When Carol Franklin is outside watering her garden on Prospect Avenue in Buffalo, people will stop and tell her what a good job she’s doing.
They don’t expect to find city areas to look as good as this, she explained, but you can have a great garden wherever you are.
“Bloom where you are planted,” Franklin said.
I visited Franklin this July during Garden Walk Buffalo. Her welcoming front garden wraps around the side of the house and can be enjoyed from the street.
In the backyard, she enjoys having parties and cookouts. A striking feature of the backyard is the lovely table at left. It was all beat up, but she decided she could use it outside. A friend helped her paint it.
“Everybody is different and every garden is different,” Franklin said. “Add some personality and make it your own.”
Having a garden like Franklin’s takes time and effort.
“It doesn’t happen overnight,” she said. “This is a work in progress. You have to just keep at it. It doesn’t seem as hard when you love it.”
She finds that working in her garden is a way of meditating, relaxing and praying.
“A garden becomes a part of you,” Franklin said. “I do it for the joy I get out of it.”
Photos by Connie Oswald Stofko
One I missed, but will make sure not to next year.