It's not just garden tours. it's a bloomin' movement.
What a year it has been! What began 32 years ago as the seasonal producer of Garden Walk Buffalo has evolved into a vibrant nonprofit organization that is active year-round. Over the years, Gardens Buffalo Niagara (GBN) has added more tours, programs, and events. Today our season includes eight core programs, hundreds of gardens, and countless opportunities to get outside, connect with our community, and experience the beauty of our region. And it's all made possible because of you.
To better reflect who we are today, the GBN Board and Committees spent time reflecting on who we are and who we want to be in the future. The result was an updated mission statement that better encompasses all that we do as a community of gardeners: to empower vibrant, equitable, and environmentally sustainable communities by sharing gardens that inspire artistic, cultural and social connection.
That mission comes to life in many different ways throughout our year. We kick off each spring with the Lunenfeld Beautification Grants, established in 2004 to empower residents to improve their neighborhoods through community-driven gardening projects. Rather than determining what a community needs from the outside, the program provides residents with resources to identify opportunities, develop projects, and create spaces that reflect the character and priorities of their neighborhoods.
2026 Lunenfeld Grants Map
This year, with support from the Buffalo Together Fund, GBN distributed nearly $40,000 to block clubs and community groups, with 63% of those funds going to projects on Buffalo’s East Side.
By investing directly in community groups, we help cultivate neighborhood ownership, pride, practical skills, and stronger relationships among neighbors.
GBN also took on an exciting new project in 2026 and is now the publisher of Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com, Western New York’s only online publication dedicated to local gardeners. The magazine provides an exciting opportunity for both GBN and WNY Gardeners. The magazine has always been educational in nature, and we see an exciting opportunity to amplify GBN’s efforts to nurture budding gardeners into garden enthusiasts. A new edition is published on the first Tuesday of each month, providing year-round gardening inspiration and education.
We also created new opportunities to experience gardens throughout the year. Recognizing that not every garden is at its best in July, we held our first Open Gardens Spring Tour on May 16 and 17. After months of gray skies and Western New York winter, spring bulbs offered a welcome reminder that warmer days were on their way. The tour gave visitors a chance to find inspiration in a different season and see gardens in an entirely new way.
We are also striving to make our tours more accessible. Understanding that our weekday Open Gardens tours may not work for everyone, gardeners opened their yards for our first Night Lights tour on July 31. Hundreds of people came out to explore the gardens under moonlight, proving that there is more than one way to experience a garden.
Looking ahead to 2027, we plan to continue these new tours as well as add a fall tour. There will also be new educational opportunities as we hope to launch some new mentoring and workshop programs. And, of course, we cannot forget that next year is a big one: 2027 will mark the 10th anniversary season of East Side Garden Walk.
Thank you for being part of our season. We could not do what we do without the hundreds of gardeners, supporters, sponsors, volunteers, and partners who make this work possible. While the weather is cooling and we may not be gathering in the gardens again until next spring, there is still plenty happening behind the scenes as we begin planning for 2027. If you’d like to play a bigger role in shaping what comes next, we’d love to have you join us in that planning by serving on one of our committees.
Here’s to a quick winter and a beautiful spring and summer growing season ahead!