Snyder-Clevehill Garden View

National Garden Festival volunteer Craig's garden shed. You can see this garden on Open Gardens Thursdays.

Garden Gate magazine
cover with the shed
from the photo above..

Attended the Snyder-Clevehill Garden View in Snyder, NY this past weekend. Snyder is a fairly well-to-do suburb of Buffalo. The neighborhoods are filled with modest-to-grand homes. About 25 of them were on this tour - a VERY hot day.

I was blown away by some of the gardens. Some were gardens I'd only ever heard about, but had never visited. Two of them have appeared in garden magazines in the past. It was definitely a drive, not a walk. But where ever I went I ran into the same couple that were riding bikes. I think that may have been the best way to view the gardens!

Here's just a few of the dozens and dozens of photos I took (with the new camera!).

I don't often take photos of individual plants or plant close-ups, I'm more interested in how plants work into a landscape and how people live in their gardens, but I was captivated by the color of these host leave.

Impressive grasses!

California? 

Stone house and rolled roof on Craig's
house is a great start for  a garden! 

Still Craig's garden. I could have photographed there for hours.
I could live in his garden shed! (seen at top of post)

This garden was a winner. It was forested with LARGE trees for a suburban back yard.
It felt like a curated forest. Almost expected an Ewok to peer out from behind a tree.

Positively prehistoric! I know that Mennes Garden Artistry, a large Buffalo area garden center sells these.

Nice pillows. This was probably the most colorful garden I visited.

Garden Gate magazine spread of the garden above.

Grand, no? This was spectacular setting. Original landscaping done by Joe Hann of The English Gardener. But don't think the homeowner is not an avid and committed gardener. She's a power house with as many ideas as se has energy. This felt more like an expensive resort. The before photos had it looking like a bad '70s mottle pool with lines of lounge chairs in rows around it - no trees, no plants. This is what a difference a garden can make! 

Kinda' creepy, kinda' cool.

The homeowner suggested I come back at night - the whole backyard was
planned and lit for a wedding last year.

Now that I see the photo, it looks like a coffin and funeral plants.
In person, it was a kick-ass hot tub with plantings for privacy.