Sidewalk Greenspace on New York's Upper West Side
The honeysuckle in our urban sidewalk garden put out its first blooms this weekend — ridiculously complicated and showy, and deliciously fragrant.
(I repotted this into a larger container at the start of the season, which I hope will give its roots the space they need for the next stage of growth.)
Our first roses of the season opened on Monday to catch a bit of the late-afternoon sun.
A good showing from the tulips on the steps of 217 W 106th St.
The violets are still going strong, although they are so demure I expect only a few people have noticed them.
The grape hyacinths aren’t as showy as their larger namesakes, but I love their tiny florets and deep purple coloring.
Most of the tulips haven’t opened yet, but this one did — and caught a bit of afternoon rain for its troubles.
Although most of the cold-hardy perennials return each year, this winter seems to have been unusually challenging, and a few of the trusty standbys seem to have passed away.
I’ll need to find some new plants to take the place of the one little rose bush that didn’t make it, as well as the small azalea, and some of the grape vines.
There are several varieties of mint-family plants that have colonized our sidewalk planters and return from seed every year, but my eye is not acute enough to figure out which this is — hopefully it’s a spearmint, but more likely to be a lemon balm or catnip.
[Update:] Jury is still out but it’s most likely a lemon balm.
The little volunteer elm trees that I’ve woven into the fence are starting to leaf out.
Our sidewalk treebeds are truly activated, with a variety of bulbs putting up their spring growth to produce overlapping regions of different shades of green.
