Queens Botanical Garden in Flushing is spending the day after Halloween on cleanup. On Sunday, November 1, the garden is holding a Pumpkin Smash for used jack-o'-lanterns and, a few hours earlier, a collection day for old electronics, clothing and leftover paint. Both are free to drop off.

The Pumpkin Smash

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., visitors can bring pumpkins, carved jack-o'-lanterns and gourds to the garden's compost yard and smash them. The garden's compost team then turns the pieces into compost that goes toward improving soil around Queens. The garden lists refreshments and activities alongside the smashing.

It is free for anyone who brings a pumpkin. Registration is recommended on the garden's site, but walk-ins are welcome, and it happens rain or shine.

The compost yard is the same one that runs the garden's weekly Compost Build volunteer mornings, held Mondays from 9:30 a.m. to noon, where volunteers help process community food scraps into compost. The next one is Monday, November 2.

E-waste, textiles and paint

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the same day, the garden is hosting a collection with the Lower East Side Ecology Center in its parking garden at 42-80 Crommelin Street. What it accepts:

  • Electronics: televisions of any size, computers and computer parts, and handheld devices.
  • Textiles: clean, dry clothing, towels and other household linens, plus shoes, belts and purses.
  • Paint: leftover paint in its original sealed container, including latex or oil-based house paint and primer, stains, deck and concrete sealers, and clear finishes such as varnish and shellac.

The garden will not take leaking, unlabeled or empty containers, spray cans or paint thinner.

Stepping stones for a Fibonacci spiral

The garden's Math in Bloom program continues through November with a free community art project funded by the Simon Foundation. Neighbors of any age can make a stepping stone from natural garden materials, each one with its own colors and textures. Sessions are Wednesdays, November 4, 11 and 18, from 3 to 4:30 p.m., and Sundays, November 8 and 15, from 9 to 10:30 a.m.

The stones have a destination. On Saturday, November 21, from noon to 4 p.m., the garden's horticulture staff will lead a volunteer day to set the finished stones into the Fibonacci spiral planted at the garden, the finale of Math in Bloom for 2026. It ends with a reception with food and drinks, and volunteers sign up on the garden's site.

Also this week

The garden's farm stand sells what is being harvested that week on the terrace of the Visitor and Administration Building on Wednesday, November 4, from 2 to 5 p.m. Farm volunteer mornings, which grow produce for local food pantries, run Tuesdays from 9:30 a.m. to noon.

How to go

Queens Botanical Garden, 43-50 Main Street, Flushing, Queens. Starting in November the garden is open Tuesday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission through December 15 is $6 for adults, $4 for seniors 62 and older and students with ID, $2 for children 4 through 12, and free for children 3 and under and members. From December 16 through March 31, admission is free.

The nearest subway is the 7 train to Flushing-Main Street; the garden is to the south along Main Street. For questions, the garden is at 718-886-3800.

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