Buffalo's "Garden Walk" Beauty in the Details

Earlier this week I wrote Whoa, Buffalo! A post on Buffalo's Garden Walk from a "broad stroke" perspective. I described what Buffalo's "Garden Walk" is all about, who started it, when it is, how many gardens, and how the neighborhoods and homes are such a part of Buffalo's rich history and architecture. What I didn't mention, is that the beauty of these individual private gardens, is in the details. Incredible details.

The above photo is one of my favorite settings, I saw on my garden tour. This romantic sitting area is in the back garden of one of the Victoria homes which was built in 1845. This home is a perennial on "Garden Walk", and you can understand why. Wouldn't you like to be sharing wine and cheese or casual Sunday brunch with your friends in this garden room.

While strolling through "Garden Walk" you can see everything from antique to whimsical to zen in the gardens. It all works for everyone. The Victorian homes, often brightly painted to show off architectural details give homeowners freedom to repeat those colors in their gardens.

Garden spaces are generally small, yet densely planted and pleasing, which  adds a "secret garden" mystique element to them. With garden space at a premium, home owners are very resourceful where and how they garden. Spacing between two homes can still be a garden, small and beautiful. Home owners garden in the front, side, and back of properties.

Beautiful hanging baskets are plentiful, and punctuate once again style and color. Water features and koi ponds are abundant. Rain barrels are popular for collecting rain. Vegetables and fruit are intermingled in flower gardens.

I spoke to one person whose family has been living in their Victorian on a corner, and caring for their garden for forty years. Their garden was an utter sanctuary to one's eye. The busy robin in the garden (you could tell) was right at home, and was quite content to share its garden with visitors.

The beauty of Buffalo's "Garden Walk" is in the details, and actually so much more. It is a sharing of ideas. It is a sharing of plants. It is an interaction between gardener and visitor. It is a mutual appreciation of beauty, garden, and architecture. It is a beautiful thing.