The Daffodil Project Plantings on Cortelyou Road

Posted on 2007-11-05 by admin

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

Posted on 2007-11-01 by admin

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

Posted on 2007-10-27 by admin

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

Posted on 2007-10-27 by admin

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

Posted on 2007-04-20 by admin

[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

Posted on 2006-11-26 by admin

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.)