Walking home last month, a bit after the weather had said goodbye for sure to winter, I noticed how many different flowers, in how many different arrangements, were to be seen along my block.
I started taking pictures as I walked, from one end of the block to the other, catching plants in pots on stoops, plants at the curb line, flowers in full new bloom and some a bit past it.
I wasn’t really thinking of a blog—after all, I’m home, not traveling, and this is just a city street, not a botanic garden (although we have a great one nearby!) But are these flowers any the less beautiful and cheerful-thought inspiring than if they were in an institution and had labels?
And part of my travel advice is always to remind people that the goal of travel is not only to see and admire the extraordinary but to see and understand the ordinary, even if it is not our own ordinary. And here is an ordinary spring day on one block of Lefferts Avenue in Brooklyn.
It’s true that not every block in every city, or even every block in this neighborhood has quite as profuse a display; that’s what can make wandering aimlessly in any city’s residential neighborhoods so fascinating: To see how differently people treat their outdoor environment and what can make it greener or grimmer in different places.
The next block past ours is a real hotbed of garden culture, with many curbside planters of various kinds maintained by their block association. They’ve twice won the Greenest Block in Brooklyn prize; we’re no match for that, but it’s still a pleasant walk every spring and summer.
I hope you’ve had a pleasant little while scrolling through the flowers…there are more below, because… well… I find it hard to stop admiring flowers!
