By QINA LIU
qliu@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1613

Garden Walk Buffalo is believed to be the largest free, two-day garden walk.

That's why the National Garden Festival, a five-week garden party, germinated in Buffalo last year and sprouted again this year.

The festival begins June 24 and will end July 30-31 with Garden Walk Buffalo.

It will feature 14 garden walks and tours, showing off close to 1,000 private spaces in Western New York. Gardens in more than 60 homes will be open every Thursday and Friday. Also on Fridays, there will be bus tours by AAA Western and Central New York's Horizon Club Tours to locations such as Forest Lawn Cemetery and Frank Lloyd Wright's Darwin Martin House.

Sally Cunningham, festival director, said Garden Walk Buffalo led to development of the National Garden Festival.  

"We had thought, 'How do we make more out of two days and 55,000 people?' " she said.

Peter Burakowski, communications manager for Visit Buffalo Niagara, said the idea was to build off the foundation of Garden Walk Buffalo, an annual event that began in 1995. The walks were highlighted in more than 30 national publications, including Country Gardens magazine.

"To encourage them to stay longer than just the weekend, we have events during the week," he said.

The festival will begin with the appearance of Kerry Ann Mendez, author of "The Ultimate Flower Gardener's Top Ten List," June 24 at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens. Mendez also will be keynote speaker for Perennial Day at Lockwood's Greenhouses in Hamburg the following day.  

"There are a lot of great gardens throughout Western New York," Burakowski said.

With the success of their Front Yard Garden competition last year, professional landscapers will return to renovate 14 front yards on South Buffalo's Newman Place, across from the Frederick Law Olmsted-designed Cazenovia Park.

"It's a really feel-good experience, beautifying a street," Burakowski said.

The renovations will take place July 11-16, and the public will be able to vote for their favorite design July 17-22.

According to Burakowski, more than 67,000 people attended the festivities last year; he expects more this year.

"We have more than 2,000 Facebook followers for the festival," he said. "People are really excited about it."

Added Cunningham: "It has become this octopus of embracing all things that have to do with gardening."

Burakowski said the festival will show people some unique flowers rather than snow - a side of Buffalo that many may not be used to seeing or hearing about.

"It's bringing so many people to our area, but it's also changing how people are seeing Western New York," he said. "I think it's really a game-changer."

While the garden walk and festival are tourist attractions, Cunningham encourages Western New Yorkers to take advantage of these and other local events.

"If we don't celebrate and recognize our own great stuff," she said, "how are we to spread it to the world?"