Garden Walk, Buffalo NY

Garden Walk Buffalo is a free, self-guided tour of more than 350 Buffalo gardens, the largest garden tour in America. Held annually on the last weekend of July, this year it will be Saturday and Sunday, July 24 and 25 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Garden Walk has become one of Western New York’s most anticipated summer happenings. 45,000 - 50,000 visitors join us each year, as we show off our city’s beautiful homes and gardens.

Free Lunchtime Speaker Series at the Library

Garden Symposium at Forest Lawn Cemetery

Garden Walk Shuttle Trolley Route

View Full Calendar 23 - Aug 29

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National garden bloggers view Buffalo's unique offerings

A group of 70 gardening bloggers, hailing from 23 states and Canada, is in town this weekend to get a close-up look at the blooming Buffalo garden scene.

The visitors will stop by the Delaware Park Japanese Garden, Urban Roots Community Garden Center and many private gardens. They already are raving online about the trip.

The visit is the third Garden Blogger meet-up, following a trek to Austin, Texas, two years ago and 2009's stop in Chicago.

Charlier and Buffalo Spree Editor Elizabeth Licata, who contributes to the popular Garden Rant blog, went on the Chicago trip and suggested Buffalo as the group's 2010 destination.

Charlier said the bloggers had heard of the success of Garden Walk Buffalo, and it wasn't hard to sell them on a trip here.

"They knew something was going on here, and they were anxious to see what all the fuss was about," he said.

Most of the bloggers are book authors, contributors to magazines and columnists who host blogs such as "Vintage Garden Gal" and "Red Dirt Ramblings."

http://www.buffalonews.com/2010/07/09/1108323/garden-symbolizing-friendship.html

Gallery: Delaware Park Japanese Garden

Garden Tours in Wetern NY

• The Wilson Garden Club will host a three-day garden tour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 9 and July 10 and from noon to 5 p.m. July 11. Pick up a free map at Wilson Garden Farm & Pet, 240 Young St., Wilson. Eight to 10 gardens will be featured, some — but not all — within walking distance to each other. Questions? Call Jill Rohring at 751-6334.

• Orleans County is the site of the second annual Garden Path Garden Tour from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 10. This fundraiser for the Orleans County Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners features seven gardens. Expect to bump into Master Gardeners at the gardens as well as artists working plein air.

The hospitality house is by the Cobblestone Museum, with a tour of the Cobblestone Museum Church by request. Tickets are $15. The Leonard Oakes Winery will host a reception at 5 p.m. tour day for attendees and participants. Tickets are available through Kim Hazel at (585) 798-4265 Ext. 26, or at Sara's Garden Center, 389 East Ave., Brockport.

• Participants in the third annual Orchard Parkway Garden Walk will welcome visitors to downtown Niagara Falls from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 10. The free walk begins at the white welcome tent at the corner of Orchard Parkway and Main Street, Niagara Falls, where information will be available tour day. The Web site: www.orchardparkway.com.

• The Village of Hamburg Sixth Annual Garden Walk and Fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 10 and July 11. Free map guides are available at Memorial Park, corner of Lake and Union streets, Hamburg. Make time to visit the Hamburg Festival of the Arts in the park, where garden vendors will also be set up. The Web site: www.hamburggardenwalk.com.

• The Newstead Historical Society's annual fundraiser Akron in Bloom will showcase Akron-Newstead gardens and several interior home tours as well. It all takes place from noon until 4 p.m. July 11, beginning at the gardens of the Rich-Twinn Octagon House, 145 Main St., Akron.

Tickets are $5 presale, $7 day of tour. Purchase them at Bedford's Greenhouse, 6820 Cedar Street, Akron, or call the Newstead Historical Society at 542-7022.

• The eighth annual Harlem-Kensington-Cleveland Community Association's Garden View in the Snyder and Cleveland Hill neighborhoods runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 11. More than 20 gardens are expected to be in the lineup.

The starting location is at the corner of Darwin Drive and Kensington Avenue, Snyder, in front of the Trillium Courtyard Florist, where maps are available tour day. Donation is $3 per person. For further details, call Joan Schanley at 832-3905 or visit the association's Web site at www.HKCCommunity.com.

• Lockport in Bloom is planned for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 10 and 11. The event is free. The tour originates at the Kenan Center, 433 Locust St., Lockport, and includes more than 40 historic homes and gardens as well as city parks.

• Clarence Garden Club will host the Clarence Hollow Garden Walk on July 17. Tickets and map, $5 will be available at the Clarence Hollow Farmers Market, on Main Street between Ransom and Salt roads between 9 a.m. and noon tour day.

• The first Town of Amherst Garden Tour kicks off from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 17 (rain date is July 18). Maps will be available at the town Web site, www.amherst.ny.us, and applications are being accepted through June 30.

Send an e-mail to gardenwalk@amherst.ny.us or call Supervisor Barry Weinstein's office at 631-7032 for an application.

• The Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 17. The free walk, now in its ninth year, takes place in the University at Buffalo South Campus neighborhoods of University Heights, Eggertsville, Amherst and Buffalo.

More than 60 private and public gardens and spaces will be included. Maps are available during walk hours at: 22 Larchmont Road; 135 Capen Boulevard; 17 Maynard Drive; 38 Brinton St; 201 Minnesota Ave. and 178 Minnesota Ave. You also will be able to pick one up from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the University Community Farmers' Market on Main Street at Kenmore Avenue.

The Web site: www.ourheights.org/gardenwalk.html.

• Grand Island is home to the Historic Trinity Eighth Garden Tour from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 17. Tickets ($15) and map are available day of the tour at Historic Trinity Church, 2100 Whitehaven Road. Presale tickets ($12) are available before July 15 by calling 773-2421 or 773-4946. Proceeds go for the preservation of the Gothic Revival country church.

• The Orchard Park Garden Club's Garden Tour will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 17. Presale tickets can be purchased from club members or at Arthur's Hardware True Value, 6471 West Quaker St., Orchard Park.

They also can be purchased from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. tour day at the Orchard Park Historical Society/Jolls House, 4287 South Buffalo St., Orchard Park, or at the gardens on tour. The $5 donation will be used to support the Orchard Park Garden Club's Scholarship Fund. For additional information call 662-1121 or 674-6430.

• The Lancaster Garden Walk, a free, self-guided tour now in its seventh year, takes place from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. July 17 and 18 throughout the village and town. Free programs with a map and descriptions of all the gardens will be available at the Lakeside Deli (corner of Lake Avenue and Como Park Boulevard), the Broadway Deli (Broadway Street at Central Avenue) and Lancaster and Depew Bees. Learn more at www.lancastergardenwalk.com

• South Buffalo Alive's Annual Tour of Gardens will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 19. Pick up maps ($2 donation) at the Caz Coffee Cafe, 688 Abbott Road, beginning July 16. On tour day, you can find them at the Tim Russert children's garden next to the Dudley Library on South Park Avenue. See www.SouthBuffaloAlive.com.

The Magic of St. John’s Wort

St. John’s wort was once believed to ward off evil spirits and protect from becoming possessed by demons. It is quite possible this belief was correct. In modern times this herb is used to lift mild depression, ease anxieties, help with sleeplessness, and could also have antiviral attributes. The leaves, flowers and stems are used in infusions and in tea. This plant grows prolifically and has gained a bad reputation in some states as a noxious weed, but it is a worthy plant to have in your garden.


The medicinal part of the plant is found in the part of the plant that is above ground. The bright yellow flowers are so pretty to look at and so very good for you when your days are troubled and your nights seem to go on forever. Drinking this tea a couple of times a day for several months to get the benefit of the properties in the plant is recommended. This works slowly, but it does work, as many holistic healers will testify to.

Commercial teas are available, but if you want to make your own from plants that you have grown, you should start by harvesting the flowers, buds, leaves and stems. Dry them in a dry, dark area until the plant has lost all moisture. Wrap about 2 teaspoons of dried plant in cheese cloth and slowly steep in hot water to make the tea. Take note that some individuals may have an increased sensitivity to the sun while taking the herb. Be sure to consult your physician before taking this herb to prevent adverse reactions to prescriptive medicines.

St. John’s wort is not picky about where it grows, as many states have found to their disgust. In a period of dryness, this herb will need supplemental watering. Planting the seeds just one half inch under the soil, in and are that has full to partial sun is the ideal way to get beautiful plants. St. John’s wort is a perennial and comes back every year by self seeding. Fertilizers are only necessary if the soil is very poor.

In order to stop the plant from spreading to areas you don’t want it to grow in, a contained flower bed is the best place to cultivate this herb. Once this herb takes root, it will spread like wild fire and invade cultivated fields. This would be quite upsetting to farmers that do not like using extra herbicides on their fields.

From the time colonists brought this herb to North America to today, the rewards of the pretty flowers and medicinal properties of the plant and flowers has been valued as a natural treatment by holistic healers. This plant is a wonderful addition to any garden and seed is readily available at nurseries and garden stores in most regions. There are states that have made it illegal to sell the seeds because of the invasive properties of the herb. Check your local regulations to see if you can add this wonderful plant to your collection of home grown herbs.