Joe’s Exuberant Buffalo Garden

Today we’re in Buffalo, New York, visiting with Joe Hopkins. We’ve visited with Joe before (Color-Blind Plant Combinations). He gardens on a small, urban lot and is partially color blind, but he turns those potential difficulties into strengths with fearless color combinations and using countless pots to transform a paved driveway into more garden space. In addition to over a hundred pots filled with plants, he also gets creative with nontraditional containers, including twelve different foam wig forms turned into planters! It’s hard to believe all this space is actually a driveway! Massing pots together with some chairs, tables, and even a lamp transforms this blank space into a garden. There are no flowers in sight among this cluster of pots—only incredible color from a wide array of foliage. This space is a full-on living room outside, with plants threatening to swallow up all the furniture, making it a lush jungle experience. A bit of the blacktop driveway is exposed—before it vanishes under a wall of plants in pots. Buffalo gardens are famous for their cheerful, creative takes on garden design. This is surely a prime example, with foam wig forms transformed into planters. Choosing a succulent plant for a nontraditional container like this works well, because the small amount of soil will dry out quickly. A little paint, some over-the-top sunglasses, and a mass of sedum for hair An explosion of blue ornamental grass makes a hairstyle for this yellow wig head. Have a garden you’d like to share? Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit! To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden. Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #FineGardening! Do you receive the GPOD by email yet? Sign up here.

Joe’s Exuberant Buffalo Garden

Today we’re in Buffalo, New York, visiting with Joe Hopkins.

We’ve visited with Joe before (Color-Blind Plant Combinations). He gardens on a small, urban lot and is partially color blind, but he turns those potential difficulties into strengths with fearless color combinations and using countless pots to transform a paved driveway into more garden space. In addition to over a hundred pots filled with plants, he also gets creative with nontraditional containers, including twelve different foam wig forms turned into planters!

backyard seating area surrounded by many potted plantsIt’s hard to believe all this space is actually a driveway! Massing pots together with some chairs, tables, and even a lamp transforms this blank space into a garden.

large grouping of containers with foliage plantsThere are no flowers in sight among this cluster of pots—only incredible color from a wide array of foliage.

outdoor room covered in plantsThis space is a full-on living room outside, with plants threatening to swallow up all the furniture, making it a lush jungle experience.

paved driveway covered with large group of container plantsA bit of the blacktop driveway is exposed—before it vanishes under a wall of plants in pots.

colorful mannequin heads used as planter potsBuffalo gardens are famous for their cheerful, creative takes on garden design. This is surely a prime example, with foam wig forms transformed into planters.

succulent growing in a blue head planterChoosing a succulent plant for a nontraditional container like this works well, because the small amount of soil will dry out quickly.

sedum growing in a purple head planter potA little paint, some over-the-top sunglasses, and a mass of sedum for hair

ornamental grass growing in a yellow head planter potAn explosion of blue ornamental grass makes a hairstyle for this yellow wig head.