15,000 tulip bulbs? 30 varieties? And this is just the beginning of the season?
Welcome to the West Side Community Garden nestled between buildings on West 89th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam in the Upper West Side of NYC. This week I attended my first meeting and as a new member of this community garden, it’s exciting to be a part of the history of this neighborhood!
The garden, a vacant lot once filled with garbage and stripped cars, was officially (and finally) deeded in the 1980’s after years of (and I’m sure painful) negotiations between the city, developers, and Trust for Public Land. Construction finally began in fall of 1987 and the West Side Community Garden was ready for the neighborhood in the summer of 1988. Today the garden is devoted primarily to flowers, but also small plots for vegetables and herbs are awarded to dedicated gardeners who give their time and efforts in keeping this little treasure up and running.
The garden celebrates its 21st year of TULIPS this month with the blaze of more than 30 varieties and more than 15,000 blooms! Throughout the summer many activities are planned such as Sunday afternoons “Music in the Garden,” an art and craft festival and activities for the children (Shakespeare Festival) to name a few.
Today, the garden is just beginning to come alive. Stay tuned for continued updates as the season progresses. So looking forward to getting a little dirt under the nails and of course capturing the beauty throughout the next several months!
I can’t wait to see your garden when we come to your city. I LOVE flowers!
In fact, there’s a Sunday afternoon in the Garden on June 12th at 6:00 p.m. I’ll put that on our calendar in case we want to do that! xoxo Counting the days!
This place looks like a treasure trove of spring color. What a wonderful find!
The best is yet to come!