18K Daffodils Planted On Flatbush Ave Honor 9/11, COVID Victims

BROOKLYN, NY — Those lost during the coronavirus pandemic will soon be remembered by a garden of thousands of daffodils on Flatbush Avenue, a new addition to the annual Daffodil Project.

The 18,000 flowers — set to bloom in early spring — will be planted on the Flatbush Avenue border of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden over two volunteer days this week, the first of which was held on Tuesday.

The plantings are the latest in New Yorkers for Parks' yearly Daffodil Project, which creates a living memorial to victims of the 9/11 attacks by establishing colonies of daffodils across the five boroughs.

This year, the 20th anniversary of the project, organizers doubled the number of daffodils available to plant in an effort to add the lives lost during the pandemic to the memorial.

"From its inception, the Daffodil Project has demonstrated the resilience of New Yorkers, who come out every year to join in this living memorial and celebration of our city's parks and open spaces," said Adrian Benepe, a co-founder of the project who is now president of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. "...We look forward to seeing these daffodils bloom along Flatbush in the spring."

Benepe conceived of the Daffodil Project with public garden designer Lynden Miller when Benepe was Manhattan borough commissioner for NYC Parks.

Since its inception, over 8 million daffodil bulbs have been distributed for free and, in 2007, Mayor Mike Bloomberg named the daffodil the city’s official flower.

The rest of the Flatbush Avenue daffodils will be planted by volunteers and BB staff on Saturday, Nov. 20 with help from the garden's horticulture team. They join new trees donated by the parks department earlier this year in a beautification project on the street.

The botanic garden also includes a commemoration to 9/11 with its Liberty Oaks memorial, which includes scarlet oak trees planted in allées along Cherry Esplanade.

Check out photos from this week's planting, courtesy of Michael Stewart.: