It began as a handful of people showing up just before 10 o’clock last year, but within minutes that trickle became a flood. Hundreds – soon thousands – of people turned up at the southern end of Bowling Green.

Why was this historic spot such an October hotspot?

For the annual Adopt A Geranium event, in which the Downtown Alliance digs up, pots, and hands out – for free – thousands of geraniums to people who work and live in Lower Manhattan, or are just visiting for the day.

And we’re at it again.

In just a few weeks, on October 12th, we’ll be setting up camp once again at the south entrance to the park, and distributing upwards of 4,000 geraniums between 10 AM and noon.

We expect to see some special guests too. Plus, we’re also going to be taking portraits of folks who pick up the plants (only if you let us take your photo!) to post online.

And, if you think the plants are short-lived after we dig them up, think again. The photo above was taken by Brian DiFeo, who grabbed a geranium last October. And that plant is thriving today at Lower Manhattan’s co-working hotspot, the Hive at 55.

See you on October 12th!