“You can make a planter out of anything,” longtime gardener Perri Edwards told an admirer of her MoMA-inspired heads sculpted from milk cartons, with leaves of different shades and species sprouting like hair.
Edwards’ Lincoln Place stoop and front yard, like those of her neighbors, have become a cross between a whimsical garden, a tribute to New York City, and an educational display on upcycling and community greening.
On Aug. 4, Edwards and her neighbors, dubbed P.L.A.N.T. (Preserving Lincoln’s Abundant Natural Treasures), were recognized for those efforts. Lincoln Place between New York and Nostrand avenues was named Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Greenest Block in Brooklyn for the fourth time in the competition’s 30-year history. The block also took home the title in 2024, 2022, and 2019.
Edwards and her neighbors have earned the recognition four times. Photo by Susan De Vries
“There was a great excitement in the air for this block this year, I think people know this block now, so they come through,” Edwards said. “We never take that for granted. We really enjoy it, we enjoy it more than anything.”
The block’s theme this year, “When the Big Apple Goes Green,” inspired neighbors to create blooming tributes to New York City life, with nods to taxis, the subway, ferries, the Knicks, MoMA, the fashion industry, the Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra, and more. Displays featured upcycled furniture and signs, haute couture crafted from leaves and reused materials, and an impressive variety of plants.
Althea Joseph, who helped establish P.L.A.N.T. with Edwards, is a semi-retired fashion designer who brought this year’s theme to life with couture dresses made from living and dried leaves.
“I never thought I would be doing plant dresses,” she said, laughing. One bodice was crafted from dried palm leaves, and a Knicks cheerleader dress was fashioned from dogwood leaves she had dried over the past year. A Chanel-inspired look featured vibrant greenery for texture.
One of Joseph’s dresses, made of all plant materials. Photo by Susan De Vries 
The designs were more than fun, Edwards said, and also serve as an urgent message about the local environment. Photo by Susan De Vries
“For us, ‘When the Big Apple Goes Green,’ it means you can put your greening into any aspect,” she said, adding it also highlights an urgent message.
“As we face climate change, the future of our city depends on embracing urban greening and building healthier, more sustainable neighborhoods. Our display represents more than beauty; it reflects hope, resilience, the power of nature to transform our surroundings. Every tree pollinator protected and green space reserved contributes to clean air, cooler streets, and stronger communities,” she said.
She said climate action and building more resilient neighborhoods starts locally. “Greening for us is not only plants, but it’s friendship and getting people to understand that it’s about community.”
This year’s 30th anniversary competition drew 139 entries, the highest number since the pandemic, including 47 first-time participants. It also marked the launch of the Greenest Block in Brownsville initiative, led by Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the Brooklyn borough president’s office, to encourage greening in a neighborhood that experiences some of Brooklyn’s most severe climate-related impacts.
Several displays made use of recycled materials. Photo by Susan De Vries 
Perri Edwards on her stoop. Photo by Susan De Vries
“When we found out that the heat index was affecting Brownsville more than any other neighborhood in this entire borough, we wanted to do something about it,” Borough President Antonio Reynoso told the crowd gathered on the block this morning for the awards. Along with tree planting and other greening efforts, he said, the initiative is about strengthening community ties.
“What’s most important is that we do something that Biggie Smalls said every single time, to spread love. It’s about building community. It’s about the interactions that the folks that participate in doing this every single day have with each other.”
Several Brownsville blocks received recognition for taking part in this year’s competition, and Reynoso said he would continue supporting the initiative “until Brownsville wins the Greenest Block in Brooklyn.”
Displays took inspiration from the subway, ferries, and more. Photo by Susan De Vries 
Neighbors built on the theme to create uniquely beautiful displays. Photo by Susan De Vries
The Greenest Block runner-up was a tie between L&S Jefferson Avenue Block Association on Jefferson Avenue between Lewis and Stuyvesant avenues in Bed Stuy, and Bay Ridge Blooms on Ridge Boulevard between 71st Street and Ovington Avenue in Bay Ridge. Third place went to Canarsie Carailles on 92nd Street between Avenue A and Church Avenue.
Rookie of the Year went to East 91st Block Association in Canarsie, while Hsi Ling Chang Fine Woodworking in Boerum Hill won Greenest Storefront. The Sustainable Practices Award went to The Greene Garden in Fort Greene.
Sonal Bhatt, Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s vice president of education and interpretation, said the Greenest Block in Brooklyn competition has always sought “not only to share horticultural materials, training, and on-site guidance, but also to learn from the knowledge and traditions already present in Brooklyn neighborhoods.”
Local residents Ian Pearce and 16-year-old “mayor of the block” London. Photo by Susan De Vries 
The P.L.A.N.T. team have not only created a beautiful block, said BBG rep Sonal Blatt, but helped mentor other blocks around Brooklyn. Photo by Susan De Vries
“There’s nothing that shows talent like greenest block gardeners,” she said. “The Greenest Block creates space for intergenerational interaction for neighbors of all types to come together and create beautiful spaces that are safe for themselves, for pollinators, and for plants.”
She congratulated the P.L.A.N.T. team not only for their gardening skills and what they had reaped from them, but also for mentoring other blocks across Brooklyn. “They are not only creating this beautiful block in Brooklyn, but they are spreading beauty and knowledge throughout Brooklyn.”
This story first appeared on Brooklyn Paper’s sister site Brownstoner.