In the spring, my friend and I would collect as many petals as we could. The neighbor was happy, of course, as he didn't have to pay us to clean up his lawn. We were thrilled, for we walked away with plastic grocery bags full of these temporary treasures. They rotted in the garage and were soon thrown away, yet we never seemed to mind, and we went back year after year!
There are a lot of these trees in New City, and I sometimes have to resist the urge to clamber into people's yards and pick up as many petals as I can carry.