Reviewing May in Images

May. Its when the Crabapples bloom. While there are 100s of cultivars of Crabapple out there, most of the Crab's we see in the neighborhood are predominantly only of four to five cultivars that have been planted by City of Buffalo Forestry and neighborhood volunteers. A solid performer, but sometimes the crown needs to be raised so to make room for the sidewalk, which I've done here.

We paced through May installing one new lawn every week. Along with repairing wintertime snowplow damage this work sent me out to the "topsoil farm" several times

A quick "new lawn" in the 14209. Not so much about 'lawn' as it was the repair of an excavation that replaced storm sewer lines.

Quackgrass. A common landscape weed of ornamental plantings here in Buffalo, NY. (1) This is me geeking out on it as we work at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus; (2) however, we will come to see this as the beginning of a larger project on weeds, Buffalo, and art.

An installation that showed up around the corner here in the 14213 at 5 Points Bakery.

I know I should mention the artist here but I'm the worst with remembering names. I do follow him on Instagram though, so, that's gotta count for something...

By the end of May we've all probably been out to get annuals at the greenhouse. Here is my favorite, Weber's out in West Seneca. More importantly is how this overlooks an empty greenhouse from the old Majewski Nursery, once one of the biggest around, now evidence of an every changing structure in the horticultural business and industry.

A Poppy around the corner from our warehouse and across the street from one of the Community Gardens. Site of a small turf war between Ferncroft and I.

A before image of a sizable project we worked in the 14213. I see this as a look into what a "Buffalo Garden" is and also evidence of how many people are moving into the neighborhood as we are constantly taking yards that haven't been cared for in years (a generation or two) and making them into clean useable spaces.

'Flame' Willow - We have been using this plant since the middle of last decade, back when Emily was working with me. She introduced it to me. You will find a close friend to this plant 'Scarlet Curls' Willow at "The Mansion on Delaware" from when we landscaped that together in +/- 2005. Here, I've harvested some from my backyard. Perhaps this is the precursor to arrangements Ferncroft and I will put together for a wedding this weekend at the Hotel Henri that feature long 5-6' branches of this Willow.

Spiraea x VanHouteii. I have a story to tell of this plant going back a shade over ten years now and how its influence changed the path of Buffalo Horticulture's thinking to what we are today. Here, this Spiraea, is at "The Territory," a collaborative art space and garden on Bidwell Parkway in the 14222.

Did some fun work with Butterblock on this cake which "needed a lot of bling."