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

Red Monarda, Beebalm, against a turquoise blue door in the backyard of 35 North Pearl Street in Buffalo’s Allentown neighborhood.

This is one of the first gardens I saw in the Allentown neighborhood of Buffalo the afternoon of Thursday, July 8. Perhaps because it was first, it got extra attention. Nevertheless, I think you’ll agree it was worthy of it.

A simple design made practical use of a small, urban backyard. The hub and spoke design creates multiple focal points: a fountain, a chair, and the blue door. This is an important design strategy for making a small space seem bigger, part of our conversation on the “short bus” one afternoon. At the same time, it grants reliable access to most of the flowers beds for maintenance. A strong design like this works even – especially – when flowers are past and leaves are gone. And Buffalo’s notorious snows would highlight it further, when it’s not completely buried.

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Garden Bloggers Buffa10, Buffalo, NY, July 2010