Buffalo? Why? continued

Saturday dawned bright and sunny.  Once again Lee and I opted to drive and once again we set out before the buses.  Another good decision because we got to the Erie Basin Marina University Test Gardens a good 20 minutes before the rest of the group and got to wander around in solitude and enjoy the beautiful, large containers:

 

And we made friends with gardener Stan Swisher who happily showed us around until the rest of the bloggers showed up.  He grows test plants for plant companies and reports on how they do in his climate.  Plants seen here will be on the market in 1-2 years.  He even gifted us a rock to take home with us to our garden after we mentioned that our main crop in CT is rocks.  He called it a turtle rock and I'll post when we decide where it will live:

 

But it's so much more than a place to test new plants, Stan and his staff have really put together a beautiful garden for all to visit:

I especially enjoyed the containers.  Someone commented that they needed a thriller, but I disagreed.  I like the low, tight theme carried out through the garden:

You may have caught a glimpse of the water over Stan's shoulder in the photo above.  We sat on a bench along the water and stared at what Jim told us was Canada in the distance.  And a lovely lighthouse that was definitely in the U.S.:

 

Off to our left wasn't too shabby either.  Poor Lee had done a day and a half of garden touring at this point, so I took pity on him and we walked down to the battleship:

 

Turns out it's part of the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park.  I didn't get a good photo, but there were planes, a u-boat, a tank -- all sorts of boy stuff in addition to a pretty impressive sub:

 

We went inside the museum too, mostly so Lee could use the restroom, but also to enjoy the AC for a minute -- it was hot outside!  I loved the mannequin sporting a jet-pack.  I'm pretty sure it was a female mannequin with a van dyke painted on to butch it up:

 

Then we were all off to the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens.  I'm pretty sure everyone looked up and shot this angle of the beautiful glass dome as we walked in:

 

Lee and I struck off to the right and went through the fern house before anyone else in the group:

 

This was by far our favorite house:

 

Loved the dinos:

 

And we're both suckers for a water feature, especially one with a waterfall:

 

A really tall waterfall:

 

I know it's a croc, but I keep thinking "Hungry Hippos" when I look at it:

 

Watch out!  He's on the loose:

 

This was both Lee's and my first visit to a botanical garden and we were both a little giddy.  He kept calling out to me, touching things, and smiling:

 

He wasn't happy when he read this sign as we moved into the next house:

 

He said afterward that he kept wanting to touch things:

 

Whereas I walked carefully down the very center of the aisle:

 

Loved this Echinocactus: 

 

Don't know what this was, but the orange flowers were striking:

 

I tried for a good 2 minutes to get the best photo of a flower on a huge opuntia cactaceae:

 

I can't decide which of these I like better:

 

I didn't catch the name of this house, but I imagine it was something like the Japanese house:

 

What else could it have been:

 

I liked how there were containers outside the clear windows here:

 

This was a space between houses, but it was so beautifully purple I had to snap a pic:

 

It's tough to see above, but I was very taken with this unusual begonia and if I find one in a nursery I will be buying it:

My mom keeps telling me how great staghorn ferns are.  Yes, mom, they're fantastic, but they wouldn't survive the winters up here outside of a greenhouse:

 

Here's some info on how to grow a staghorn fern.  This one was was over the door to the next area.  It must be on a mounting block, surely it can't be growing directly on the wall:

I think the next area was labeled the wedding house or something like that, but it was also the spot where bloggers were having professional portraits taken.  None of those for us, with Lee unshaven and me with my hair in a ponytail and sweating profusely.  But that's someone being photographed to the left of the beautiful fountain:

 

On the other side of that grouping we found a cute little bench under an ivy-covered arch where we sat for a while:

 

Beneath the ivy:

 

We just wish the fountain in front of us was filled and running:

 

People kept coming by and apologizing for disturbing us.  Like after 14 years together we'd be stealing a quiet moment to make out!  Update: Looks like Frances snagged a decent photo of us sitting beneath the arbor.  We eventually wandered on and found this charming tableau:

 

There were 4 of these fountains with water running down the chain -- I so covet them:

 

Lee made a few moves on the checkerboard.  But look at that chandelier:

 

A little bit farther on we found the source of the chamber music we heard while hiding on our bench.  I really thought it was a recording until I saw the quartet:

 

They weren't just there to entertain us, apparently a wedding was just about to start.  Can you imagine a more charming spot to pledge your troth?  Maybe we'll renew our vows some day:

 

Through yet another doorway we found a tropical garden:

 

Complete with orchids hanging in the trees:

 

We had seen every part of the interior so we moved outside.  And found a charming children's garden in back of the main buildings.  I was so tempted to kick off my flip-flops and wade through this pond.  I wonder how many children do so:

 

There were many touches for kids, but my favorite was these two little wheelbarrows.  I can just picture kids wheeling soil around:

 

After a group photo (which I'm still dying to see), we headed off to the next stop.  Lockwood's Greenhouse was very nice, but we have similar places in CT, some less than 15 minutes from my house, and frankly I was surprised by the high prices.  Most of it was pretty run-of-the-mill for us, though other bloggers were awed by the variety and quality of selections (apparenlty they don't have anything like this near them), but these cute little terrariums did catch my eye:

 

Aren't they charming?  A little out of my price range, but perhaps I'm finally inspired to make one of my own for my office:

 

A lovely picnic lunch was served here, but Lee and I were far more interested in skipping the afternoon's events and heading back to the hotel.  I loved the idea of an English tea in the woods, but my last words to Lee before we left were, "It's not like they're going to have home-cooked scones and clotted cream."  Boy was I wrong.  Once again I link to Pam of Digging and her excellent summary of the afternoon's events.  But not knowing that, we had learned the day before that Taste of Buffalo was taking place right outside of our hotel.  Seriously, this was the view from the front entrance when we returned from Lockwood's: 

 

We joined the throngs heading down Delaware Ave:

 

I was so amused by the cops on Segways I had to take a photo.  We saw them (or others) later that evening speeding down the street near the restaurant at which we dined, but here they were all smiles:

 

Just down the street we spotted placards advertising the opportunity to shake Senator Chuck Schumer's hand.  We had to walk by him to buy tickets for food and I managed to snag a pic just after he and Lee shook hands.  He made a really cheesy remark about beer commercials and a perfect day:

  

We found Mayor Byron Brown to be more genuine the previous day at the dedication of the Japanese garden, but of course I was biased since Mayor Brown complimented my clothing (we stepped aside so he and his party could enter before us and I made a comment about being under-dressed in comparison to his group).  At this point we were absolutely loving Buffalo and amazed by all the odd experiences we were having.

Comments

[Layanee]

You really had some time to wander before the crowds didn't you. That is a plus. I always feel like touching if a sign says 'Don't Touch' and we won't even discuss 'Keep Off the Grass'. That is just plain silly unless you are talking about the kind some people smoke.

[Heather's Garden]

Layanee -- We really enjoyed being able to take it all in before the crowd joined us. I'm such a rule follower, I don't have any problem following the sign's directions. Unless there's something I want in the middle of the grass, then I'm ignoring it!

[Blackswampgirl Kim]

Ooooh... I've scrolled through three times already, and I keep finding new things in these gorgeous photos! (And I've also decided that I like the second opuntia photo better, just barely. But I'll probably change my mind if I scroll through again. lol.)

Hey, you know that tillandsia chandelier you loved? You could make one with staghorn ferns--they're not all that hard to keep indoors, you don't need a greenhouse! And you can probably find cheap ones in 4" pots (mine were $3.99 each) in the houseplant section, if you don't mind buying them in pots and mounting them somehow yourself. (We also sometimes get that 'Escargot' rex begonia, and others like it, at the garden center where I work--but in the houseplant section, not with the annuals. Just sayin' so you can keep an eye out.)

Okay, off to read the last recap... THANK YOU so much for sharing all of these gorgeous photos!

[Mummer]

I am so glad to see all your photos, BECAUSE, I had been despairing over my 'oddments' garden (cuttings from my Florida travels)and ready to regiment all.
Now I'll happily continue with my random plantings and know that somehow it'll come together. Your pix saved the lives of many.
P.S. love the second cactus pic. - plus happy news! My beloved euphorbia trigonia (which I trimmed vigorously because it had rot) is throwing new limbs, and blooms. Yay!

[Heather's Garden]

Kim -- You're making me blush! Here's my dirty little secret -- I can't keep a houseplant alive. So I've decided to stop torturing them with a slow painful death. But for the 'Escargot' rex begonia, I might try harder. I'm glad you're enjoying the recaps, you're going to lose it when you see Niagar-on-the-Lake.

Mom -- Your garden is fine. Does it make you happy? Yes? Then who cares what it looks like. I kind of like the second photo better too.