5 tips from Botanical Gardens' Spring Flower Show to use in your landscape

entrance to garden at Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens — In your own yard, a trellis can create an entranceway to your garden. Photo by Connie Oswald Stofko

by Connie Oswald Stofko

tulips at Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens — For a spectacular look, plant a mass of spring bulbs. Photo by Connie Oswald Stofko

It’s lovely just to walk around the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens during the Spring Flower Exhibit.

The fragrance of hyacinths scents the air. Spring bulbs that won’t flower in our gardens for a few more weeks are already in bloom. And flowers that might bloom at different times in your garden are all blooming at once, creating a garden fantasy.

And if you look carefully, there are some things you can try in your home garden.

The Spring Flower Exhibit continues until Sunday, April 16 at the Botanical Gardens, 2655 South Park Ave., Buffalo. See details here.

Tip #1: Create an entrance to your garden

A doorway can add interest to your garden because you can’t see everything all at once. It’s the hide-and-reveal motif seen in Japanese gardens like this one in Lancaster. While the Botanical Gardens used a doorway, you could use a trellis.

Tip #2: Mass your plants

A few tulips scattered in your garden are nice, but a mass of flowers is spectacular. Notice that in the raised bed at the Botanical Gardens, each large group is made up of the same flowers, and there are many groups.

When the tulips and other spring bulbs are done, the Botanical Gardens will pull up those plants and install a new exhibit. If you’d like to keep your spring bulbs in your garden for next year, plan to plant other plants around the bulbs.

spring flowers in small pots at Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens — Pots of spring flowers set at various levels creates a spectacular view. Photo by Connie Oswald Stofko

Tip #3: Group several small containers

You don’t have to plant spring bulbs in the ground to get a spectacular look. Group many smaller pots of spring flowers together. This arrangement of pots would be great on a table on your deck. Or set the pots on stands of varying heights on your front lawn.

large containers with tulips at Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens — These two containers use fewer flowers than the grouping of smaller pots, but these large containers make a statement. Photo by Connie Oswald Stofko

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Tip #4: A few flowers in large containers

There are fewer flowers in these two large containers, but they still draw your eye and fill in the space. After the blooms are gone, you can transplant the plants into a garden bed for next year and add summer annuals to your containers.

Flock of All Colors at Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens — A flock of colorful, fabric birds skims the highest branches of trees under the dome at the Botanical Gardens. Photo by Connie Oswald Stofko

bird made by refugee women artisans at Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens — Made by refugee women artisans, the birds represent freedom, enlightenment, hope and wisdom. Photo by Connie Oswald Stofko

Tip #5: Look up

In your own garden, if you never look up, you’ll miss lovely trees and birds.

The same will happen if you don’t look up to see the birds in the Flock of All Colors exhibit, which continues through April 6.

Each large-scale bird is a textile-based sculpture embellished with hand embroidery by refugee women artisans at Stitch Buffalo. The birds represent freedom, enlightenment, hope and wisdom.

See more about this exhibit here.

And look up in your own garden!