Gardens galore on Buffalo tour
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Jennifer Guercio sits on the front porch of her restored Victorian, a favorite stop on GardenWalk Buffalo. -
Jennifer and Jim Guercio dress in Victorian clothes to match their garden on GardenWalk Buffalo. -
A koi pond takes up half of Jennifer Guercio's backyard. -
Jennifer Guercio at the entrance to her Victorian garden.
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BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Jennifer Guercio bought a 100-year-old once-grand house on a no-longer-grand street, then transformed both with hard work and a beautiful garden. It happened in Buffalo, but it could have happened -- and does -- in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit or her hometown of Hamilton, Ohio.
When she bought an 1880s Victorian 20 years ago on West Delavan Avenue in Buffalo's West Side, few of her neighbors grew flowers -- or even grass.
"Nobody owned a lawn mower," she says.
Mrs. Guercio had one, plus an artistic temperament and a passion for Victorian English gardens.
GardenWalk Buffalo
WHAT: free tours of 372 gardens on Buffalo's West Side
WHEN: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. July 30-31
WHERE: Free guides with maps available at:
• Richmond-Summer Senior Center, corner of Richmond Avenue and Summer Street
• Buffalo Seminary School, 205 Bidwell Parkway near Soldiers Circle• AIDS Community Services, 206 S. Elmwood Ave.,
INFORMATION: www.gardenwalkbuffalo.com; www.nationalgardenfestival.com
ALSO CHECK OUT:
Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens, 2655 South Park Ave. 14218 -- 716-827-1584 or www.buffalogardens.com.
Domed Victorian glasshouse built in 1897-99 (sound familiar?), set in 156-acre South Park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted but never finished. Admission: adults, $8; seniors, students with ID, $7; children ages 3-12, $4; children under 3, free.
-- Kevin Kirkland, Post-Gazette
"I use my garden like a canvas," she says.
In 20 years, she has turned this dirty green frame into an Impressionistic riot of flowers worthy of Mary Cassatt. And what had been a lawn has shrunken to a token patch barely big enough for her 101/2-year-old German shepherd, Abigail, to lie down. In the meantime, she has restored every room of the house and bought two others nearby.
First Published July 17, 2011 12:00 am
