One of the first trees to blossom in the Park, red maples are blooming along our Greenwich Village esplanade. These eye-catching red flowers provide a welcome dash of color to our early spring waterfront and an enticing preview of the colorful season ahead!
From afar red maple blossoms may look like clusters of buds, but a closer look reveals tiny, delicate flowers with five tulip-shaped petals. Later this spring, green leaves will replace these early blooms, and in autumn, our red maples will display their vibrant eponymous hue.
You’ll only find red maples in one part of Hudson River Park—Greenwich Village—and the reason why may surprise you! Our Park’s Greenwich Village section was the first to be completed in 2003, making it the only part of our Park that was open before a decade-long Asian Longhorned Beetle quarantine prevented the planting of further maples.
A wood-boring species capable of destroying a tree’s vascular systems, Asian Longhorned Beetles favor maples and other large range tree species. Fortunately for our maples—and the Park goers who love them—these invasive beetles have been eradicated from Manhattan since 2013. And as you can see, our Greenwich Village maple trees are thriving!
Spring is beginning to offer up its first flowers in our gardens too! Keep an eye out for crocuses and daffodils just starting to bloom in our beds. We love these pops of March brightness after a long, snowy winter, but you know what we love even more? This is just the beginning of a bright, blooming spring in your Park!