It's mid-autumn, and I'm still reflecting on July's amazing Garden Fling in Buffalo, N.Y.! Our final day included visits to
Draves Arboretum, Frank Lloyd Wright's
Martin House, several private gardens, and a self-guided walking tour of Buffalo's
Cottage District.
Lasting memories of this last day of the Fling include the homes, themselves, and the gardeners' plant choices that so artfully complimented Buffalo's architecture. Other highlights included:
The Draves Arboretum, home to a tree collection including more than 900 woody species from around the world.
The arboretum is a luscious 30-acre property, featuring peaceful wooded pathways, and open areas with water features and wetland plants.
It was fun to explore the many tree varieties, including Redbud cultivars (
Cercis canadensis),
Bottlebrush Buckeye (
Aesculus parviflora), and
This Sweetgum cultivar (
Liquidambar styraciflua), which I believe was 'Variegata.'
Next, we headed to the beautiful home and property of Brenda Fox:
The house, featuring pointed arches along the roof line, was beautifully designed and landscaped.
This fun, tunneled pathway and arbor connected unique garden "rooms."
A simple rock-bordered micro garden gave me ideas for future garden plans.
A quaint garden shed was surrounded by more expertly placed rock borders and fun plants and shrubs.
This winged, horned gothic statue seemed perfectly at home in its spot.
Even the work areas included artful, resting benches and impressive trees.
Next, we headed to Joseph Bove's "Bove Grove," an English arts and craftsman-style property and private garden:
It included another nifty cottage-style garden shed.
A beautiful Rose arbor was flanked by towering Hollyhocks (
Alcea rosea).
And an artful, rounded trellis was crowned with a gazing ball.
My favorite part of this garden was the alley arbor:
Flanked by beautiful, lush Roses.
The Bove property also boasted an impressive display of Dahlias.
Next, at midday, we visited Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House, designed and built in the early 20th century and restored in 2019:
I'd visited this house and many other Wright-designed buildings in the past, but this time I focused on the plants and their placement surrounding the building. It gave me a new appreciation for the lines and geometry of Wright's vision.
The landscaping made it feel welcoming to visitors.
At the same time it drew the eye to the angles and creative features of Wright's design.
Some areas were simple and sparse.
Other areas celebrated the lacy effects of plants as "dressings" for the building's simple "prairie style." Examples included Lilies (
Lilium var.) and Big Leaf Geraniums (
G. macrorrhizum).
A perfectly placed line of Astilbes (
A. chinensis) dressed this little corner setting of the house.
If you have a chance to visit Buffalo, N.Y., in the summertime, I highly recommend it. Thanks, again, to this year's organizers and to the
Fling sponsors! (For more information on this and future Flings, visit the
Garden Fling website.)
