April showers bring May flowers. Tomorrow is the first day of MAY and after this cold, wet April, NYC is ready to COLLECT.  If you follow me on social media, you know I’m obsessed with spring flowers. If you follow me IRL (like literally down the street), you’ve heard me squeal at the sight of them: PRETTY!!!!!! The forecast promises beautiful weather for the first five days of May, FINALLY. It’s the perfect time to frolic around as much spring as possible, I say! Here’s where to go:

6 Places with the Full Flower Power of NYC Spring!

Roosevelt Island

Take the tram or F train to this island cherry blossom paradise in the middle of the East River! The west side of the island is lined with cherry trees and the pink flowers look spectacular against the city skyline. For more info about visiting and photos of what you can expect to see: Roosevelt Island Cherry Blossoms: Prettiest Pink in NYC

Central Park Conservatory Garden

In the north east corner, at E 105th Street, you will find Central Park’s one and only “formal” garden. It is impeccably manicured and delightfully hoity-toity, featuring gardens arranged into three styles: English, French, and Italian. All of it is beautiful, pretty much at any time of year. Of course May is the best with the sweetest smelling lilacs and canopies of crabapple blossoms that everyone (including me!) mistakes for cherries! For more info about visiting and photos of what you can expect to see: Spring Splendor in Central Park’s Conservatory Garden

Central Park Shakespeare Garden

Just south of the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park, where performances of NYC’s Free Shakespeare in the Park play all summer, a lovely garden twists up hill. The flowers and plants in this garden are all mentioned in the works of Shakespeare. The magnolia trees and tulips are particularly lovely. For a peek of the Shakespeare Garden photos of what you can expect to see: The Central Park Magnolia Blossoms Are So Beautiful They Need Their Own Festival

West Side Community Garden

Even the Concrete Jungle has community gardens! This lovely community space on the Upper West Side has a Tulip Festival every year at the end of April. So we just missed the official festival weekends, but because spring is so late this year, there’s still time to catch the flowers and the welcoming neighborhood feel on 89th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus. For more info about visiting and photos of what you can expect to see: The Favorite Flower Question and a Tulip Festival

Brooklyn Botanical Garden

Brooklyn’s biggest garden has NYC’s most famous cherry blossom display. They have “CHERRYWATCH” prominently on their website which is a map that shows all their cherry trees and the status of their blossoms. ALL of the cherries on the main field are still in “pre-bloom” which is very rare for May! Troll CHERRYWATCH and it’s easy to visit when the whole collection is a brilliant peak pink! For more info about visiting and photos of what you can expect to see: Camera Goofs at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden

The New York City Streets!

Flowers line so many street corners this time of year, especially in Midtown Manhattan. Look around Park Avenue, Columbus Circle, or even Times Square and you’ll see beautiful flowers!

Do you love spring flowers as much as I do? Or are you currently cursing them as your nose explodes from allergies? Where are your favorite spring flowers NYC?