"Horto in Urbe' means Buffalo

Way up in the sky the little birds fly. While down on the ground garden bloggers descended upon the streets of Buffalo NY like bees on flowers. Buffa10 was a wonderful experience. Friday started with a tour of the cottage district in the rain. Gardens look so nice in the rain and who hasn't gardened in the rain? The neighborhood dates from the Civil War. It was a wow moment. We went from one wonderful garden to the next. It seems that critical mass has been achieved. I've never seen so many wonderful gardens in a neighborhood. This record lasted all of one day till we saw more great neighborhood gardens.

The street curbs are cut stone. The city could have replaced them with concrete years ago. It is a tribute to the City of Buffalo that they did not. The cut stone curbs enhance the neighborhoods look.

I am jealous of tree lawn gardens. These narrow gardens next to the street were prevalent where ever we walked. We also saw them during our off hours touring. If Pat and I tried this we'd be taken away in cuffs by the yard police.

The Urban Roots Garden Center is the only coop garden center in the country. What a place. One of our hosts, Jim Charlier sits on its board. He told us that Urban Roots is the only garden center in the city and it caters to the local population in plant selection. It also has local artists' lawn ornamentation. There were a couple of pieces that were calling my name as soon as we got off the bus, so I gave them homes.

We stopped at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society to visit the Japanese Garden. The Historical society has a bronze statue of Lincoln. As a native son of the Land of Lincoln, while Pat toured the garden I investigated the Lincoln story. Lincoln visited Buffalo twice. He stopped in Buffalo on the way to Washington after the election and his funeral train stopped on the way back to Springfield 4 years later.