Bloomingdale Garden – Sidewalk Greenspace on New York's Upper West Side

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Welcome to the Garden!

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.

Wear And Tear

This bench was donated by a neighbor two years ago, and has suffered a bit under the strain of the seasons and vigorous use by passersby. The seating surface was the first area to go, with cracked branches being progressively replaced by bamboo supports over the last year. Most recently, we’ve lost the second arm some time in the last few days, and it’s less clear how to best replace that — but we’ll try to keep patching it up for as long as we can to maintain this bit of rustic chic.

Red Marks The Spot

This fiery salvia is providing a nice burst of color on the steps to greet our neighbors as they come home each evening.

Burgeoning Burdock

The individual leaves on this burdock are more than two feet long, as it builds up energy in its roots to flower next summer. (This less-common pattern marks it as a biennial plant., rather than an annual or perennial.)

Broadway Beauties

I haven’t has as much time to put into gardening the treebeds along Broadway this year, but there are a few showy plants that have really been worth the effort

October Blossoms

As the nights cool, we’re getting some pretty new blooms from the asters and tall stalks of evening primrose.

(Also pictured: salvia and cosmos, which have been flowering all summer.)

Towering Growth

Last month, I lashed some five-foot-tall fiberglass rods to the top of the fence… and within hours, the tips of the morning glory vines had found them and started circling their way closer to the sun. Now that a few weeks have passed, the rods are completely hidden behind a wall of vines speckled with small purple flowers.

Fall Stars

These asters have been plain janes all season long — but now that the weather is cooling off, and everything else is in retreat, they have come out to shine.

Time For A Trim

I haven’t done much work on the sidewalk garden in the last couple of weeks, so it’s looking a little bedraggled — I really ought to set aside an hour some time soon to get out there with some snips and do a little pruning…

Two Of A Kind

Cosmos atop the garden fence.

Party Photos

Thanks to the many dozens of people who came by our garden party / meet-your-neighbors / community-building shindig here on West 106th Street Friday night — I quickly lost track of how many people stopped by, but it could easily have been more than a hundred.

It was great to see so many folks talking and making connections across different branches of the fractal networks that bind our city together.

Special thanks to Karin, Brenden, and Jamie for taking photos — I was too busy talking to people, and never took my phone out of my pocket until it was all over!