What’s Blooming on the Upper West Side – Late Summer Edition

By Meg A. Parsont

Labor Day may have come and gone, but the green spaces on the Upper West Side continue to flourish. Plot tenders in our local community gardens have commented that the gardens are particularly lush and dense for this time of year thanks to our hot and humid August, and visitors to the gardens marvel at nine-foot-tall purple butterfly bushes, sunflowers, and yellow rudbeckia.

Standing sentinel at the entrance to the gate of the 91^st Street Garden on the Promenade level of Riverside Park, a ten-foot-tall red canna lily is flanked by stately wild fennel. Other plants that tower over the garden right now include native deep burgundy amaranth and Joe Pye weed, whose tiny mauve flowers grow in round clusters atop their tall stems and are irresistible to pollinators. Also look for a remarkable purple and white dahlia in the Octagon, which is close to six feet tall.

Dotted throughout the rectangle and octagon sections of the 91^st Street Garden, delicate Japanese anemones in palest lavender, pink, and ivory are the dominant flower right now, blooming among mauve hydrangea blooms, white allium, and fuchsia-colored phlox.

Visitors to the garden are treated to a display of late-summer roses in lovely shades of butter yellow, peach, and hot pink.

This is also a great time of year to admire the colors and textures of the foliage in our gardens. Showy caladium in its many hues of magenta, pale pink, and white abounds throughout the 91^st Street Garden.

In the West Side Community Garden, between 89-90^th Streets, caladium and ferns nestled along the walkways and by the 89^th Street entrance create a sylvan feeling in the garden.

Different varieties of velvety coleus are sprinkled throughout the garden in delectable shades of burgundy, hot pink, and acid green.

You can’t miss the massive elephant ear plants in both the 91^st Street Garden and the West Side Community Garden. When they catch the light, their texture is breathtaking.

Brightly colored zinnias in shades of pink, orange, and red are still thriving in the West Side Community Garden and the Lotus Garden, which is perched over a parking garage on West 97^th Street. They will continue to go strong for a while, especially in the Lotus Garden, which, because it’s a bit more shaded than the other two gardens, often has a slightly delayed growing period.

Visitors to the Lotus Garden will also see bountiful yellow rudbeckia in a number of the plots, as well as several stunning end-of-season dahlias, which have created quite a splash this season.

While there are signs that autumn is almost upon us—like the fruit-bearing quince tree in the Lotus Garden—it’s still summer in our community gardens. Stop by to admire the late-summer blooms!

 Plan a visit:

The West Side Community Garden (89-90^th Streets, between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues)

Open 7 days/week from dawn to dusk

Note: The West Side Community Garden conducts a compost collection on Sunday mornings from 11 am-noon outside its 90^th street entrance, between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues. Please read their guidelines before dropping off compost.

The Lotus Garden (97^th Street between West End Avenue and Broadway)

Open to the public on Sunday afternoons between 1-4 pm, from April 10-mid-November

The 91^st Street Garden on the Promenade level of Riverside Park

Open 7 days/week from dawn to dusk