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
You are way ahead of us here in Ontario .. it is so satisfying to see some life spring forth !
I’m so sorry about your beautiful cat Spot .. I just read the side bar now. It is a heart ache for a long time. We love them so much.
Joy
It was fun digging with you. Thank you for taking the reins and bringing the extra bulbs and tools.
I hope we add more and more bulbs every year till it becomes a tradition and something everyone looks forward to, both the planting and the blooming.
Is there anyway to get laminated signs that say something about keeping the pits clean? Could FDC help us with that?
The signs could emphasize the flowers and request gently to help them grow by keeping the pits free of debris.
Yay! So glad to see the first of them in bloom, Xris. Just think, in a few years they’ll be even more of a show as they multiply in the ground… 🙂
And they will keep multiplying every year. Soon you will have a blaze of color in the spring. Nice job!
GJ4Me: Guess there is something to those Hardiness Zones after all, huh?!
And thank you for Spot. While we continue to grieve her, we are adopting a new companion this Saturday. We’re very much looking forward to that.
Peregrine Yes, I’m hoping we can get an annual tradition going, as well as other activities throughout the year.
BSG, OldRoses: We’re counting on it! More, more, more …
Xris,
If you are attending the FOC meeting this weekend maybe we (you & I) could take it on as a FOC project to get bulbs donated.
I just looked at the Daffodil Project web site http://www.ny4p.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35&Itemid=60
and it appears we just contact them and verify we have the volunteers to plant the bulbs.
I think last years bulbs (current blooms) came through FDC but I’m not sure.
No reason FOC couldn’t sponsor the effort.
Last year’s Daffodil bubls came through FOC/CORMA via Jan, and additionally from a BSW neighbor, Stacey, who asked for bulbs on her own initiative.
I’m hoping to attend the FOC meeting this weekend. Also, this year we have Sustainable Flatbush, which could be another source for organizing.
Thanks for the Daffodil project link. I’m going to email them to let them know about what we’ve done on Cortelyou, and make sure they keep me, and all of us, in the loop about when and how to request more bulbs this fall.
PS: I donated the Crocuses.
“Thanks for the Daffodil project link. I’m going to email them to let them know about what we’ve done on Cortelyou, and make sure they keep me, and all of us, in the loop about when and how to request more bulbs this fall.”
PS: I donated the Crocuses.
Excellent.
And crocuses were a wonderful herald of spring.