In July, I headed to Buffalo, New York for the 2026 Garden Fling, a multi-day garden tour that brings together garden writers, designers, photographers and creators from all over the country.

I’ve been attending The Fling for several years now. And, one of my favorite things about it is seeing how different gardens can be from one host city to the next. Buffalo has a HUGE garden culture and this year’s itinerary gave us a really interesting mix.

Our mornings were spent touring individual private gardens in the suburbs and surrounding areas. Then, in the afternoons, we headed into Buffalo neighborhoods for self-guided walking tours. This gave us a chance to see both larger suburban properties and the incredibly compact city gardens Buffalo is known for.

And, as always, I came home with approximately 5,000 photos and plenty of new garden ideas to share with you.

🌿 Friday – Southtowns Gardens & Allentown

We kicked things off Friday morning south of Buffalo with three very different private gardens.

John & Carole Hajnosz

Our first stop was John and Carole Hajnosz’s one-acre shade garden in Hamburg.

This garden has been evolving since 1989 and is FILLED with plants. There are winding brick, slate and grass pathways leading through specimen trees, conifers, shrubs and an enormous hosta collection. The property has more than 500 named hostas, which gives you some idea of the scale we’re talking about here.

What I really enjoyed was how deep the property was. You just kept walking farther and farther into the garden with paths pulling you into the next space.

This was definitely a foliage-lover’s garden. With so much shade, texture, leaf size, shape and color were doing a lot of the heavy lifting.

It was a great reminder that a shade garden absolutely does NOT have to be boring.

Wendy & Jeff Leyonmark

Next we visited Wendy and Jeff Leyonmark’s property, which they’ve been developing as a suburban farm since 2020.

And this really was a working farm tucked into a residential neighborhood. They grow vegetables and fruit, keep chickens and have orchards alongside their ornamental gardens.

Of course, I tend to immediately start looking at the ornamental plantings.

There were lots of strong structural plants throughout the garden and some really nice color combinations. I especially liked seeing how they balanced the productive areas of the property with spaces that still felt decorative and intentional.

Gardens don’t always have to be JUST ornamental or JUST productive. This was a great example of both living together on the same property.

Beth & Nick Buscaglia – Double the View

Our last private garden of the morning was Beth and Nick Buscaglia’s Lake Erie waterfront property, appropriately named Double the View.

This property stretches about 300 feet from the road all the way down to Lake Erie and includes an English-style garden along with shade plantings and ornamental garden areas.

There were so many little things tucked into the borders here.

Bird cages, sculptures, architectural pieces and garden art created little vignettes throughout the property. I also got a kick out of the metal dog statues.

These kinds of details are something I always notice on garden tours because they tell you so much about the people who actually live there. The plants may create the garden, but those personal touches are what make it feel like YOUR garden.

And having Lake Erie as the backdrop certainly didn’t hurt.

Lunch at Murray’s Hosta Farm

We stopped for lunch at Murray’s Hosta Farm in Orchard Park, where we were also free to wander around the gardens.

The property includes six acres of mature hostas, shade and sun perennials, specialty trees and whimsical garden art.

After spending the morning in several hosta-heavy gardens, this felt very on-brand for Buffalo.

Exploring the Allentown Gardens

Friday afternoon was our first taste of something Buffalo does particularly well: neighborhood garden walks.

Instead of getting back on the bus between every property, we were dropped off in Allentown and given a map of gardens we could visit on foot. The participating gardens were tucked into the neighborhood, often behind historic homes and in spaces you would never know existed from the street.

One tiny design moment that immediately caught my attention was at 38 North Pearl Street.

There was a red chair sitting beside a mass of green hostas and I loved the color combination. Red and green are a complementary color scheme, so even though this was incredibly simple, the chair absolutely POPPED against all that foliage.

This is exactly the kind of thing I photograph on garden tours.

Sometimes the best idea isn’t an elaborate planting combination. It’s just one small decision that makes everything around it look better.

We also visited the garden of Elizabeth Licata and Alan Bigelow at 56 North Pearl Street. Elizabeth is one of the organizers of the Buffalo Fling, so it was fun getting to see her own garden after benefiting from all of the work that went into planning the weekend.

Her garden wraps around three sides of their Victorian home with incredibly dense plantings, water features, sculpture, pots and vines.

The entire Allentown walk was a great introduction to just how much garden Buffalo homeowners manage to squeeze into city properties.

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🌸 Saturday – Northtowns Gardens & Elmwood Village

Saturday morning brought another round of private gardens, this time north of the city.

Shirley Verrico

We started at Shirley Verrico’s garden in Williamsville.

From the street, this looks like a fairly typical suburban property with a lot of lawn. But the garden beds running around the property are anything but typical.

I really liked the foundation planting here.

There was a strong use of repeated color throughout the plantings, which helped everything feel cohesive even though there were lots of different plants.

There was also a really nice pergola in the backyard that helped define the outdoor space.

Repetition is one of those deceptively simple garden design tricks that works almost every time. You don’t need to repeat the exact same plant over and over. Repeating a COLOR can be enough to pull an entire garden together.

Jay Jinge Hu – Le Petit Matin

Jay Jinge Hu’s garden was one of those places where there was something interesting everywhere you looked.

The property sits beside Amherst State Park and is filled with mixed borders, casual seating areas and small garden vignettes designed as places to pause and spend time.

I loved the way Jay incorporated his work area into the garden. It was clearly an important functional part of the property, but it still felt separated from the more relaxing garden spaces.

There were sculptures, seating areas, containers and SO many annuals.

The whole property was incredibly well cared for. You could tell how much time and energy goes into maintaining it.

Beth & Brian Kreutzer – Dragon’s Den

Next was Beth and Brian Kreutzer’s Dragon’s Den, a garden they’ve been working on for more than two decades.

I knew I was going to like this one when I saw the path of zinnias leading toward the front door.

The backyard had multiple water features, including a koi pond with bridges, along with a large silver maple and a pergola that created a beautiful shady gathering area. The official garden description even encourages visitors to sit beneath the pergola and listen to the water or watch the koi.

There was also plenty of whimsical garden art.

My favorite were these little statues wearing sunglasses. They were ridiculous in the best possible way.

Craig Coyne & Gary DeNezza

Our final private garden of the morning surrounded a gorgeous 1924 stone English cottage.

The house itself was such a huge part of the experience here.

Craig Coyne and Gary DeNezza have spent about 25 years restoring the property and enlarging the garden beds so they’re better proportioned to the home. The front has a more formal feel while the backyard transitions into curving cottage-style beds.

There were lots of hostas and daylilies throughout the property, but I may have been equally obsessed with the garden shed in the backyard. Most people I toured with were, also.

Sometimes an outbuilding can become as much of a focal point as any plant.

And this one worked beautifully with the cottage itself.

Silo City Tour

Around midday, we headed to Silo City, a former industrial site in Buffalo’s grain elevator district.

This was much more than a lunch stop.

We toured the property and learned about the restoration work happening there, including efforts to regenerate the landscape, improve the soil and reintroduce native plants.

We also saw some of the art installations throughout the site, visited the greenhouses and walked through the native meadow areas. The Fling program describes Silo City as a formerly abandoned industrial landscape being restored through composting, native plantings, seed collection and propagation.

It was such a different experience from the private residential gardens we had been visiting all morning.

I really enjoyed seeing how a place with such an industrial history could be reimagined as something ecological, creative and surprisingly beautiful.

It also broke up the day in a really interesting way because we went from highly personal home gardens to this massive, post-industrial landscape that was being restored on a completely different scale.

Walking Through Elmwood Village

After lunch, we headed into Elmwood Village for another self-guided neighborhood walk.

One of the highlights for me was visiting Jim Charlier’s garden. Jim was one of the organizers of this year’s Fling, and his garden is also a longtime favorite on Garden Walk Buffalo.

Jim is a graphic designer by trade, and honestly, it shows.

There’s a really strong sense of composition throughout the garden. Color, repetition, focal points and little visual surprises all feel very intentional without making the space feel overly designed.

And then there’s the shed. It may be one of the cutest garden sheds I’ve ever seen.

Jim created a whimsical Harry Potter-themed garden around it, complete with playful details that make the whole area feel a little magical. It makes even more sense when you learn that Jim co-wrote Harry Potter: Herbology Magic, a book filled with botanical projects and gardens inspired by the Wizarding World.

He’s also co-author of Buffalo-Style Gardens, which celebrates the quirky, creative and highly personal gardens Buffalo has become known for.

His own garden is pretty much the perfect example of that.

It’s colorful. It’s playful. It has a point of view.

And there’s absolutely no mistaking whose garden you’re standing in.

That was something I kept noticing throughout Buffalo.

These weren’t gardens designed to appeal to everyone. They reflected the personalities of the people who created them, which made them SO much more interesting to visit.

The rest of our Elmwood Village walk continued through gardens tucked around historic homes, narrow side yards and surprisingly lush backyards.

I really liked the freedom of these afternoon walks.

Instead of everyone funneling through the same garden at the same time, you could move at your own pace, linger when something caught your attention and wander on when you were ready.

And because these were real city neighborhoods, the gardens weren’t isolated showpieces. You were seeing them in context with the houses, sidewalks, porches and neighboring properties.

That made the whole experience feel much more like exploring than touring.

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🌳 Sunday – Arboretum, Country Gardens & Buffalo’s Cottage District

Sunday started very differently from the previous two mornings.

Instead of heading straight into private gardens, we began at an arboretum.

Draves Arboretum

Draves Arboretum in Darien is home to more than 900 different woody plant species from around the world. It’s also a Level III ArbNet Accredited Arboretum and an American Conifer Society Reference Garden.

We were lucky enough to get a tour from one of the owners, and this ended up being fascinating.

I learned a lot about the plant trade, including how new species and varieties are found, identified and eventually introduced.

We also talked about ways to identify woody plants beyond the obvious things like leaves and flowers. One example was looking at the pith inside a branch, which was something I hadn’t really thought about before.

And then there were the smells.

We smelled yellow birch, which has that wintergreen scent traditionally associated with birch beer, along with a magnolia that smelled like lemon.

There was also a toothache tree with its own unusual sensory experience.

I saved the arboretum map because there was WAY too much information to absorb in one visit.

Brenda Fox – Gargoyle Gardens

Next we visited Brenda Fox’s country garden in East Pembroke.

This was a large property divided into several distinct garden areas, including color-themed perennial beds and a woodland hosta garden beneath mature maple trees. The garden includes red, purple, yellow and white planting areas along with more than 100 hosta varieties.

One of the things that really stood out to me was the number of arbors.

There were rows of them leading you through different areas, which almost gave portions of the property the feeling of walking through a cut flower or vegetable garden.

I especially liked a bed near the house filled with yellow flowers and foliage.

There were also gargoyle statues appearing throughout the garden, which gave the property its own very recognizable personality.

Joseph Bove – The Bove Grove

Our final private garden stop was Joseph Bove’s three-acre property, The Bove Grove.

The gardens surround a 1920 Sears Craftsman bungalow and include several English Arts & Crafts-inspired elements along with some incredible mature trees, including trees more than 100 years old.

There was a lot to see here.

I particularly liked the foundation plantings around the house, especially the border running along the side of the home and the plantings surrounding the back porch.

Those areas felt really established and helped connect the house to the landscape.

The property also included an English parterre, hydrangea allée, pergolas, arbors, trellises and several different hedges.

It was another good reminder of how much structure can influence the way you experience a large property.

Lunch at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House

Lunch was at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House, where we also had a chance to see the restored landscape.

The historic gardens were restored in 2019 based partly on correspondence showing how important the landscape was to Darwin and Isabelle Martin. The property includes a pergola, courtyard gardens, perennial borders and the floricycle, an arc of seasonal blooms wrapping around the east verandah.

I REALLY enjoyed the borders behind the house.

They were designed with four-season interest in mind, so naturally I was paying attention.

There was plenty happening in the garden while we were there, but you could also see how the plantings were structured to keep the space interesting beyond peak bloom.

That is always something I notice.

Touring Buffalo’s Cottage District

We finished the Fling in Buffalo’s Cottage District.

And this was probably the most distinctly Buffalo part of the entire weekend.

The neighborhood is filled mostly with 19th-century workers’ cottages, many sitting on extremely small lots. It’s also considered the heart of Buffalo’s enormous annual Garden Walk.

These gardens were TINY.

And they were packed.

Plants filled hellstrips, narrow side yards, front gardens, little back patios and basically any other scrap of soil somebody could find.

Some of these gardens were absolutely beautiful.

One of my favorites had a bright red garage door surrounded by green planting. I’ve actually used photos of this garden in some of my presentations before, so it was really fun to finally stand there and see it in person.

Then there was the garden with the coleus. Hundreds of them.

The garden uses an enormous number of annual plugs each year to create its display, so this is not exactly a low-maintenance situation.

It was completely over the top and VERY fun to see.

I cannot even imagine what it costs to buy that many coleus every year, but the effect is certainly memorable.

The Cottage District was a really fitting place to end the trip because it completely flips the idea that you need a giant property to create an interesting garden.

These homeowners are doing an incredible amount with very, very little space.

💡 Garden Design Takeaways from Buffalo

Every Fling leaves me thinking about something a little different.

Buffalo really had me thinking about space, structure and personality.

Here are a few ideas I brought home with me:

• Small gardens can have enormous personality. Some of the tiniest city gardens were among the most memorable because every inch had been considered.
• Shade gardens can be just as beautiful. Many of the smaller city gardens we visited were part shade or even full shade, and they were still lush, layered and full of interest. You absolutely do not need full sun to create a beautiful garden.
• Foliage combinations matter. Between all of the hostas, shade gardens and foliage-heavy plantings, Buffalo was a great reminder that flowers are only one piece of the puzzle.
• Use vertical space. Pergolas, arbors, trellises and other structures appeared throughout many of the gardens we visited. These vertical elements helped define spaces, create focal points and add another layer of interest without taking up much ground space.
• Garden structures aren’t just decoration. Pergolas, sheds, arches, bridges and even garage doors became important visual anchors throughout these gardens.
• Add something that makes the garden unmistakably yours. Metal dogs, gargoyles, statues wearing sunglasses, bird cages, sculptures and garden art were everywhere. Buffalo gardeners are NOT afraid of a little personality.

I noticed this same pattern while visiting Memphis gardens as well… And maybe that’s the biggest takeaway:

The gardens I remember most aren’t necessarily the ones with the rarest plants or biggest budgets. They’re the ones where you can tell EXACTLY who lives there.

If you’re interested in creating a garden space that’s UNIQUELY YOU, I have created a Garden Style Mood Board Workshop to help you get those ideas out of your head and actually implement them into your landscape!

🙏 A Huge Thank You

Garden Fling weekends require an incredible amount of planning.

The Buffalo organizers created a really thoughtful itinerary that allowed us to experience larger suburban and rural properties while also getting a taste of the neighborhood garden walks that have become such an important part of Buffalo’s gardening culture. That morning/afternoon format was intentional from the beginning of the event planning.

A huge thank-you to the Buffalo Fling committee, Elizabeth Licata, Jim Charlier and Shirley Verrico, along with the bus captains and volunteers who kept all of us moving in roughly the correct direction for three straight days.

And, of course, thank you to every homeowner who opened their garden to a busload of plant-obsessed strangers.

Private garden tours like this only happen because people are willing to share spaces they’ve spent years, and sometimes decades, creating.

Buffalo Fling Sponsors & Supporters

Thank you as well to the businesses and organizations that helped support the 2026 Buffalo Fling, including Visit Buffalo, CobraHead, Maxsea, My Patio Tree, Nuts for Natives, Tula Hats, Proven Winners ColorChoice, PickleWix, Experience Memphis Gardens, GardenRant, Hoselink, Planta, Timber Press and Put A Plant On It.

#visitbuffalo #mypatiotree #cobrahead #provenwinners #maxsea #nutsfornatives #tulahats #putaplantonit #gardenrant #hoselink #plantaapp #picklewix #timberpress #cooperyounggardenclub #gardensbuffaloniagara #BuffaloFling26 #gardenfling #eriebasinmarina #gardenfling26

Wrapping Up

Three days. A LOT of gardens. An unreasonable number of photos.

Sounds about right.

What I loved most about Buffalo was seeing such a wide range of gardens packed into one weekend.

We wandered through acre-sized shade gardens and tiny city lots. We toured working suburban farms, collector gardens, cottage gardens, historic landscapes and an arboretum filled with plants from around the world.

But I think Buffalo’s little neighborhood gardens are what will stick with me most.

They’re proof that you don’t need acres of property to create something personal, layered and completely memorable.

If you ever have the chance to attend a garden walk or local garden tour, GO. In fact, Buffalo holds it’s own garden walk every July where you can visit some of the same gardens I’ve shared in this post. It’s actually America’s largest garden tour!

Seeing gardens in person gives you ideas you simply don’t get from scrolling through perfectly cropped photos online.

And yes, you will probably come home wanting to redo half your yard.

More Garden Tours to Enjoy

• 
  Garden by Garden: My 3-Day Journey Touring Gardens Across Buffalo, NY
  A 3-day garden tour through Buffalo filled with creative small-space gardens, lush plantings, whimsical details and plenty of inspiration from both suburban and city gardens.
• 
  Garden by Garden: My 5-Day Journey Through the 2025 Memphis Garden Fling
  A 5-day garden tour through Memphis filled with inspiration, native plantings, and personal touches in every public and private garden we visited.
• 
  Cooper-Young Garden Walk – Lessons from Touring 80 Memphis Home Gardens
  The Cooper-Young Garden Walk in Memphis Tennessee was a great experience for any garden lover. Here are photos, takeaways and ways you can implement these ideas into your own garden.
• 
  Working with Landscape Designers Without Settling for Their Vision (Marte’s Story)
  After 3 years and 4 different landscapers, the Design Your 4 Season Garden course helped Marte nail down exactly what she wanted from her garden designers.
• 
  Garden Tour: Melissa’s Magical Shade Garden
  Using the framework she learned in the Design Your 4 Season Garden Course, Melissa transformed her backyard space into her dream landscape. Lets take a tour of her magical gardens.

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