GARDEN WALK: Orchard Parkway residents "Say it with Flowers."

<!--Michele Deluca--><table width="234" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" background="http://static.cnhi.zope.net/flashpromo/niagaragazette/images/byline_234x60.jpg" height="60"><tr><td><div align="center"><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By Michele Deluca</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></font><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="mailto:michele.deluca@niagara-gazette.com">michele.deluca@niagara-gazette.com</a></font></div></td></tr></table>

Garden walks provide an interesting glimpse into human nature. First, meandering through another’s pathways allows us to recognize the desire many of us share to create beautiful spaces.

Second, enjoying another’s creation allows us to more easily see what so many of us have in common.

But most interesting may be the conflict between our reluctance to go traipsing into another’s private spaces verses our innate curiosity about other people’s lives.

The advice presented here is: Get over it. If you don’t, you might miss some petite personal unveilings as extraordinary as any Independence Day fireworks.

The homeowners on Orchard Parkway are throwing open their garden gates and want visitors to come on down from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. The more the merrier.

The residents of this street, say they are doing this, not to show off what they have, but to share with their fellow city residents the potential that can be found within a few seeds and a pile of dirt.

Some gathered recently for a preview of the event, including Artie Vanderpool, his roommate Scott Akdogan, their neighbor Allison Pasquantino and, from across the street, Tara King.

It all started, they said, when Vanderpool and Akdogan moved onto the street.

Previously, it had been a nice, quiet place to live, with really beautiful houses. And the people at one end of the street didn’t know the people at the other.

Then Vanderpool and Akdogan, who seem to exhibit enticingly compelling attitudes of energy and playfulness, began making friends out of strangers.

It was apparently easy to do. A nice dinner party here, a few favors done there. Funny stories and interesting conversation all around.

One day, after they helped Pasquantino collect some outdoor furniture that had been oddly left out by someone else as garbage, the idea struck.

“When we came back we were hanging out on my front porch ... ” Allison recalled.

“Drinking ... ” Artie chimed in with a stage whisper.

They were talking about the Buffalo Garden Walk, and what a wonderful thing it was, showcasing people’s gardens so successfully that it was raising property values, enlivening communities and promoting gardening, all at the same time. So they decided to hold a walk on Orchard Place.

“We sent out an e-mail to all the residents,” Pasquantino continued. “Only one person responded so by unanimous decree ...”

The group laughs. They laughed a lot during the course of the preview as they moved through the neighborhood chatting with other neighbors, underscoring their point that this garden walk has brought their street together in an amazing way.

“Our biggest obstacle was insurance for the walk,” said Allison, “so we formed a block club.”

Some of the neighbors were worried about security, but after the first walk last year went so well, most residents seem far more relaxed about

the event, and many more are participating. The event is blossoming this year with some residents from Chilton Avenue, the next street over, opening their gardens as well.

Here’s how it the Garden Walk works: On Saturday there will be a table where visitors can pick up a brochure listing all the homes participating and what the homeowner is inviting walkers to see. Many homeowners are opening their back yards, but some will simply display their front or side yards. Deborah Cutler, who grows mint in her side yard, will be serving mint tea to visitors. Pasquantino’s daughters will be joining the other children on the street to sell lemonade to raise money for cancer research.

There will be signposts on all of the 50 or more participating homes and most of the owners will be outside chatting with visitors and each other.

It is expected that many, many gardening secrets will be revealed and up to the minute gardening trends will be explored. For instance, King’s garden is featuring only non-allergic plants while landscape designer Donna Brok, who is also a master gardener, will showcase her backyard as an extended living area with three separate useable spaces.

Apparently, beautifully tended yards seem to green up the thumbs of those neighbors who hadn’t been doing much gardening before, according to Brok.

Since last year, “there’s yards around here that have changed tremendously,” she said. Some of that might have to do with the economy. “More people are staying home and investing in their landscape because their yards are their retreat,” she added.

There is no charge for the garden walk and, wink, wink, no competition among the gardeners. Visitors may not even notice that the middle islands on the street have become a place where the neighbors seem to try to upstage each other with their volunteer tending of the landscape beneath the lampposts.

It is truly all in good fun, according to Orchard Parkway Garden Walk planners.

“We want to celebrate that Niagara Falls is alive and is a beautiful place,” Akdogan said.

Contact Michele DeLucaat 282-2311, ext. 2263.