Dreaming of the perfect garden
By Elizabeth Licata

Plantasia 2003
Plantasia, 2003.
Photo by Jim Bush.
This is the time of possibility for gardeners. It’s still way too cold and wet to do anything outside, but gardening season is close enough for the winter blahs to have lost their hold. There’s just enough time between now and mid-July for all gardeners to hope that this is the year their garden will be perfect—and begin to work toward the unachievable.

This is the year that the roses will bloom abundantly and disease-free, that the ground cover will fill in those bare spots, that you’ll get the sound and lighting systems completed, that you won’t plant short plants behind tall plants again, that deer and rabbits won’t eat all the tops off your daylilies, and that you’ll finally install that pond. This is the year, in fact, that you’ll have a perfect outdoor room worthy of the pages of Garden Design or HG.

Well it doesn’t hurt to dream. And I have three favorite locales for garden dreaming at this time of year: Plantasia, the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, and the internet.

Get away to Plantasia
Perhaps you wouldn’t necessarily think of installing a thunderous waterfall equipped with a sound and light display that explodes every half hour (unless your nearest neighbors are about a mile off), but it sure is fun to check out this and other similarly show-stopping garden displays at Plantasia.

Plantasia displays
More indoor garden displays and booth
wares at former Plantasias.
Photo by Jim Bush.
Each year, area garden centers and vendors are invited to exhibit their wares and services at this large-scale flower and landscaping show. The displays range from ambitious and exotic garden fantasies to more prosaic sample gardens; each garden area is designed by a single local vendor or local vendor combo. There is also a yearly theme: in 2006 it is “The World Tour.” In addition, there are regularl scheduled lectures and demonstrations by horticultural experts, an ever-growing lineup of vendors, and even a children’s garden. The vendors seem to proliferate every year, making it more and more possible that you’ll leave the show carrying your new and favorite garden ornament or plant-related piece of home décor. Plantasia is also distinguished for its commitment to providing space for non-profit groups and local plant societies, making it easily one of Western New York’s most educational and entertaining garden events. (As you scan the presentation schedule, look for sessions from one of our favorite gardeners, Gordon Ballard.) Plantasia is organized by the Western New York State Nursery and Landscape Association and will be held Thursday, March 23 through Sunday, March 26 at the Agri-Center on the Fairgrounds, Hamburg. Call 741-8047 or visit www.plantasiany.com.
Plantasia displays
More indoor garden displays and booth
wares at former Plantasias.
Photo by Jim Bush.
How does their garden grow?
Any Buffalo winter survival guide must include frequent visits to the Botanical Gardens in South Park. As far as I’m concerned, it’s enough simply for the greenhouses to exist and to have warm environments of living plants inside them, but the Gardens also have regular exhibitions and classes, including their amaryllis and orchid shows, held earlier this winter. (The orchid show is Feb. 25-26, so depending on when you see this, you may catch it.) Starting April 1, they are holding their annual spring flower show, which always includes unusual and heirloom varieties of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, and other early-blooming favorites. It’s bound to get you in the mood for your own spring display. Also in April, on Monday evenings, the Gardens hold their How Does Your Garden Grow workshops, which this year cover roses (April 3), soil preparation (April 10), lawn (April 24), container gardening (May 1), and more. Visit www.buffalogardens.com for more information on these and many other offerings.

The cybergardener
Now is a great time to check out plant offerings from mail order houses, especially since area nurseries will not yet be stocked. Even if you don’t buy, browsing these sites can give you an idea of new cultivars that would be perfect additions to your space. But it’s a good idea to buy a few: you cannot depend on local nurseries to have the plant selection of mail-order sites like Bluestone Perennials (bluestoneperennials.com); it would be impractical.

What’s new and hot at Bluestone this year: several fabulous new clematis, hardy geranium “Rozanne,” and a Jacob’s Ladder (polemonium) with apricot flowers.

Elizabeth Licata is editor of Buffalo Spree.


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