Behind the Tompkins County Public Library and the Cayuga St. parking garage along Six Mile Creek is a pedestrian walkway known as Creekwalk.  It is accessible from Green St., Cayuga St. and Clinton St. by the bridge and the Police Station.  Several gardens along Creekwalk are planted with shrubs, perennials, bulbs and annuals, including vines on the fence, hibiscus, phlox and coreopsis. The bridge across the creek was declared unsafe several years ago and closed with no immediate plans to re-open.

After several years of being blocked off, the fence was moved and Beautification was able to get in and do some clean up of the site.  It was planted in 2019 with perennials including Iris, Baptisia, Gaillardia, Helenium, and Daylilies.

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On Dryden Rd. in Collegetown, between College Ave. and Eddy St., alongside the parking garage is a planting of shrubs, perennials, grasses and annuals.  A strip of gardens also runs along the sidewalk from the parking garage down to Eddy St. The strip is planted with spring bulbs and summer annuals, grasses and perennials. At the bottom of the block and across the street is a small area known as People's Park (in honor of the famous park of that name), which is planted with perennials and shrubs.

A peek inside the parking garage will show a number of murals, including one by Beautification artist Kellie Cox.

Aurora Triangle

Aurora St. Triangle is at the intersection of Aurora Street and East State Street. With the construction of the adjacent seven-story City Center, the Beautification Program has redesigned and replanted Aurora Triangle. The site now consists of annual and perennial plants, including a number of native varieties. Learn more about the plants at Aurora Triangle here!

Sign Triangle

The triangle of land bound by Green St. and Seneca Way is known locally as Sign Triangle due to the large number of traffic signs on posts it houses. Learn more about the plants at Sign Triangle here!

Zelkova Triangle

Zelkova Triangle is the largest of the East State Street Triangles, and is bordered by East State Street, Seneca Street, and Seneca Way. This site has been plagued by construction over the past 2-3 years, and as a result the planting has undergone a rather large transformation. Learn more about the plants at Zelkova Triangle here!

The Commons is a pedestrian mall in the center of Downtown Ithaca. It runs down State St (Martin Luther King Blvd.) from Aurora St. on the east side to Cayuga St on the west side. It forms a T at Bank Alley crossing to Seneca St. Originally developed in the 1970s, The Commons underwent a complete demolition and renovation starting in the spring of 2013 and completed in stages during 2015. Plantings on the Commons include long narrow perennial beds, individual tree plots, eight annual beds and 78 4’ x 2’ annual container planters made out of a composite material and standing 3’ high.

In fall of 2017, the Commons added six new 5' long planters around the fountain in Bank Alley.  These new planters are only a foot high and do not block the view of the fountain. GreenTree Garden Supply donated potting soil and the planters were planted with mums, ornamental kale and pansies for the fall.  Additional wooden planters were added in the spring of 2018 to fully surround the fountain--which has undergone major repair.

The Community Beautification Program is in charge of the annual beds and containers on the Commons, with support from Downtown Ithaca Alliance for watering.

The annual beds are planted with a succession of spring bulbs including tulips (Negrita purple, Pays Bas white, Annie Schilder orange), and daffodils (King Alfred, Goblet, Juanita, and Mando). Crocus and snowdrops have also been planted throughout the years. Summer annuals follow the bulbs with 'Tropicana' Canna, edible kale varieties (Red Russian, Nero di Toscana Lacinato, Baltist Red, Purpurkal) Marigolds, Rudbeckia, Zinnia Profusion Double Fire and Petunia Wave. 

The kale is edible and is harvested throughout the season and donated to Loaves & Fishes, serving free meals five days a week at nearby St. John's Episcopal Church.

The container planters are planted for three season interest: Pansies and potted bulbs in the spring, mixed summer annuals, and winter greens and ornamental branches for the winter months.

Container plants for the containers include mixed color dwarf Canna, Rudbeckia Indian Summer and Irish Spring, Marigold Marvel Mix and dwarf varieties, Petunia 'Wave' Purple, 'Profusion Double Fire' Zinnia, Butterfly Weed, and sweet potato vine. As the trees have begun to mature on the Commons, more shade tolerant annuals will be added in the coming years.

More information coming soon!

Ithaca’s only true traffic rotary is at the intersection of Elmira Rd., S. Albany St., W. Spencer St. and Park St. The center of the Rotary is filled with a low growing variety of Forsythia. Trees include: Skymaster English Oak (QUERCUS ROBUR) and Regal Prince Oak (QUERCUS X ROBUR).

In the spring, early blooming patches of winter aconite appear through the snow, followed by crocus and snowdrops. Later, the forsythia’s yellow flowers are complemented by a succession of tulips in the mixed border on the outside of the circle.  Clumps of daffodils are spread around the circle.

Drivers slow to traverse the circle, often pausing to admire the flowers, now a mix of annuals, perennials and ornamental grasses. 

The Ithaca Rotary Club has sponsored the Rotary planting with a cash contribution since 2015, prompting the Rotary Rotary designation.

State Route 13 is a major thoroughfare, connecting the city of Ithaca to points north, including Cortland and Syracuse, and points south, including Binghamton and New York City. Where the road divides into separate lanes just north of Cascadilla St. is an extended long triangle of land planted with trees, shrubs, bulbs, roses, lilies and perennials. 

In spring, daffodils and tulips pop up in clumps and drifts, brightening the landscape with yellow and red flowers. At the tip of the point we plant cluster of Cannas, with deep bronze and varigated foliage with red, orange and yellow flowers, several tall Foxtail Lilies, and yellow Daylilies. Throughout the planting is an assortment of perennials and shrubs, including spirea, barberry, tall ornamental grasses, iris, catmint, daylilies, and helenium. 

Traditionally our focus for this planting has been large swaths of colorful zinnias, however we have begun to shift this focus in an effort to reduce damage caused by wildlife (a few groundhogs now take refuge in this garden!) and make a more self-sustaining, drought-tolerant planting. 

Plantings at the Tompkins County Public Library (TCPL) on the corner of Cayuga St. and Green St. are in an attached brick planter that runs along the Cayuga St. side and around the corner across from the parking garage. This planting is filled with annuals, bulbs and perennials. There is also a garden in back of the library with perennials, many of which can be cut for bouquets for the library. A sculpture alcove at the north end of the planter is planted with perennials and annuals.

Community Beautification Staff have created educational guides about the plants outside TCPL, which can be found on the TCPL website. Take a look to start learning about that plant you've always wondered about when you walk by the library!

Beautification Brigade volunteer Linda B. is the person behind the planting and upkeep of this location. Please thank her if you see her out there!

A small park on Taughannock Blvd between W. State St. and Seneca St. features annual and perennial plantings at each end and numerous shrubs and flowering trees. Large drifts of daffodils and tulips bloom in the spring, while a variety of perennials at each end provide a succession of color in the summer. The Beautification Brigade has worked hard to reclaim overgrown areas and install native perennials. Despite overlooking the inlet, this garden does not have water access, and must be watered with a portable tank carried on our truck.

The 100 block of West State Street / Martin Luther King Jr. Street starts at the west end of the Commons at Cayuga Street and runs west to Geneva Street. The street trees in this block are framed by wooden planter boxes planted and maintained by the Beautification Program. More planters have been added on S. and N. Cayuga St. in recent years. The Beautification Program plants all these planters with three- season interest. The season starts in early spring with fresh-faced pansies in multiple colors. In June, these are replaced by a variety of foliage and flowering plants for the summer. For winter, the planters are filled with evergreen boughs, upright branches and holly berries for color.

Scattered around Ithaca are about 15 secondary planting sites--smaller and less obvious than the Beautification Program's primary sites.   We usually do not schedule work sessions with the Beautification Brigade at these sites, instead taking care of them with our staff and interns. Below is information about them.

Brindley Park

Brindley Park sits on the Waterfront Trail by the Cayuga Inlet behind Island Health and Fitness. The planting between the trail and the water was renovated in 2018, and includes a variety of native and pollinator plants, thanks to sponsorship from NYSEG.

Clinton St. traffic island

This site is the small traffic island at the intersection of route 13 and Clinton Street. A hot, dry site, the planting consists of drought-tolerant perennials and bulbs. Yucca creates a focal point, while Yarrow, Delosperma, Euphorbia, several varieties of sedum and Siberian iris are scattered throughout the site. Traditional and species tulips provide spring color along with daffodils.

In addition, the garden on the north corner of Meadow and Clinton Streets is planted with perennials, including iris, yucca, campanula, sedum, butterfly weed, rudbeckia and geranium. This site is now cared for by a Beautification volunteer who lives 2 blocks away. 

Corner Bumpouts on Seneca St.

The City of Ithaca designed traffic corners to be bumped out—extending the corner sidewalks into the streets and narrowing the street widths. The work was done in late summer of 2015. The two intersections (four corners) on Seneca St. were designed and built as rain gardens, including a cut out in the curb and a grate overflow leading to the storm sewer system. This allows rain water to fill the garden area and overflow into the water system. They are planted with a mix of perennials, shrubs, and grasses.  

Corner Bumpouts on Green Street

Similar to the traffic corners on Seneca Street, Green street also has 4 traffic corners which were bumped out and extended to create a planting area and narrowing the street. The original planting that was put here has not thrived, allowing for large areas of invasive weeds to crop up and also collect trash. In 2024, a group of Beautification Volunteers who live in the immediate neighborhood began to care for these sites, planting both annuals and perennials and culling the weed population. 

Dewitt Park Sidewalk Strip

Multiple sidewalk planting beds were added near Dewitt Park on Buffalo Street, and planted in partnership with the City Forester. Daffodils, spirea shrubs, salvia, echinacea, catmint, daylilies and perennial grasses make up a majority of the planting.

"Sand Patch" (Hancock St.- Small traffic island opposite Purity)

This small traffic island contains an exciting mix of plants that were planted as part of a research project by Matt Dallos of Thicket Workshop. The study is to determine whether a planting medium of sand and gravel is able to sustain beautiful plants and reduce weed germination and water needs once established. Now in its second year, the plants chosen have done relatively well. See photos here!

Ithaca Falls

The small garden and seating area that overlooks the water was renovated in 2022 by the Community Beautification Program. We have chosen mostly native, pollinator-friendly plants: Shrubby St. John's Wort, Littleleaf Lilac, Amsonia, Switchgrass, Coreopsis, and Liatris. In 2023 we added some Echinacea and native Rudbeckia. The planting has established nicely and has been fairly low maintenance. 

Pedestrian Refuge

On State Street between Taughannock Blvd and Floral Avenue, there is a pedestrian crosswalk, on either side of which is a small planting of tough, drought-tolerant perennials. The plants here do not have access to supplemental water and so they need to be able to handle periods of drought. For this planting we chose daylilies, little bluestem grass, sedum, echinacea and chives. It gets periodic maintenance by the staff at Community Beautification.

Plain and Center Rotary

A tiny rotary at the intersection of Plain St. and Center St. It was recently renovated due to construction, and was replanted in 2020. This planting has been adopted and cared for by neighborhood volunteer Judy Jones for many years, with support from the Community Beautification Program.

Rainshadow Garden on Aurora St.

Spirea, creeping euonymous, and perennial hellebores provide the structure of this planting. The site has evolved since its first planting, and has shifted from full sun to mostly shade. It is typically planted with shade-loving caladium and coleus in the summer.  A few perennial Rudbeckia hirta give a nod to the mural above the planting. Artist Kellie Cox painted the mural in 2013. 

Seneca Point

The point of land at the bottom of the Seneca Street hill is planted with perennials and bulbs. Self seeded sunflowers also populate this site. In 2024, Beautification Staff added a few more plant species, including Liatris, Echinacea, and Asclepias tuberosa. The front and sides are planted with a creeping type of sedum, to assist with holding the soil in place and providing a low maintenance groundcover.

The Tompkins County Mental Health Building

Two gardens and a woodchip pathway were completed during the season in 2018, with a planting of  perennials, shrubs and grasses, including ornamental boulders.  Bulbs were also planted in the fall of 2018. Maintenance by the Beautification Brigade is provided a couple of times each season.