This weekend, some of the most beautiful gardens in Buffalo will open their gates to let visitors explore their outstanding horticultural and landscaping. This year, Garden Walk Buffalo is celebrating their 25th anniversary on July 27 and 28 as America’s largest and free garden tour featuring more than 400 gardens. This two-day Garden Walk event expands through the quaint neighbourhoods in Buffalo to showcase the creativity of its residents which has helped to transform the urban garden in Buffalo. To help you plan your Garden Walk route, here are 10 urban gardens to visit this weekend at Garden Walk Buffalo.
The Best Gardens to Visit at Garden Walk Buffalo
Mary’s Garden by Annabelle Irey & James Locke
75 Lancaster Ave
Perennials and annuals complement this Victorian home with gardens on all four sides. A white picket fence surrounds the main garden, known as “Mary’s Garden,” with a crushed- brick path and a pond. There is a collection of dahlias and containers with an interesting variety of plants, including tropicals and flowering vines. Features also include a shade garden, an English border, and interesting hardscape.
Stephen Bellus
191 Lancaster Ave
This is an 1892 Victorian home in the Elmwood Village with Buffalo-style gardens, front and back. The front yard is made up of four sunny beds, mixing grasses, yucca, and more traditional plantings. The back garden is mixed sun and shade, dominated by hosta, including two mini hosta beds set within lake stone borders. Rustic artwork, stone talavera, and found items are mixed throughout the beds for added interest.
Ellen Goldstein & Mitch Flynn
257 Highland Ave
English garden style plantings surround the hundred-year-old home, complete with porch and hanging plants. Extensive use of “Buffalo-style” garden art complements the various plantings, including a bowling ball totem pole. Rusty, a metal dog sculpture, guarding the front yard, and a gurgling bowling ball fountain are just two of the many original sculpture features found in this garden. Extensive use of pots contributes to the playful, artistic design. Begun more than 20 years ago, the gardens have evolved to accommodate the neighborhood trees.
Robert Then
25 Greenfield St
The garden started by clearing out overgrown vegetation. Service Berry bushes that thrive were retained. Several Sunburst Locust trees and cobble stones recovered from the resurfacing of Main Street provided the shaping of the gardens. Shade-loving plants include coleus, silver lamium and hosta now thrive in the shade provided. Daisies, Red Coneflower, black-eyed Susan along with spirea and small ornamental conifers are on the sunny side of the yard. Maple trees and Rose of Sharon back up the area. Reached by a path, a secret garden features snapdragons, hosta, and ivy. A bench is provided, shaded by viburnum. Interesting sculptures throughout the garden provide interest and contribute to the experience of the garden.
Sue Hough & Miroslav Sako
287 Richmond Ave
This whimsical space includes a treehouse that was initially built for the children in 2009. Window boxes overflow with annuals and vines. Inspirations for garden art can be found in the driftwood sculptures, glass bottle art, and climbing trellises. Fun and color combine with annuals and perennials in this space eliciting childhood memories of swings and slides. New plants and ideas take root to provide a neverending show of color and texture.
Ellie Dorritie
415 Summer St
A bigger-than-life illusion is created by this city cottage garden overflowing with perennials that attract birds, butterflies, and bees. Creative use of the “hellstrip” provides visual impact. Large containers are home for specimen trees. The back garden is constructed entirely on top of pavement and arranged around a brick path, while stone walls create containers. Full-grown potted crabapple and white birch share space with shade and sun perennials. A tiny water feature provides additional ambience.
Jennifer & Jim Guercio
755 Delavan Ave
Beautiful Victorian home fully restored with a charming Victorian English garden, porch views, pond with large koi, paths, pergola, seating areas. Ideas to inspire your imagination. Lemonade too with dressed Victorian host and hostess. Featured Better Homes & Garden’s Specialty publications, and in the book Buffalo-Style Gardens.
Julia & Tony Favorito
282 Linwood
The large city garden features a boxwood parterre, an espalier apple tree, an organic vegetable garden, climbing hops and wisteria, various pergolas and trellises, steel sculptures and a geodesic sphere pergola. Featured in Buffalo-Style Gardens.
Eight Paths Gardens
278 Baynes
East meets West in a secret city garden designed for contemplation and relaxation. Water garden with koi reflects goddess and roses. Many varieties of clematis, hostas, and ferns. Featured in Buffalo-Style Gardens.
Leslie & Jim Charlier
215 Lancaster Ave
A cottage garden and a lightning-shaped lightning rod front the turreted 1897 Dutch Colonial home. The back features a garden shed with Harry Potter Garden, an espalier around a potager garden, and a rock garden with rocks from around the world. There’s also a patio with an inlaid marble “carpet” and multi-level deck with a diamond-shaped pear tree espalier. A copper coral bell fountain is featured in a collection of coral bells and there is also a hanging framed vertical succulent garden. Visit ArtofGardening.org to find out more. Jim is co-author of the new book, Buffalo Style Gardens and will be signing books in his garden. His garden has appeared in This Old House magazine, Fine Gardening, Horticulture, and more.
Where to Stay During Garden Walk Buffalo
If you’re lucky enough to snag a room, Inn Buffalo offers the prime location to begin your stroll through the historic Elmwood Village neighbourhood in Buffalo. The Hewitt Mansion dates back to 1898 with some of the Victorian charm and furnishings still preserved. During Garden Walk Buffalo, they open their doors and porch to guests hoping to enjoy some live music, refreshments and a peek inside this historic home.
