NYC Daffodil Project Marks 25 Years Of Hope After 9/11

NEW YORK CITY, NY — Daffodils are one of the first signs of spring in New York City each year. In mid-March, the parks, street medians, and window boxes across the five boroughs suddenly pop with new green shoots and yellow blooms.

But this wasn't always the case.

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The Daffodil Project was created after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, to give the grieving , ash-covered city a living memorial.

The Daffodil Project began after Dutch bulb supplier Hans van Waardenburg and the city of Rotterdam offered New York City 1 million flower bulbs as a gesture of solidarity following 9/11, Adam Ganser, the executive director of New Yorkers For Parks, told Patch.

For many early volunteers, planting offered a way to channel their grief into something hopeful, he said.

"For many people who were involved in this project, it was a way to focus their energy on community, on their loved ones and their neighbors," Ganser said. "It was a way for people to get their hands dirty and plant flowers and know that in the spring, the daffodils would bloom and represent hope and memory in the future."

The bulbs arrived on one of the first ships to enter New York Harbor after the attacks, Ganser said.

Daffodils were selected partly because of their resilience. Tulips were originally considered for the donation but rejected because they are more vulnerable to wildlife, Ganser said.

That fall, more than 10,000 volunteers planted them across all five boroughs, beginning with a major planting at DeWitt Clinton Park in Hell's Kitchen.

The project was initially envisioned as a one-time effort, Ganser told Patch. But overwhelming demand for the bulbs quickly transformed it into an annual tradition that's now 25 years old.

Since 2001, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers have planted more than 10 million bulbs in parks, schoolyards, gardens, tree pits and other public spaces.

The project, now considered the city's largest annual volunteer effort, has also expanded to honor those lost to COVID-19.

This year, New Yorkers for Parks will distribute about 500,000 bulbs in October across the five boroughs.

Though registration for bulbs has already closed after available slots were claimed within hours, New Yorkers can still sign up to volunteer at the events, and help with the planting.

Ganser said the project costs the organization about $120,000 annually for bulbs and equipment, not including staff time. Unlike the original bulbs, those distributed today are purchased using privately raised funds.

Since 2024, volunteers have also received locally sourced native plant seeds through a partnership with the NYC Parks Plant Ecology Center and Nursery. The seeds support pollinators, absorb stormwater and help connect the memorial with the city's growing need for climate-resilient green space.

Ganser said the environmental focus also gives younger volunteers—many of whom were not alive on Sept. 11, 2001—a new way to connect with the project while learning about its origins.

"When the flowers bloom next spring, he hopes New Yorkers will remember both the immense losses that inspired the project and the thousands of volunteers who have sustained it.

"The whole effort is really about optimism and bringing beauty to your neighborhood and your community," Ganser said.

For questions, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.