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Reprinted with permission from the West Side Rag May 6, 2022. All copyrights reserved.
By Meg A. Parsont
Mother’s Day and flowers go hand-in-hand, and many of our city’s flowers are blooming just in time! The azaleas are budding in dazzling shades of pink, fuchsia, and scarlet, the lilacs are burgeoning, and some precocious peonies are making an appearance in the community gardens and parks on the Upper West Side. To top it all off, tulips, cherry trees, redbud, and crabapples are still going strong, thanks to the cooler than usual spring we’ve been experiencing.
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Tulips in The Lotus Garden. Photograph by Shanna Forlana.

Surrounded by buildings on West 97th Street, the Lotus Garden tends to get a lot of shade, so their tulips are just reaching their peak. Plots are overflowing with a wide range of varieties and colors, beautifully curated to complement the plants surrounding them. With their extra-full double blooms, some of them masquerade as peonies, and are fittingly known as peony tulips.

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Peony buds in The Lotus Garden. Photograph by Shanna Forlano.

True peonies are also beginning to bud, and there are at least three lilac bushes in the garden as well as a number of azalea bushes that are likely to burst into bloom just in time for Mother’s Day on May 8. If you look closely in one of the plots, you’ll notice lovely purple anemones (Anemone blanda Blue Shades) that are grown from bulbs. Interestingly, these little flowers close up at night and open again in daylight.

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Ostrich ferns and tulips in The West Side Community Garden. Photograph by Meg A. Parsont.

In the West Side Community Garden on 89th Street, the ferns are unfurling, the tree peonies are in full profusion, and the tulips continue to put on a dazzling display. The heirloom tulips are among the last to bloom, along the garden path leading to the 90th Street entrance. Near the 89th Street entrance, clusters of white and multi-colored tulips are beautifully framed by groves of bright-green ostrich ferns (named for their resemblance to ostrich feathers).

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Bleeding hearts in The West Side Community Garden. Photograph by Meg A. Parsont.

Two tree peonies are in full bloom right now, towards the back of the main portion of the West Side Community Garden. With their brilliant magenta flowers, you can’t miss them! On a much more diminutive scale but no less brilliant, look for the fuchsia-colored bleeding heart nestled among the greenery near the 89th Street entrance.
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 Budding dwarf lilac in The 91st Street Garden. Photograph by Meg A. Parsont.

In the 91st Street Garden on the Promenade level of Riverside Park, most of the tulips have given way to the next wave of flowers. In the octagon portion of the garden, a pinky-purple dwarf lilac bush and several azalea bushes are on the brink of blooming. There’s also a stunning patch of pale purple creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera “Sherwood Purple”), whose blooms attract queen bumble bees and other early spring pollinators.
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Creeping phlox in The 91st Street Garden. Photograph by Meg A. Parsont.

In the rectangle portion of the 91st Street Garden, you’ll see carpets of lavender-colored and hot-pink creeping phlox (Phlox subulata), delicate blue-purple forget-me-nots, and, if you look closely on the east side of the garden, some tiny scarlet-colored species tulips (un-hybridized tulips) which look especially lovely nestled next to the remaining muscari (grape hyacinth). There are several other unusual species of flowers in the garden including the drooping trillium—recognizable by its white three-petalled flower and elegant foliage—and the petite yellow glacier lilies.
What’s the symbolism of some of the flowers blooming right now? (With a nod to the Victorians.)
Azaleas: Temperance, emotional evenness
Bleeding hearts: Passionate love, romance
Forget-me-nots: True love, devotion, and respect
Lilacs: First feelings of love
Peonies: Bashfulness
Tulips: Fame or passion

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
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