A look back at everything we grew, hosted, toured, celebrated, and shared.
By Jim Charlier
As Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com (BNG) and Gardens Buffalo Niagara (BNG)—I know, it’s confusing!—looks forward to 2027, we wanted to take a look at the season just slowly coming to an end now.
It’s been a year filled with gardens, gardeners, and good things growing.
Open Gardens Spring Weekend Tour
Sixteen of Open Gardens’ nearly 90 gardens opened for touring in mid-May, giving eager garden lovers the chance to see spring blooms and fresh growth before it faded in the summer. Deemed a success despite the rainy weather, the event will happen again in 2027.
Spring Into Season Party
The annual kickoff party for the gardeners, volunteers, organizers, and Lunenfeld Grant recipients (photo #1) took place on April 19 at the Buffalo Zoo with a talk and tour by its Director of Horticulture and Grounds, Nathan Huff (photo #2).
Special recognition went out to Connie Oswald Stofko (left in photo #3 with volunteer Pam Rose, right), founder of the region’s only online garden magazine, Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com. After 14 years of running this one-woman show, Connie retired this year with much appreciation from the community she helped establish.
Garden Art Sale
The 15th annual Garden Art Sale, held in partnership with the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens on the last weekend of June, had flawless weather and hosted 72 vendors from seven states.
Thousands of visitors found one-of-a-kind art for their gardens while enjoying live music, food trucks, kids’ activities, plant societies and educators, and a popular garden art raffle of items donated by the vendors.
New in 2027: a 9 a.m. start both days instead of 10 a.m.!
Open Gardens
Ever-growing visitors to Open Gardens were treated to nearly 90 exceptional gardens—in its 16th year—throughout Erie and Niagara Counties on Thursdays and Fridays in July. This year, that was eight days of tours! The Thursday and Friday before Garden Walk Buffalo weekend were especially busy.
Many visitors commented about the more relaxed days of tours with no crowds, diverse gardens, extended daytime hours, and time to meet gardeners and ask questions—things not as easily done on the 17 neighborhood weekend tours over the course of six weeks in the summer.
Plus, new Spring Weekend and Night Lights tours were added. The Open Gardens committee is already cooking up new tours and exciting opportunities for you in 2027!
GBN Conservation Day at Bidwell Farmers Market
GBN Conservation Day, in its seventh year, was held in mid-July during the popular Elmwood Village Farmers Market. It featured around 25 environmental organizations to help visitors learn about local wildlife, birds, pollinators, soil health, composting, and more. See the list of organizations here.
Conservation “Tent Talks” held short presentations on topics from bat habitats to ecological justice. Oh, and also new this year, the weed-munching goats of Let’s Goat Buffalo were around to entertain the kids (and more than a few adults).
2026 Buffalo Garden Fling
The Buffalo Garden Fling, a private tour for online garden content creators, happened in Buffalo in July. Organized by locals Elizabeth Licata, Jim Charlier, and Shirley Verrico, the 17th annual event attracted 72 attendees from 28 states and Canada. Held annually in a different city each year, attendees are introduced to a new city’s gardens and gardeners—and share their visit and experiences with their audiences—in total, potentially reaching millions of followers.
The group is made up of bloggers, podcasters, YouTubers, online educators, Substackers, and social media mavens. The three-day weekend featured 32 garden visits, including gardens in the Northtowns, Southtowns, and walking tours of select gardens in Allentown, Elmwood Village, and the Cottage District.
The group was also hosted by Murray’s Hosta Farm, Draves Arboretum, Silo City, the Erie Basin Marina Trial Garden, The Martin House, as well as Duende, Sully’s Harbor Bar, and the Twentieth Century Club of Buffalo. To view a list of blogs, short videos and social media posts, visit here. To view a list of attendees, visit here. In 2027, the group heads to Portland, OR.
East Side Garden Walk
Aside from threat of rain and a day of Canadian fire smoke-filled air, the ninth annual East Side Garden Walk was enjoyed by all. With more than 100 gardens, a new headquarters on Dempster Street, live music at Michigan Avenue’s Roswell Park Community Outreach & Engagement Center, Artists in Gardens painting live, painting your own painting with the Buffalo Society of Artists and Niagara Frontier Plein Air Painters, there were also free school backpacks handed out. Mark your calendars for Saturday and Sunday, July 17 and 18, 2027!
Garden Walk Buffalo
The grandaddy of garden tours, Garden Walk Buffalo had stellar weather in its 32nd year. Tens of thousands of visitors stopped by more than 300 gardens. It’s anecdotal, but most gardeners we talked to said there are more and more visitors coming from across the nation than ever before. Shuttle buses with Explore Buffalo guides pointing out architectural sites and sharing history along the way are always a hit.
Would you like to join the committee and help plan America’s largest garden tour? You don’t have to live in Buffalo; the current co-chairs of the event live in Cheektowaga and Kenmore! To volunteer, visit here.
Lunenfeld Beautification Grants
In 2026, Gardens Buffalo Niagara’s (GBN’s) Lunenfeld Beautification Grants were allocated to a record-breaking $39,695 across 33 public green spaces to block clubs and community groups throughout the city of Buffalo.
This year’s funding came from the Buffalo Together Community Response Fund and revenue derived from donors, grants, and sponsors of the 2026 season, as well as from the GBN’s Garden Art Sale and Open Gardens, and other revenue-generating events.
Named after Garden Walk Buffalo’s founder, Marvin Lunenfeld, the grant program has provided more than $200,000 for 300+ beautification projects for block clubs and community groups throughout Buffalo since 2004. View 2026 and past award recipients here.
Artists in Gardens
In its fourth year, Artists in Gardens is an experience where art and gardens grow together—local artists creating live work in Buffalo Niagara gardens. Presented in partnership with Buffalo Arts Studio, more than 25 artists painted, sketched, played, and create at different GBN events throughout the season.
Most participants are young people and individuals from underrepresented communities, selected to create an interactive environment where they can showcase their art, engage with the public, earn income, and build their professional portfolios and résumés.
Open Gardens Night Lights Tour
A first-time event, Open Gardens Night Lights Tour, was held the last Friday of July to close out the Open Gardens season. 26 gardens participated from Gasport to Eden.
Visitors and enthusiasm were high so we’ll do it again in 2027! There was even a sold-out motor coach tour to six Northtown gardens after dark that night—and visits to a native plant store AND a brewery! Look for more specialty tours for Open Gardens in 2027!
Urban Farm Day
It was a beautiful Saturday for August’s Urban Farm Day—more than 20 urban farms to tour for free. Urban farms and related farm infrastructure of all types—mushroom, produce, and family farms; a compost facility, community gardens, and more. As in the previous five years, classes, guided tours, and workshops took place over the day—from food equity to home brewing, from community bakes to foraging, and many others. To see the list of participating gardens and talks and workshops, visit here.
But wait—there was more!
In May, Fruition Seeds partnered with GBN on a unique event featuring regionally adapted seeds.
In June, The West Side Bazaar hosted GBN’s Bartending for a Cause, where GBN Executive Director Audrey Clark served drinks and all tips collected that evening went to GBN.
GBN outreach brought long-time supporter, Niagara District Council Member David A. Rivera, to visit gardens in the Cottage District.
GBN also held its first Blooms & Brews fundraiser at the Chandler Street Breweries. 90+ people attended, many of them visitors from out of town who were in Buffalo for four days of garden tours between Open Gardens and Garden Walk Buffalo.
Smoldered Society Brewery—one of the Chandler Street breweries—created a beer just for Gardens Buffalo Niagara: Pollinator Pils, featuring a can design by gardener and designer Jim Charlier. The brew was available for a limited time at both Lexington Coop locations and at Chandler Street.
And in August, Explore Buffalo held separate sold-out bike and bus tours to Urban Farm Day gardens.
Add to all that, there was setting up info tables at other area garden and public events—Plantasia, Juneteenth, The Buffalo Cherry Blossom Festival, and for the first time, Rochester’s Lilac Festival. It’s no wonder we appreciate our staff and volunteers!
Other exciting news…
Gardens Buffalo Niagara is now carrying on the legacy of Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com, Western New York’s only online publication dedicated to local gardeners. Now in its 15th year, the magazine was founded by Connie Oswald Stofko, who recently retired and entrusted it to GBN.
For you, that means even more gardening inspiration, information and local connections in one place. The magazine is published monthly and features practical advice, inspiring gardens, local gardening news, upcoming events, and stories relevant to Western New York gardeners. Most articles are free to everyone, with a selection of premium stories available to paid subscribers.
And this is just the beginning. GBN plans to add new features and content in the coming year, giving you even more reasons to visit Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com throughout the gardening season.
Jim Charlier is co-author of Harry Potter, Herbology Magic (Insight Editions, 2023) and Buffalo Style Gardens (St. Lynn’s Press, 2019). He is a speaker on garden tourism and design, a member of GardenComm International, and a longtime garden blogger at ArtofGardening.org. He is a co-founder and former VP of Gardens Buffalo Niagara (GBN), chair of GBN’s Garden Art Sale, and a past president of Garden Walk Buffalo. His photography has appeared in dozens of garden magazines and books.
