In seaside villages, mountaintop estates and everywhere in between, New York is in full bloom. Festivals celebrate thousands of tulips in Albany, lilacs in Rochester and apple blossoms in orchards across the state. Check our events listings for flower shows and garden tours, too. Here are a few annuals that spring up every year.
On the last weekend in March, the annual Capital District Garden & Flower Show in Troy features more than 100 garden and floral exhibits. Along with demonstrations and workshops on flowers and design, there’s a marketplace with over 150 vendors. You can buy plants, bulbs, flowers and seeds to create your own masterpiece.
Hanami, the Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, is a New York City rite of spring that celebrates the Japanese tradition of cherishing each moment of the cherry blossom season. From the first Saturday in April to mid-May, you can stroll under a fragrant canopy of cherry trees, see blossom-inspired artwork in the gallery, and savor special Japanese entrees at the terrace café.
Wildflower Island, at Teatown Lake Reservation in the Hudson Valley, opens with a celebration of its wildflower sanctuary in April. In early May, Albany's annual Tulip Festival greets spring with thousands of colorful tulips of myriad varieties. Celebrating the city’s Dutch heritage, it begins with the scrubbing of State Street, followed by the coronation of the Tulip Queen and a Pinkster Fest with family entertainment, food and craft vendors, and garden talks.
Every year around Mother’s Day, the Wine Trail Blossoms event along the Niagara Wine Trail celebrates springtime in the vineyards. More than ten wineries including Niagara Landing and Freedom Run invite you for tours and tasting. Each one presents a different potted herb for you to take home.
What better season to visit the Flower City? Rochester's Lilac Festival, named one of North America's top 100 events, includes a parade, craft show and daily entertainment amid thousands of flowers. Also in May in the Finger Lakes, the fragrant four-day Williamson Apple Blossom Festival--with a parade, car show, food and crafts--has been a tradition for more than 50 years.
In June, feast your eyes (and nose) during Rose Week at Sonnenberg Gardens in the Finger Lakes or on a tour of the beautiful rose gardens at Lyndhurst and other historic Hudson Valley homes.