Help plant 500,000 daffodils around NYC to remember 9/11
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The annual Daffodil Project–launched by New Yorkers for Parks and NYC Parks in 2001 as a living memorial to September 11th–is now open for bulb requests. Each year, the initiative gives out approximately 500,000 free daffodil bulbs to individuals and groups to plant throughout New York City’s public spaces—in parks, schoolyards, community gardens, and street tree pits. More than 7.5 million bulbs have been planted since the project started. If you’re interested in participating, all you have to do is submit a request before September 5.
In the aftermath of 9/11, Dutch bulb supplier Hans van Waardenburg sent one million daffodil bulbs as a gift to the city. Around the same time, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe floated the idea of planting yellow daffodils across the city as a sign of remembrance. 10,000 initial volunteers joined the first planting efforts, and Mayor Bloomberg made the daffodil the city’s official flower in 2007. “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,” he said at the time.
In the years since more than 100,000 people have taken part in the Daffodil Project. Each year the list grows and the bulbs are expected to go fast. You can register for The Daffodil Project through September 5th at 5 p.m. Bulbs are available in large bags (roughly 550 bulbs) or smaller ones (about 350 bulbs). Bulb distribution will take place at the following locations this year:
Staten Island: Saturday, 9/14 at Brookfield Park
Brooklyn: Saturday, 9/21 at the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket
Queens: Saturday, 9/28 at the Overlook at Forest Park
Queens: Saturday, 10/5 at the Rockaways Firehouse at Beach 59th
Bronx: Saturday, 10/12 at St. Mary’s Park
Manhattan: Sunday, 10/13 at Union Square
Pick-ups begin at 10 a.m. and end around 12:30 p.m. Any unclaimed bulbs that remain will be made available to those on the waiting list and people who did not register between 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m.
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