Garden Walk, the director’s cut By Elizabeth Licata Think of it as a month-long Garden Walk held throughout Western New York and punctuated by special events and garden superstars. This summer, a partnership led by the Buffalo Convention and Visitor’s Bureau has decided to build on the undisputed success of Garden Walk Buffalo and create an entire festival based on local garden events. Some of the events on the schedule happen every year anyway—like the various smaller garden tours offered in Lancaster, Lockport, Williamsville, and fifteen other locations—but there are plenty of innovations, some of which are rarely seen on this side of the Atlantic. Like the open garden program, in which a hundred or so of the best gardens in the area will be open to the public on designated Mondays and Thursdays. This is a common practice in England, where a book is published and visitors can enter private gardens on stated days as long as the gate is open. In WNY it will be a great opportunity for those who can’t find the time to do the formal garden walks on busy garden weekends, but can find some afternoon time during the week to visit special gardens—when they will be a lot less crowded. Those who prefer to use a Blackberry or iPhone to map their private tours can easily be directed from garden to garden throughout Buffalo, Black Rock, Kenmore, Parkside, the Southtowns and more. This is truly a rare chance to see the area’s best private gardens. Other highlights include a free talk by author Amy Stewart at the downtown library, a special dedication of the Japanese Garden in Delaware Park, a Mad Hatters Tea Party at Menne Nursery, a seminar on chicken-keeping at Urban Roots, and much more. The culminating festivities happen on the weekend of Garden Walk Buffalo. For some of the participating garden walks, check nationalgardenfestival.com. SUBSCRIBE NOW Back to the Table of Contents Back to Top