A colorful hosta garden

The front garden/entrance to back yard.

This Hamburg garden in the Boston Hills of Buffalo's Southtowns is a treat. Nearly across the street from the Kathy and Mike Shadrack's Smug Creek Garden, it's one of the National Garden Festival's Open Gardens each summer – when about 80 Buffalo Niagara gardens are open to the public for certain hours on Thursdays and Fridays, for five-six weeks.

The gardener, Barbara Sylvester, is a hosta collector and has a one-acre plot intensely cultivated both in front of the house and in the back. The front is a sun garden, the back is mostly shade, owing to the large garden-defining tree in the back yard. She has about 150 varieties of host in the back yard - from mammoth to miniature.

Troughs and containers hold the miniature hostas and other alpines. Many have fairy gardens - miniature arbors, doorways, furniture, small garden tools, and more – that kids seem to like (and many of the adults). 

Fairy gardens, while not my thing, are intriguing.

A raised bed of mini-hostas is probably easier to keep leaf munchers at bay.

Hostas come in great hues - and Barbara is very adroit at placing them well. I could learn from her.

Looks like a salad of hosta!

Even out behind the shed is another garden with herbs and more.

A double waterfall merges into one creek.

Pretty little sitting area. I wonder how much time gets spent here though.
I've always thought these metal bistro table sets look terrific, but also I find them extremely uncomfortable.

Nice touches are all over the place with garden art.

A hosta fanatic would have to give me the names of these.
I don't know my hosta.

Many of the miniature hosta were labeled though.

I liked this perennial planter of hosta and huechera. I'll do this next year.

A photo of the gardener in a garden is the only way to make a garden photo prettier.

Someone left their tools out.

Delicious.

The front garden fence.