Flatbush Gardener: Garden Stumbling: More of Buffalo's North Pearl Street

Part of Garden Bloggers Buffa10, Buffalo, NY, July 2010

9 (right) and 17 North Pearl Street, Buffalo, NY

The first official event of Buffa10 was a Thursday afternoon cocktail reception, appropriately held in the Gardening While Intoxicated garden of Elizabeth Licata, one of our hosts for Buffa10, and 1/4 of the Gang of Four behind Garden Rant. Before, during and after, we were invited to wander - the Garden Stumble - the neighborhood's streets, admire the architecture, and visit several of the gardens opened for us in a preview of Buffalo's justly famed Garden Walk, happening this weekend.

For those attending Buffa10, North Pearl Street was our gateway to the architecture and gardens of Buffalo, a prelude to the abundance we would enjoy throughout the weekend. Front yards were mostly populated entirely by gardens. This front yard at 82 North Pearl Street was typically lush, with Hydrangea quercifolia (Oak-Leaf Hydrangea), Hosta, Hemerocallis, tall Lilium and Achillea, Bergenia, Lavandula, and many more species and varieties. I especially liked the use of Matteucia struthiopteris, Ostrich Fern, whose arching exclamations give movement to the garden more typically provided by tall ornamental grasses.

The few lawns were more often surrounded by gardens, like this one.
45 North Pearl Street, Allentown Area, Buffalo, NY

Glam Shots

A lovely Rudbeckia in a sunny front-yard garden.

Rudbeckia, 9 North Pearl Street, Buffalo, NY

Lysimachia clethroides, Gooseneck Loosestrife, native to China and Japan, common in Buffalo gardens.

Lysimachia ciliata, Fringed Loosestrife, native to North America, which I've never seen before this, nicely used in a wide, shaded bed between sidewalk and curb. It's a charming wildflower, one for which I now must find an excuse to grow in my own native plant garden.