When a good idea gets to be a great idea, you want to brag about it. Ever since the Garden Walk Bufffalo has been around, the hype, both locally and nationally, has grown. The roots of the Garden Walk are strong, and every new garden season helps to create a more vibrant sense of place for the city.
This year marks a particularly significant milestone in the life of the Garden Walk. 2104 is the 20 year anniversary of the event. In order to pay tribute to this track-record, a 60-page, glossy, magazine-style publication has been produced that will be unveiled at the upcoming Plantasia garden and landscape show. The commemorative book is positioned to be a collector’s item, as it features prolific local garden experts and writers including Sally Cunningham, Elizabeth Licata, Connie Oswald Stofko as well as Rochester’s Jane Milliman.
Along with spotlighting Buffalo’s vast garden community, the magazine also gives tips on the best plants for Buffalo, how to plant tough urban spaces, preparing for the garden tour, and a couple of my favorites: what to do with hellstrips (the area between sidewalk and road), and how to plant grassless front yards (something that we just don’t see enough of).
Editor-in Chief (and designer) for the publication is Jim Charlier. Photographers include Don Zinteck, with copy editing by Cheryl Bell. The magazine is printed right here in Buffalo and will soon be available at Western New York Tops and Wegmans grocery stores (for $10), along with select bookstores, garden centers, and gift shops (coming in April). GardenWalkBuffalo.com is taking pre-orders at this time.
Proceeds from the book are designated to the Garden Walk and all of the community garden-related endeavors that it promotes and funds through Marvin Lunenfeld Beautification Grants. Since 2005 the Garden Walk has financially supported over 70 beautification projects in Buffalo. Thanks to the more than 370 residential gardens that comprise the event, Buffalo leads the way with the largest garden tour in America – a distinction that helps us to promote this city as flowery destination throughout the summer months. This magazine will go a long way towards helping to share the collective garden knowhow that we have learned over the last 20 years. Talk about flower power!