Buffalo garden gets eight-page spread in national magazine

The summer 2010 issue of Garden Ideas and Outdoor Living (a Better Homes & Gardens Specialty Publication) features the garden of Jennifer & Jim Guercio in an eight-page feature, which includes many great photos and even an overhead, illustrated map of their city property. I love those little maps.

That's Jim & Jennifer in the small photo at the bottom of this spread. The photo of the photographer taking the photo is below.

The garden is a VERY popular stop on Garden Walk Buffalo each year, attracting 3-4,000 visitors. That's 3-4,000 visitors for this garden alone!

Jennifer & Jim are gracious hosts, providing lemonade, dressing in Victorian garb (handmade by Jennifer) and find time to talk to and answer questions for any visitor. Even if they have to tell the same story or plant name 3-4,000 times.

Jennifer & Jim work tirelessly each year to maintain this wonderful garden. But they also do find the time to enjoy it on their own, and with friends. Like any of us, their life gets hectic and overwhelming. But I think the care of this house & garden is their baseline -- the thing they look forward to working on that is normal for them. It is how they send time together.

They've also told me that sharing their garden with visitors is what they do for a city they absolutely love. If they can impress upon visitors that Buffalo, especially the Elmwood Village area, is an impressive place to live, they feel they've done their civic duty.

I always study these little illustrated maps. I even used to try and draw maps like this of my house & my dream homes when I was a kid.

Jennifer is the artist. Jim is the builder. The guy can build anything. If you think the outside of their huge Victorian home is beautiful, I wish I could share how wonderfully restored the inside of their home is.

Nearly anyone that knows anything about gardening in this area knows this garden. It's been on television, the Convention & Visitors Bureau has shot the garden for promotional materials, and the front yard of this garden has been shot for a large national magazine to be published in a future issue. I can never get enough of it. I marvel at it every time I see it. Is it the garden I want for myself? Am I jealous? No. It's too much. Too much to keep track of. Too much maintenance. Too much for me. But I like it. And I like Jennifer & Jim.

Here's a photo I took of the photographer taking a photo of Jennifer & Jim on the day of the shoot -- under the pergola they  were married under.

Jennifer drops some of her great garden tips in this article - some of which she's shared with me over the years. You can pick this magazine up where ever you find good garden magazines.

The photographer was Andreas Trauttmansdorf, from Toronto. The story producer was photo stylist, scout & producer, Donna Talley.The editor of the magazine is Rochester, NY native, Luke Miller, who is a contributing blogger at Every Day Gardeners.

This is an over the top garden I've shown photos of before. (Poo's Corner, Jennifer's Umbrella Stand, Better Homes & Gardens Back One mo' time, Better Homes & Gardens in Buffalo. Again., and I went to a Garden Party....

This garden is a regional asset. As are Jennifer & Jim.