{"id":263467,"date":"2022-07-05T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-05T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitbuffaloniagara.com\/?p=263467"},"modified":"2024-08-02T11:24:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T15:24:00","slug":"buffalos-open-garden-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitbuffaloniagara.com\/buffalos-open-garden-party\/","title":{"rendered":"A Blooming Good Time: Exploring Buffalo’s Open Gardens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Summer is garden touring season in Buffalo \u2013 the sweet spot in our calendar when hundreds of Buffalonians place a sign at the curb inviting one and all to stop and smell their flowers. There\u2019s no better time to get to know our city, its surrounding suburbs and the welcoming people who live here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only is Buffalo home to the largest free garden walk in the entire country \u2013 Garden Walk Buffalo<\/a> \u2013 we\u2019re also the site of 16 other walks and tours. On top of that, more than 100 gardens are part of Gardens Buffalo Niagara\u2019s annual Open Gardens event<\/a>, which takes place on Thursdays and Fridays, for select hours, in July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Of all the flower spotting options available in our region, Open Gardens may be my favorite. Open Gardens is the lesser known, unassuming sibling of the older, more acclaimed Garden Walk Buffalo. Garden Walk tends to get all the attention, but Open Gardens is doing its best to prove that it\u2019s just as worthy of the attention of serious flower fans. While Garden Walk attracts tens of thousands of visitors to Buffalo over the course of the last weekend in July every year, Open Gardens is low key, modest, more of a small dinner party that\u2019s perfect for sharing a glass of wine with one of Buffalo\u2019s famously friendly gardeners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The element of surprise is what keeps my wife and I going back to Open Gardens. A modestly landscaped Hamburg front yard disguises the fact that an overwhelming floral display — complete with an extensive model railroad and a shed outfitted to resemble a train station — lies out back. Then there\u2019s the backyard on Delaware Road in Tonawanda that\u2019s a farm, garden and wildlife habitat all rolled into one lush landscape. Sometimes the surprises come in the form of an outdoor bar that wouldn\u2019t be out of place in Key West or a Japanese garden that would make a visitor from Tokyo feel right at home. Buffalo\u2019s gardens are quirky, creative and bear the mark of each gardener\u2019s artistic muse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buffalo\u2019s moveable feast of flowers is unique to Buffalo. In fact, between all the walks and open gardens there may be no greater concentration of private gardens open to the public. Other cities send delegations to find out exactly how we do it. Other visitors admit it would be impossible to do what we do so well; an out-of-town guest experiencing Garden Walk for the first time once turned to me and said, \u201cwe couldn\u2019t do this where I\u2019m from. People just wouldn\u2019t open up their yards to complete strangers.\u201d In that case, welcome to the City of Good Neighbors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

For more information, visit GardensBuffaloNiagara.com<\/a><\/em><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summer is garden touring season in Buffalo \u2013 the sweet spot in our calendar when hundreds of Buffalonians place a sign at the curb inviting one and all to stop and smell their flowers. There\u2019s no better time to get to know our city, its surrounding suburbs and the welcoming people who live here.<\/p>\n

Not only is Buffalo home to the largest free garden walk in the entire country \u2013 Garden Walk Buffalo \u2013 we\u2019re also the site of 16 other walks and tours. On top of that, more than 100 gardens are part of Gardens Buffalo Niagara\u2019s annual Open Gardens event, which takes place on Thursdays and Fridays, for select hours, in July.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Of all the flower spotting options available in our region, Open Gardens may be my favorite. Open Gardens is the lesser known, unassuming sibling of the older, more acclaimed Garden Walk Buffalo. Garden Walk tends to get all the attention, but Open Gardens is doing its best to prove that it\u2019s just as worthy of the attention of serious flower fans. While Garden Walk attracts tens of thousands of visitors to Buffalo over the course of the last weekend in July every year, Open Gardens is low key, modest, more of a small dinner party that\u2019s perfect for sharing a glass of wine with one of Buffalo\u2019s famously friendly gardeners.<\/p>\n

The element of surprise is what keeps my wife and I going back to Open Gardens. A modestly landscaped Hamburg front yard disguises the fact that an overwhelming floral display — complete with an extensive model railroad and a shed outfitted to resemble a train station — lies out back. Then there\u2019s the backyard on Delaware Road in Tonawanda that\u2019s a farm, garden and wildlife habitat all rolled into one lush landscape. Sometimes the surprises come in the form of an outdoor bar that wouldn\u2019t be out of place in Key West or a Japanese garden that would make a visitor from Tokyo feel right at home. Buffalo\u2019s gardens are quirky, creative and bear the mark of each gardener\u2019s artistic muse.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Buffalo\u2019s moveable feast of flowers is unique to Buffalo. In fact, between all the walks and open gardens there may be no greater concentration of private gardens open to the public. Other cities send delegations to find out exactly how we do it. Other visitors admit it would be impossible to do what we do so well; an out-of-town guest experiencing Garden Walk for the first time once turned to me and said, \u201cwe couldn\u2019t do this where I\u2019m from. People just wouldn\u2019t open up their yards to complete strangers.\u201d In that case, welcome to the City of Good Neighbors.<\/p>\n

For more information, visit GardensBuffaloNiagara.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":263474,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2102,118,119,121,2097,124,125],"tags":[192,2123,215,485,691,927,869,911,2122,2314,1023],"class_list":["post-263467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","category-events","category-family-fun","category-gardens","category-outdoor-recreation","category-sightseeing","category-tours","tag-buffalo","tag-buffalo-gardens","tag-downtown","tag-downtown-buffalo","tag-explore","tag-explore-buffalo","tag-garden-walk","tag-gardens","tag-gardens-in-buffalo","tag-outdoor-activities-in-buffalo","tag-things-to-do-in-buffalo"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Blooming Good Time: Exploring Buffalo's Open Gardens<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Over a hundred 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