Some things I love about GardenWalk Buffalo

Posted by Susan on December 09, 2006 at 04:03 PM in Everybody's a Critic, Real Gardens

Some things I love about GardenWalk Buffalo, the book and DVD:

• It's gorgeous, classy, and very personal, with looks at real gardens - the best of the 260 - and interviews with real gardeners.
  
  
• It's written by fellow gardenblogger Elizabeth Licata.  Our modest friend is outed in the first photo in this article about the book.  No need for that tiny, shadowy profile photo, Elizabeth - you're looking good!
  
  
• The DVD - how 21st Century! - reminds me of my favorite (long-gone) gardening show, "Gardener's Diary," with Erica Glasener introducing us to inspired, passionate gardeners with wildly individualistic, sometimes quirky gardens.
  
  
• The book includes encouragement and step-by-step help with starting GardenWalks in other cities.
  
  
• Residents of 16th Street brag about having 17 gardens open to visitors in one block. After all, they treat participation in GardenWalk as "part of living in the community."  Also this:  "We have a strong and active block club and we donate a garden to one of our neighbors each year," which is then maintained by 84-year-old Joseph Hopkins  "The gardening on our street is great because we all do it together."  Can I come live on your street next summer?
  
  
• The DVD begins with a participant's reaction to the event:  "How many weekends can you be complimented all weekend long?"  I think I could withstand a few myself; isn't that a gardener's dream?
  
  
• Participant David Bender, whose back yard was once concrete-and-turf, describes the results of his garden makeover:  "It's another way of living.  It's a plane of being that puts television to shame.  There's nothing on television I've ever seen that compares to what goes on in the garden in terms of quality of image, shape, liveliness and excitement."  He wishes he'd done it 20 years ago but hey - just do it!  In fact, "You need to do it soon.  Don't bother to buy that SUV; buy a garden instead."
  
  
• Great photography, great writing, insight into great neighborhoods in a city that seems to be on the upswing.
  
  
• Buy either or both here.

So now I'm asking myself:  Could D.C. ever have a GardenWalk?  Maybe, if these winning promotional pieces are put in the hands of the right people.   And I suppose some neighborhoods already have garden tours as fundraisers and wouldn't appreciate the competition, while others could really use the boost.  Maybe open gardens could even be combined with arts, crafts and performances, the way it's done in Chicago.  Nice!