Flowers of Buffalo: A Postscript
Flowers welcome visitors to Garden Walk Buffalo headquarters at West Side Community Services. (Photo: Steve Peraza/Weave News)
It’s August now, and all the flower fans who visited Buffalo’s 30th annual Garden Walk Buffalo festivities are somewhere enjoying the hundreds of pictures they undoubtedly took walking in neighborhoods like mine. I live in the Bryant neighborhood, where the founders of Garden Walk live on the appropriately named “Garden Walk Way.”
My fascination with the flowers of Buffalo is twofold. First, have you ever watched flowers stretch for the sun? It’s incredible. Everyday, they reach for the starlight, soaking in its rays. I find great inspiration in this instinct for sunlight and survival. I see this behavior as a metaphor. In life, we all – in some capacity – stretch for the sun, praying that its light helps us grow.
On the east side of Main Street, this flower stretches for the sun just days before East Side Garden Walk. (Photo: Steve Peraza/Weave News)
Second, the people who make Garden Walk Buffalo possible (other than Gardens Buffalo Niagara organizers) are everyday gardeners with green thumbs and a stalwart commitment to the land. I call them stewards because they look after the land in front of and behind their homes. They wake early to care for their flora, soiling their hands and knees to give flowers what they need to survive and thrive. Again, I see this as a metaphor. In Buffalo, we have well-meaning activists who work day and night to improve what they perceive as their community. Garden Walk is my favorite example, but the spirit of stewardship in the City of Buffalo goes beyond flowers. Look at my post on the block party that Burning Books bookstore recently hosted. The grassroots get water in these parts!
I’m a flower enthusiast. If there were no Garden Walk, but the stewards of the land remained, I would still bring you flowers of Buffalo. Why? This town has eye sores. It has six months of winter. If you read the news, then you know Buffalo is filled with crime, poverty, and bankrupt politics. The flowers and their cultivators, therefore, rank highly as assets. They help beautify the city and serve as role models for the rest of us. A little time, effort, and toil, and you can make Buffalo great again. A friend of mine once said that he feels hopeless living here. I know what he means. But the flowers of Buffalo give me hope.
Now the festival has ended. It was another great year. I visited so many gardens, saw so many beautiful flowers. There are still some festivals left to brighten my days! In just under two weeks, for example, there is a Latino festival on Avenida San Juan. These are my type of flowers – the people and organizations who beautify Buffalo with community love. There’s hope for the B-Lo yet!
Steve Peraza showcases the sunflowers in one of Buffalo's many gorgeous gardens. (Photo: Steve Peraza/Weave News)
