by Connie Oswald Stofko
When some people go on a garden walk, they want to visit only the gardens that are clustered closely together.
If you do that on Lockport in Bloom, you’ll miss this treasure. Jan and Craig Powley have seven acres of land– Three acres are horse pasture, and the horses provide a ready supply of manure for the organic flower gardens and vegetable gardens and the remaining acreage.
You can see these gardens in person on the 12th annual Lockport in Bloom from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, July 9 and 10. Maps will be available at the Garden Walk Headquarters at the Kenan Center, 433 Locust St., Lockport. There will also be the Twilight in the Garden evening walk from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday, July 9. (The Powleys’ gardens won’t be on the evening walk.)
While the Powleys have a Lockport mailing address, they’re on 4917 Upper Mountain Rd., which is in Cambria. There might not be a lot of other gardens near them on the walk, but if you make the extra effort, you’ll enjoy what you see and learn a lot.
In the video below, we give you just a peek at the Powleys’ property, which used to be Craig’s grandfather’s farm. Jan and Craig tell us how their organic techniques make their plants happy, they show us the greenhouse Craig made of discarded windows, we hear how they added trees– for free– on what was once a wide-open landscape, and Jan mentions a project she’s doing with the Weavers Guild of Buffalo that uses flowers in the weaving.
Other local garden walks this weekend are:
- The Scene Around Town Garden Walk will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 9 in Springville. Pick up maps at Fiddler’s Green Park, Franklin and S. Buffalo St., Springville. There will also be a free raffle, with prizes donated by Waterman’s Greenhouse.
- The Town of Amherst Garden Walk will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 9. You can pick up maps at Arbordale Nurseries; 480 Dodge Rd., Getzville, Menne Nursery, 3100 Niagara Falls Blvd., Amherst, and at 111 Campus Drive West, Snyder, on the day of the walk.
- The Village of Hamburg Garden Walk, a free, self-guided garden walk, will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, July 9 and 10. Pick up a map at Memorial Park, corner of Lake & Union Streets in the Village of Hamburg. Garden vendors will be in the park both days.
- The Grand Island Garden Walk will be held from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Sunday, July 10. Maps for the tour can be picked up at the Town Commons Gazebo at the corner of Whitehaven and Baseline Rd., Grand Island.
- The Snyder-CleveHill Garden View will be held from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Sunday, July 10. Maps for the tour can be picked up at Trillium’s Courtyard Florist, 2195 Kensington Ave., Amherst.
It’s nice to look at gardens on garden walks, but it’s great when you talk to the gardener. You can learn so many things!
That is interesting that she got seeding clematis. 7 acres of gardens sounds like a nice place to visit. Nice video too, love the horses.