‘It’s like a museum here’

Brooklyn resident Perri Edwards inherited a green thumb from her mother — who got it from her mother, and so on.

“I still have plants that belonged to my grandmother from the 1940s,” the Crown Heights resident, 65, told The Post, adding that she has “plants as old as I am.”

Her block of Lincoln Place, between New York and Nostrand Avenues, is filled with foliage and flowers that won first place in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Greenest Brooklyn contest.

The avenue of trees, home to the PLANT gardening association, is a green oasis set apart from the noise of the concrete jungle.

“It’s like a museum here,” block resident Althea Joseph, 64, told The Post of her ornate block.

On their block, more than 60 slopes bloom with a variety of plants and flowers sprouting from repurposed household items—Quaker Oats cans, tea containers, and upcycled furniture galore—and brightly painted planters populate the sidewalk. In addition to the large number of informative signage about their many pollinating plants, there are also cardboard cutouts of animals on display.

Block will receive a $300 prize for winning the contest, which had 112 entries this year. They plan to use the money to buy land and other supplies to maintain the green, which has become a pedestrian hub, especially during the pandemic.

“You can really tell this is a block that enjoys working together, they enjoy being in community with each other,” Jibreel Cooper, community program manager for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, told The Post.

This was part of Lincoln Place’s appeal during the competition, as judges evaluated the blocks on criteria such as horticultural sustainability and being community-oriented.

In New York City summers, Edwards and Joseph have to wake up to water plants as early as 5 a.m. to beat the heat, sometimes watering several times a day—and even go so far as to water for their neighbors. .

“If people are too busy to take care of it, they definitely help financially,” Joseph explained, adding that there are a lot of “out-of-pocket” expenses. “Many of the neighbors contribute financially, physically and emotionally.”

Joseph, who remembers her mother tending to the plants before feeding her children every morning, said it took a lot of “trial and error” to master the art of greening.

Now, Edwards and Joseph teach their neighbors “even though they’re our competition,” Edwards said.

“As we learned from BBG and we learned from each other and we learned from some other people who were doing this before, we started teaching our neighbors,” Joseph said.

In the residential category, second place went to Crown Heights Keepers located on Eastern Parkway between Franklin Avenue and Bedford Avenue, which was also awarded the Media Darling distinction. Bay Ridge Blooms, located on Ridge Boulevard between 71st Street and Ovington Avenue, was ranked third.

The competition also honors the rookie of the year, as well as the best streetscapes, window boxes, tree beds and storefronts.

While the contest elicits friendly neighborhood competition and some cash prizes, the ultimate goal—at least from the perspective of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden—is about unit sustainability, education, and beautification.

“This is a community building tool and educational program disguised as a competition. The overall mission is to get people working with their neighbors, getting people involved with their local communities and really getting people out and just talking to each other,” Cooper said.

“This, in turn, builds safer, healthier and more vibrant communities.â€