English and tropical gardens surround this classic Victorian-style home on Buffalo's West Delavan Avenue, one of the many popular stops on the garden walk. File photo by Doug Draper.
By Doug Draper
If you live within reasonable driving distance of Buffalo, New York and love classic urban neighbourhoods and architecture, and have a passion for gardening on top of that, then mark July 24 and 25.
This coming weekend marks the 16th anniversary of Garden Walk Buffalo – what has grown into the largest free garden walks in all of North America, featuring more than 340 gardens at homes and other places in neighbourhoods often dating back more than a century.
Garden Walk Buffalo now attracts tens-of-thousands of visitors each year for an event that remains free of charge, unless you are interested in purchasing a t-shirt, poster, a great book of Buffalo Gardens with a fine DVD taking you on a virtual tour of gardens and those who care for them in some of the city’s most historic neighbourhoods.
The self-guided tours of the gardens begins both days from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and you can begin by picking up a map booklet at one of three Garden Walk locations at Richmond-Summer Senior Center at the corner of Richmond Avenue and Summer Street in Buffalo, the Buffalo Seminary on 205 Bidwell Parkway off Elmwood Avenue, and AIDS Community Services on 206 South Elmwood Avenue at Chippewa Street.
For more information on this great summer event that has been featured in home and garden magazines across North America, visit Garden Walk Buffalo’s website at www.gardenwalkbuffalo.com.
As of now, and if you are in the Buffalo area, you can pick up Garden Walk maps in advance at the following locations:
BUFFALO
Schuele Paint Company, 12 Summer Street, Buffalo
Dibble True Value Hardware, 262 W Ferry St , Buffalo
Urban Roots Community Garden Center, 428 Rhode Island Street, Buffalo
Hunt Realty, 720 Elmwood Avenue office only, Buffalo
Realty USA, Buffalo Metro Office, 504 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo
AMHERST
Schuele Paint Company, 1405 Niagara Falls Blvd, Amherst
ORCHARD PARK
Schuele Paint Company, 3037 Orchard Park Rd, Orchard Park
Realty USA, Orchard Park Office, 6505 E Quaker St, Orchard Park
HAMBURG
Lockwood’s Greenhouses, 4484 Clark Street, Hamburg
Colley’s Pools, 4953 Camp Road, Hamburg
CLARENCE
Schuele Paint Company, 8222 Main Street, Clarence
Italian Marble & Granite, 8526 Roll Road, Clarence Center
Abridged maps, with no garden descriptions will be available online at www.GardenWalkBuffalo.com after July 6.
Maps will be available during the days and hours of Garden Walk Buffalo (Saturday and Sunday, July 24 & 25, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) at our three headquarters locations:
• AIDS Community Services, 206 South Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo
• Buffalo Seminary, 205 Bidwell Parkway, Buffalo
• Richmond Summer Senior Center, corner of Richmond Avenue & Summer Street, Buffalo
Garden Walk Buffalo, the largest garden tour in the U.S., is held the last weekend of July each year. In 2010, the free event will be Saturday and Sunday, July 24 & 25, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. More than 350 residences and businesses throughout the west side of Buffalo open their creative urban gardens for tens of thousands of visitors from around the U.S. and Canada. For more information, visit www.GardenWalkBuffalo.com ( http://gardenwalkbuffalo.com/ ).
(Click on Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to our greater binational Niagara region.)
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