The History of Daffodil Hill in Binney Park, Old Greenwich Hillside Annex 2009-2025
The presence of crocuses on a hillside along East Putnam Avenue where it meets Maple Avenue in central Greenwich is the reason daffodil hill came into being. The colorful March crocuses appeared joyful and cheerful and they caught the eye of Peter Uhry who was doing volunteer work in Binney Park in Old Greenwich.
The thought occurred to Peter that Old Greenwich had a perfect spot to do something of a similar nature to the Greenwich crocus display. However, because the location in mind was so much bigger than the East Putnam Avenue space, bigger plants with super bright colors needed to be employed.
Thus, an exploratory email was sent to several garden enthusiasts in April of 2009 suggesting the slope facing Sound Beach Avenue and a part of the Hillside Annex in Binney Park be dedicated to creating a massive daffodil display.
During the late spring and summer of 2009, approvals to move forward were obtained from Bruce Spaman, Superintendent of Parks & Trees. Support was obtained from Martha Lyons, a noted landscape architect working on a historic report of Binney Park. Local garden club members became excited about the project and a big boost came from the Old Greenwich Association and Greenwich Green & Clean.
In early fall of that same year, volunteers removed a significant amount of shrubbery and small trees to give the bulbs a better chance of success. Members of Greenwich Green & Clean, The Riverside Association and Old Greenwich Association gathered with garden club members to accomplish this task.
Planting the first 800 bulbs
Some 800 bulbs were subsequently planted in late October. They were a mixed lot of daffodils of the sturdier varieties that would naturalize over time. Particularly helpful was Mary Hull, Executive Director of Greenwich Green & Clean, whose work distributing, and planting daffodils, had taught her much about which bulbs would work best on a shaded hillside.
During the next dozen years additional daffodils were added. The area covered stretched south along Arch Street. The total number of bulbs ultimately exceeded 12,000 with the focus remaining on the north facing hillside overlooking Perrot Library and Sound Beach Avenue. It is worth noting that as the project progressed, the Greenwich Parks Department became the major contributor of bulbs, although Green & Clean, along with other groups, shared in the contributions.
During the period when Covid was first active (2020-2021), the plantings were suspended and then renewed again in 2022. Additional bulbs were added near the upper rock outcrops in 2023 and then the effort was suspended in 2024 to see what would come up this current spring.
Hillside Trail
A trail exists on the Hillside which allows someone to walk up and view the bulbs from a different angle. Far more than a dozen varieties of bulbs are in the ground. The dirt pathway was the work primarily of Peter Uhry and Tad Larrabee and completed seven or eight years ago.
Consequently, this trail is rather rough and hiking poles are helpful and advised.
Future Plans
Plans to photograph and record bare spots in the planting areas is a project for spring 2025.
And, once an appropriate future planting plan is created, it will be used to enhance the overall hillside.
It is also being considered to renew some of the woodland plants that existed at one time on the Hillside. After the Binney family purchased the Hillside Annex in the 1930s they added rhododendrons and other woodland species. Only a couple of these original plants still exist on the site.
Peter Uhry
March 21, 2025