Saturday afternoon of the Buffalo Fling, walking the Elmwood neighborhood

We're back in Buffalo. It's Saturday afternoon, the second day of the '26 Garden Fling. We spent the morning touring gardens north of Buffalo, and now it's time to walk the city gardens of Elmwood. These gardens are open to locals as part of the annual Garden Walk Buffalo, those of us on the Fling got a "sneak peek." My coverage of Elmwood Village will span two posts, today we're visiting Leslie and Jim Charlier's garden, then Gordon Ballard and Brian Olinski's place; Bird Ave Gardens. 

No doubt some of you will recognize the Charlier's garden from Jim's blog; The Art of Gardening as well as his Instagram page. The front garden...

From the Fling program; "The turreted 1897 home includes a garden well-known for its bright color, style sense and handmade decor. The back unveils a garden shed hosting a Harry Potter Garden fronted by a checkerboard garden. A copper coral bell fountain in a bed of heuchera plants is a typically ingenious touch. Jim is the co-author of the books Harry Potter: Herbology Magic and Buffalo Style Gardens. Featured on PlantPop.com." The PlantPop video is here.

At the entrance to the back garden...

Bam! That's some color. Isn't it fabulous?

There really was no shortage of color in this garden.

Coleus sp.

The shed, which even I (as a non Harry Potter fan) could appreciate.

The checkerboard.

Inside the shed.

Back outside and admiring the framed vertical planting on the side of the house.

What a great place to tuck garden prunings.

Another view of the shed.

A bit of hedge formality.

Turning to a large container grouping, and deck off the back of the house.

Covered and private sitting area between the deck and the house.

And back out on the deck.

Looking down to the far back corner of the garden.

Jim makes the tall art posts there on the left. You may have noticed them in several of the Buffalo gardens we've visited.

Louise Nevelson inspired...

Tempting to sit for a bit, but we've got other gardens to see!

Parting shot of a velvety Clematis.

And then on to the Ballard / Olinski garden, which was actually our last stop of the day. One that had agaves...

And plants for sale!

Truth be told there were also beverages of the adult type. Wine. Oh so welcome after a long day of garden touring! 

The garden description: "This tropical party-themed garden started in 1994 as a blank slate. A flagstone patio showcases dwarf Japanese Maples, cactus, and succulents. Salvaged concrete columns are reused as plant stands. Raised island beds, pathways, and sitting areas were added over time, along with a Key West-inspired cantina. A 4-tiered pondless waterfall leads you back to the 8-seat bar cantina. Featured on PlantPop.com."

The same potted agaves from the first shot in this garden, only from the other side, photo taken by Emily after we'd plopped down on the front steps to wait for the buses to come and take us back to the hotel...

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Playing with hypertufa

Recently the HPSO Eastside Group (a small sub group within the larger organization) got together to make hypertufa pots. Perhaps you're wondering what exactly is hypertufa? "a lightweight, man-made artificial stone used mainly to make garden pots, troughs, and ornaments. The word combines "hyper" (meaning extreme or over) and "tufa" (a porous, natural limestone rock). It was created as an inexpensive, lightweight substitute for natural tufa and antique stone troughs used in alpine and succulent gardening." (source). 

Because the recipe calls for ingredients that are usually purchased in bulk (Portland cement, vermiculite / perlite, peat moss / coir, and perhaps sand), this wasn't something I really wanted to tackle on my own.

I also have a fear of working with cement. Whenever I've had to do so in the past it's been a mess and it's hardened too quickly. Mixing up the hypertufa wasn't like that at all. I think the group ended up mixing four batches total, led by Peter (on the left) who spearheaded the entire thing. Masks were worn when the dry ingredients were mixed, you don't want to inhale cement dust!

There's my work area, south of the Starbucks cup (which is also mine). 

Two of my eventual three containers.

I enjoyed walking around and checking out what the others were up to.

I heard later that this pressed Hosta leaf didn't hold up.

A nice big bowl being filled...

And then another used to create the plating space (some of us just used our fingers to push the mixture to the sides).

When we started mixing this batch I was responsible for sifting the peat moss to remove any large pieces.

And slowly adding water...

I loved this long thin container...

I'm not sure what this one is going to end up like.

This person is a perfectionist, I know it. Look at those edges!

Another batch. Later versions had blue dye added, and then black.

The outer, larger container was so the trough could be carried without flexing the mix as it dried, and possibly causing cracks.

Nice and deep.

Such perfection! Hard lines and two drainage holes.

Plant break! The workshop took place in a member garden—a generous member with an extra big driveway—so of course there were plants to see.

And tomatoes to covet.

The final batch, with the black dye.

Sometimes it takes two. 

I loved this sort of hypertufa rock (the stick is making a drainage hole), planted up with sedum it will be an interesting addition to the garden.

When it became obvious there was a little mix left that wasn't going to be used to make a pot, we started making balls. This was the batch with black dye.

Here's what I came home with...

The mix needs to cure for 24-36 hours before you take the shapes out of the molds.

I misted everything regularly and kept them under plastic in the garage. You don't want them to dry too quickly.

Here's what mine looked like once they were free, photo taken August 24th. The pots were made on August 20th.

I brought them out into the light for an inspection on September 6th. You can definitely see how the black dye changed the color.

The first batch (my two smaller/taller containers) had a lot of peat in it. They're so brown! The longer you let them cure the better, and then once they are fully cured you're supposed to rinse them with a vinegar and water solution, because the material can leach lime into the soil.

I have plans for all the planters and the balls, but since we just passed the four week mark (Sept 17th) I'm still letting them cure. No need to rush. In case you're wondering I do already have a few hypertufa pots. A friend of a friend sold me some back when he moved in 2021, they're grouped along the front sidewalk.

This hypertufa story is to be continued when I plant up my new pots!

The Bit at the End
I can't remember exactly what I was Googling (it was obviously something hypertufa related) when I came across Gerhard's posts (Succulents and More) from 2014 when he made hypertufa planters, gave us an update the next day, and then another one about a month later. I asked him how they're holding up after twelve years... great! was the answer, and in fact he's thinking about making more.

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All material © 2009-2026 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.