#gardenwriters Archives - Page 3 of 4 - Andrea Whitely Garden Consultant

Sarah Palin once famously said “I can see Russia from my house”, well the residents of Buffalo NY can’t see Russia but they sure can see Canada. I spent about 11 hours in Canada with my GWA, garden communicator friends in August 2017 and what an adventure we had!

We set off from the Convention Centre in Buffalo around 11 am and headed over The Peace Bridge, which is a bridge between Canada and the United States at the east end of Lake Erie at the source of the Niagara River, about 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) upriver of Niagara Falls. from the border. Maybe it’s called this because it’s where Americans go to get “peace” and quiet from the continual barrage of news about President No.45, I’m not 100% sure about that. though. While I would not really say that we were “warmly” greeted by the border guards (we were actually told to be silent)! I can understand why-imagine a busload of very excited garden communicators all lined up with passports in hand, in a room the size of a decent sitting room. I was asked if I was carrying a weapon, this was a first for me I must admit. My camera was my only weapon of choice for this day. Anyway, through we went and there were many oohs and ahhs as we arrived and saw the wondrous Niagara Falls for the first time.

The incredible team of young adults from Niagara Parks guided us through our day which included an experience “behind the falls” where we were actually underneath Niagara Falls (nothing can prepare you for the power and magnitude of that water), a trip to The Royal Botanic Gardens, The Butterfly Conservatory, The School of Horticulture and so much more. We were treated like royalty all day.

The public gardens on display were breathtaking, lush and so beautifully maintained.

Canadian hospitality was the highlight of this trip, there were so many passionate young people sharing their part of the world which was heartwarming for the soul. We were captivated by their enthusiasm.

The finale of our long and jam-packed day in Canada was the meal that we shared together at Queen Victoria Place restaurant. This stunning old building with the most stunning views from the expansive wooden deck, was constructed in 1904 and was the former residence of the Commissioners of Niagara Parks, it was here that something very special happened after a delicious meal and wonderful service and a few glasses of very nice Prosecco with my friend Sylvia, Niagara Falls was lit up. The Canadian Falls were in red and white and the American Falls in red, white and blue and in between the two, the full, red harvest moon rose -what a sight, what a night!

Cheers to a brilliant day-it’s Prosecco o’clock-I honestly did not dress like this on purpose

The harvest moon rising between the two falls

We all left wishing we could spend more time in this beautiful place, just a hop, skip and a jump from US soil.

Thanks to Team Niagara Parks for sharing your beautiful part of the world with GWA-it was a day that this garden communicator will never forget.

I’ve been very fortunate to have seen many private gardens in my life especially during my time as WA Chairman and later West Australian Co-ordinator of Australia’s Open Garden Scheme.

I just returned back home from the USA feeling very grateful indeed after 3 whole weeks of garden visiting-let’s call it, my American garden immersion-more on that later.

There is something very special about the people who open their private garden spaces so that others may share first hand the very personal interpretations and manipulation of nature particularly in an urban setting. There are so many reasons to lock ourselves away these days after hours spent behind desks in stressful jobs so many people travel back home after enduring a long commute, drive in the garage, pull down the roller door and flop into the sanctuary of home, locking the outside world out. Gardeners who share their gardens are the complete opposite, they throw open that garage door and say to the world “come on in and see what I have done”

As part of the recent Garden Writers conference, in Buffalo NY, my garden bestie AZ Plantlady and 350 or so other wonderful garden communicators, many of whom I feel so honoured to now call my friends, spent days exploring about 20 gardens which had opened the previous weekend for Buffalo Garden Walk at which more than 400 (!!) gardens were open in the Buffalo area.

The gardens we visited were mostly within walking distance of each other and ranged from tiny cottages in which the driveways had been converted to container garden spaces to larger homes with areas of lawn and garden borders.

Gardening in this part of the world is a short seasonal thing-while we garden all year round in Perth, these guys go hard at it for only about 4 months of the year due to the frosts and heavy layers of snow-white stuff that falls from the sky and covers the ground-you know what I mean, like the movie Frozen, yes that’s the stuff.

Jim Charlier is one of the members of GWA who also opens his Buffalo garden and I asked him about the gardening season in Buffalo and he has provided some insight into gardening in that part of the world, here’s what Jim had to say “We start in earnest about the second week of May. Our average last frost date is mid-May. Though we’re admiring our tulips and flowering shrubs in April. Adventurous gardeners start earlier. Crazy ones start from seed in the winter months. We garden pretty much through September and some of October – with seasonal mums, tulip bulb planting, and last call for planting trees and shrubs. Depends on weather, obviously. We don’t get a significant snowfall until December usually. Seems like that isn’t happening as much anymore and we don’t get significant snow until January. The plants need the snow cover, and it doesn’t seem as though the past few years that that has even been consistent. November through March is spent thinking about April through October.”

Here’s Jim’s garden… which I must confess is one of my all time favourite small gardens, such wonderful attention to detail and a vignette worth photographing at every turn

Best garden shed I have ever seen…

So, sit back and take a short walk through some of the other beautiful gardens in the cottage district of Buffalo. Do these inspire you to make some changes in your garden?

Tag: #gardenwriters

Niagara Parks-so much more than just Niagara Falls

Small but Mighty-The (not so) Private Gardens of Buffalo