By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
INWOOD — Droves of blooming daffodils have become a rite of spring in Inwood, where they bring life to the brown hillside of Isham Park after a long barren winter.
For many though, the flowers not only herald the coming of warmer weather, but memorialize the men and women who were lost on September 11, 2001, as part of the nearly decade-long Daffodil Project started by New Yorkers 4 Parks in collaboration with the Parks Department.
This year, organizers of the initiative chose Inwood resident Peggy Quisenberry as its recipient of the Manhattan Daffodil Award for planting the flowers in an effort to beautify the green space and honor the memory of the attacks on the World Trade Center.
The 59-year-old Chicago native, who has lived in the neighborhood for nearly 20 years, is adamant about the award being for the community and the Isham Park volunteers.
"I was shocked that New Yorkers 4 Parks had chosen me as the Manhattan Volunteer for an appreciation award — there are so many people who are daffodil project volunteers," she said.
Quisenberry said the scope of the project has grown much larger than she ever expected through the park, which includes countless daffodils throughout the park and near Bruce’s Garden, a memorial garden named in remembrance of Bruce Reynolds, a former Inwood resident and Port Authority worker who died on September 11.
"I thought maybe 80-90 bulbs might be a reasonable order," she said of her initial vision. The representative told her good-humoredly it may take 20,000 bulbs to cover merely one section of Isham Park.
Years later, Quisenberry and volunteers in Isham Park have planted close to that number throughout the park and plan to continue working in teams of seven to 10 over the course of several weeks in the fall over the coming years.
"If I can add to the beauty of the park, especially at the most rundown spots … it is most satisfying," she said. "It’s fun. We hope to get more volunteers this year."
