Top Ten Spring Flower Spots In Central Park

While Central Park offers a tranquil respite all year round from the surrounding cacophony of urban life, it is during the springtime that the park really sparkles.  Starting at the middle of March, sometimes before the snows of winter have even completely disappeared, you can find snowdrops and crocuses poking up between the leaves and tree roots.  These are soon followed by daffodils and tulips as the entire park erupts in a fragrant display of early flowering pastels.  By mid April the Central Park landscape is awash in cherry blossoms and magnolia flowers that signal the completed transformation from dreary winter to spring celebration.  Here are our picks for the very best places in the park to view this amazing floral display.

10. Lilac Walk

One of the lesser known delights of Central Park is a pathway that runs along the north side of the Sheep Meadow to Mineral Springs refreshment stand.  It is the called the Lilac Walk  and it is home to more than twenty varieties of purple, pink and white lilac blossoms from around the world.  The selections includes the Dutch Syringa vulgaris as well as the Southeast European and American varieties. Hybrids from the United States and France have also been planted and all are skillfully and creatively presented by skilled gardeners to the delight of all who walk along this path. There are even varieties from Canada and China.  When these lilacs blossom, their intense fragrance is quite demanding and few who pass this way can ignore the theater of aroma that envelops them.  Created in 1970, the Lilac Walk was conceived and financed by philanthropist Nell Singer.  It is bordered on the south by a fence which features the crawling vines of clematis and morning.  By late spring the fragrance exuded by the purple, pink and white blossoms is almost intoxicating.

9. West side of Reservoir

In Central Park, the Kwanzan Cherry blooms in early May, shortly after the Yoshino Cherry Trees, which are on the east side of the Reservoir.  An ornamental cherry tree from Japan that is admired for its double-petal flowers and bright pink blossoms, it does not have the delicate appearance of the Yoshino, but it is still extremely attractive in its own strikingly colorful way.  It also contributes a certain dramatic consistency to the scenic narrative of the Reservoir panorama.  The cherry blossoms on the west side blossom almost immediately after the ones on the east side are gone.  This extends the spring blooming season around the  106 acre body of water for another two weeks and gives visitors, especially the runners that use the surrounding track for training, almost an entire month to enjoy the spectacle of the delicately flowering trees.

8. The Pond

The Pond provides immediate relief from the hustle and bustle of the city just outside. This is due to a veritable wall of trees and shrubs, as well as the inspired landscaping of Olmsted and Vaux, which placed the pond below street level. This entrance was originally designed to handle most of the traffic into the park, and continues to do so until this day.  In spring time it offers an even starker contrast as the park goer walks down the stairs and along the placid waters. Looking across you can see Gapstow Bridge and the surrounding shoreline, which features some of the earliest blooming seasonal arrivals. Crocuses, daffodils, foam flowers, forsythia, and tulips decorate the pathways and within seconds visitors are transported far away from Fifth Ave and Grand Army Plaza.