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| On Sunday, July 31st, Amy and I went to Buffalo’s Garden Walk. It is a big event that involves hundreds of gardens and dozens of volunteers. The garden walk gives Buffalo gardeners the chance to show off a wide variety of gardens. Some of the urban gardens were very tiny. The gardeners were able to create great beauty in the small spaces that they had. |
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| We focused on two areas in downtown Buffalo. The first place that we visited was Summer Street and two smaller streets off of Summer Street: Little Summer and Ketchum. The second area that we visited was Johnson Park. The Summer Street area featured beautiful gardens and interesting architecture, with houses dating back to the 1820s. There are very few structures in Buffalo that are older than that. Buffalo was burned down by the British during the War of 1812. The conflagration occurred on December 30th, 1813. British troops, having beaten back the Americans, decided to take revenge for the Americans having burned down the village of Newark. The British got overly excited by plundering and arson. That was the end of Buffalo for the time being. As for Newark, well, it was renamed, and is now known as Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. It is the home of theaters and is an artist’s dream home town. |
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| It was a beautiful summer day. The streets were alive with people exploring gardens. The gardens were full of color and joy. Each garden was different. It was a journey of exploration for humans and for bees. |
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| The houses were as colorful and as creative as the gardens. |
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| A purple house!!! |
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| The gardeners added all sorts of interesting touches to their gardens. |
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| A bumble bee made me think of Laura Elizabeth Richards’ poem: The bumblebee, the bumblebee, He flew to the top of the tulip-tree. He flew to the top, but he could not stop, For he had to get home to his early tea. The bumblebee, the bumblebee, He flew away from the tulip-tree; But he made a mistake, and flew into the lake, And he never got home to his early tea. |
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| Entry to the purple house. |
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| I saw a good number of interesting doors in Buffalo. This was one of the more ornate ones, with some interesting iron grille work. |
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| One of the oldest houses in Buffalo, built in 1829. |
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| Red doors. |
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| Water feature. |
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| A statue is an attractive addition to a garden. This one is quite whimsical. |
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| Rose of Sharon |
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| Doll House |
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| Balloon flower |
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| Upside down bumble bee |
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| This unusual house was built in 1870. It has an odd combination of a red door and orange shutters. Plus, it is painted a light shade of pink. |
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| The incredible purple door. |
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| Built in 1829, this structure still has its original hitching post for visiting or resident horses. |
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| Prepared for rain (which didn’t arrive). |
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| New Phoenix Theatre. |
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| corn growing in the city |
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| Puppet show in Johnson Park. Here, Nik Wallenda is faltering as he walks on a tightrope over the mighty Niagara Falls. |
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| Fortunately, Nik Wallenda does not go over the falls without a barrel. He’s back on track. |
Buffalo has such a bad reputation. I must admit, my only visit was passing through on a Greyhound bus in 1975, traveling from Toronto to Albany. It was nighttime, and it looked depressing and scary. How different now! Beautiful pictures.