Sidewalk Greenspace on New York's Upper West Side
We’ll be hosting a micro-block-party in garden on Friday, September 18, from 7:00 until at least 9:00 or so.
It won’t be fancy — no bouncy castle, no fried dough — just a pitcher of fruit punch, and a few snacks, and a chance to chit-chat with your neighbors.
If you live in the neighborhood, you’re invited! Feel free to swing by, say hello, and celebrate the coming of the fall!
(If it’s raining on Friday, we’ll reschedule to Saturday.)
Bloomingdale Garden is a tiny patch of green in public space on New York City’s Upper West Side. (The garden’s name pays homage to a traditional moniker for this area that dates back more than three hundred years.)
Located in containers and tree beds along the sidewalk of 219/217/215 West 106th Street, the garden only occupies about a hundred square feet, but provides a welcome splash of color to the neighborhood.
Scroll down for more photos and updates, or follow the garden on Bluesky.
My name is Matthew Cavalletto, and I’ve created this site to showcase the flora and fauna that make their home in and around my garden, and to answer some common questions asked by passers by. I’ll also share some notes about my experiences as a gardener, in hopes that this will encourage other people to create their own pocket gardens anywhere they can.
I tossed some seeds in the bare sidewalk treebed on Broadway just north of 104th Street this spring, and now I get to walk past this burst of color every time I take the subway back home.
This morning glory flower is doing exactly what it intended — luring a bee to climb in and crawl all the way to the bottom to collect a treat while getting totally covered with pollen.
Our sidewalk garden is in a wild mid-season flush of greenery.
These cosmos flowers stand tall by the staircase to building 217.
The maroon cockscomb (celosias) looked good this spring but then faded, and I had no idea they would come back later in the season.
A wild tangle of morning glories has overrun the sunflowers and horseweed in this section of the sidewalk container garden.
We’ve been getting a little color in the elevated baskets along the top of the fence that frames our sidewalk garden.
As pretty as this is, note that, I haven’t actually found a polychrome cultivar — this is just three tiny plants side by side, sharing one planter.
A kind neighbor donated these coneflowers to brighten our garden — and the timing was perfect, as the burdock that was previously filling this pot had just gone to seed and died back, so I had some space to fill.
