buffalo and erie county botanical gardens

I think whether or not you enjoy your visit will depend on your reason for going. If you are going for a special show or event, you will be satisfied, if not wowed. The Evening light show is slightly underwhelming. The lights are absolutely beautiful, but it is difficult to fully enjoy the Gardens in a crowd. When it is crowded, day or night, you get stuck following a line of people throughout the exhibits. You don't really feel like you can stop and enjoy the beauty. You feel like you have to keep moving with the crowd. With the light show, I would have liked to stay and look at some plants/lights longer than others. Instead, I was walking with the crowd, trying to quickly capture as much as possible.In my opinion, the greatest show of the year is the Spring Flower show, with the beautiful tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils. It is the best place to get your first taste of Spring. In Buffalo, the weather for Easter is not usually very good. In the Gardens, you can truly experience the Easter Season. It would be great to tie in a visit to Our Lady of Victory Basilica, a block away, as well. I would recommend getting to the Gardens early (as soon as it opens) if you are going Easter Week, as it fills up very fast, and my issues with the crowds will come into play! There is also a small petting zoo for young children, as well as the Easter Bunny.

We were visiting friends and they took us here. The temperature outside was -15, so it was great to get inside some place warm! This was the perfect stop. We had a relaxing time wandering among the different rooms and flowers/plants. In some areas, they could have used a few more labels so you could tell what things were, while in other areas, they were well marked. But overall it was a good way to spend some time out of the cold and interesting to see the different plants. The cactus room was especially interesting and also the orchids scattered throughout. It's a great place to spend some time and would be nice to visit again in a different time of the year to see what new things are blooming.

The gardens are a treasure that we take for granted. It has been recently renovated and is cleaner and more beautiful. It is a great way to loose some of the winter blues by walking through the gardens and breathing in the beautiful fragrances of the plants. Workshops are offered here as are activities for children. The flower shows are spectacular and it is a gorgeous background for weddings and other special occasions.

First, the building itself is just beautiful and so historical. After paying in the lobby, we started our tour outside with the planted flower beds. We also had a scavenger hunt for the children, which kept things interesting for the kids. For the most part the outdoor beds were well kept and beautiful. They had varied specimens of gorgeous colors, which gave me many ideas for home. Inside was laid out nicely and flowed from collection to collection. There were so many species to look at - and information available to read. My kids were fascinated by the strange looking plants and the koi pond of course! Overall it was an enjoyable visit. It's not the biggest botanical gardens around, but much if it were much bigger, then everyone would have been exhausted and crabby by the end!

I've been to many fine botanical gardens and in recent years, this one is right up there with the best of them. It is on a lovely, large piece of land and the outdoor gardens, while relatively small, are really nice to stroll through. The garden buildings themselves are beautiful old behemoths that set the tone of a gracious (maybe Victorian) era. There are several structures/garden types from desert to tropical and in-between. The gardens hold several, often weeks-long special events throughout the year. My most recent visit was during the Lumagination experience during special evening hours. Lumagination is really out of the ordinary in that it is all about dramatic lighting special effects, so the actual plants are rather difficult to see (so I will have to go back in the daytime to view the concurrent orchid show...those orchids and amaryllis were enticing me to have a better look). Lumagination is a child's delight, though. Very pretty lights, cool sounds, interactive stuff (step on a projected floor full of daisies and scare up the butterflies, play a laser harp, push a button for a thunderstorm, etc.) I'd suggest that grandma does NOT attend Lumagination as she could easily stumble in the semi-darkness . In addition to the plants, the gardens has a children's area complete with water and sand play areas and (in the summer) an outdoor area for digging and planting.My favorites at the gardens are their cactus room, the bonsai collection, orchid collection, their corpse plants and koi pond.Since the parking lot is on the opposite side of the building from the major part of the outdoor garden area, it could be easy to miss it. The outdoor garden areas are separate from the very attractive, formal border gardens along the main path to the front door...don't forget to look for them. If the weather is bad, it is less of a walk to park on the street in front or drive through the parking lot all the way to the back and park in one of the few spots back there (there are also several handicap spots in the back). You can enter through the back door.

I do like this botanical garden!!I went there twice of course i wanna go there again, especially in summer.

We visited on martin Luther King holiday. The parking lot was full, we had to park on the street. It was crowded inside, which detracted from our visit. Lots of kids running around. Best to go mid week, when it isn't busy.

I grew up in Buffalo and during a visit to the area last Easter, I decided to bring my kids and husband to the Botanical Gardens. I myself hadn't been in a very long time, so it was almost like seeing it the first time myself. We are not gardening experts, but we appreciate beautiful and unique plants. There were plenty of both to be seen here. We slowly meandered around the historic building (that alone is worth seeing). I would say that for an average person, 2 hours is plenty. It was a chilly day, but inside it was the perfect temperature and looking at tropical plants made us forget the weather. At Easter time, they have egg hunts for the children. There is a large organized one that I believe you need to purchase tickets for in advance. Otherwise, they have egg decorations hidden among the plants that your children look for. Younger kids will love it and it will make them slow down enough for you to enjoy the plants.If you decide to visit, make sure you also include the Basilica in your plans. It is just a couple minutes walk from here.

I was visiting Buffalo at Xmas and my parents wanted to take me here. I had been once before in a May visit and viewed the outside then too - not much more than a couple of acres of common Nursery plants with no landscape features. This visit was to see the Xmas theme. Most of the attraction was the Poinsettia's, ornaments and garden railroad. I thought the whole thing cheaply done. They just hung plastic ornaments of every size on anything that would hold them - A plant lover (as I am) views this as an atrocity and it does nothing but destroy the viewing. The Poinsettia's were just in bulk everywhere and there is only so much several colors can do - it looked more like a wholesale flower warehouse, mostly. The building needs restoration in the worst way - a lot of coats of paint, faded glass & corrosion everywhere. Many of the plant specimens have no identification for the serious visitor and there really are some really good older plants here - some of which I don't think I have seen in such maturity. I am glad it was a special $1.00 day or I would have felt disappointed to have paid full price for what is no better than a big city retail greenhouse

We visited just before Christmas and the seasonal displays were beautiful.There were huge groupings of colorful poinsettias. They had decorated many of the trees and plants with seasonal items so it made for a fun visit.We've been there in the summer and spring to enjoy similar seasonal displays. It a very nice facility and worth a visit if you're in the area.

Only reason why I give it average is bc we went to have our wedding photos here we paid about 10 days in advance and they tried telling us they had no record of it...thank god we had our comformation email considering you have to pay a hefty price for just a half hour but still very pretty and nice

Great friendly place and saw several amazing plants that were completely new to me. Massive glass houses are wonderful. Set in a great park.

With the restful background music playing behind us, we sure enjoyed meandering through the glass houses and viewing this wonderful collection here in Buffalo. The 300 mile journey was well worth it.The permanent palm tree and fern exhibit served as the perfect backdrop for taking photos of the ribbon winning orchids. The timing of the blooming of these beautiful flowers was amazing and fortunate for the winners and all of the awed show attendees. Both my wife and I agree that the greenhouse has the best succulent room (House #4) that we have ever visited. There is a carnivorous plant terrarium that will fascinate the young children, a wonderful bed of scented geraniums (apple, peppermint), gently rub their leaves and sniff! In house #6 is what we call the best begonia room that we have ever been through. Another stand out was the medicinal garden display.We finished the day attending a wonderful lecture given by Joe Didomencio on orchid care. Joe oversees the care of the Gardens orchids. We learned many valuable tips here.We have been to Longwood, The Phipps, and to Kew Gardens. Certainly these Buffalo and Erie Botanical Gardens will please anyone who has enjoyed those jewels.Take away: if the kids get bored, take them over to the Wegeman Family Gardens to play and explore (you must stay with them and supervise them there).

I had a wedding to cater here. This place has wonderful scenery! All of the flowers and plants inside is just so amazing to see and to just walk around and look at.

We were on a long road trip and these gardens were our first stop. So glad we chose to enjoy this beautiful and beloved garden. Front staff were so kind and excited for us to enjoy our visit. What can I say, go here and you will love seeing all the varieties of plants and flowers. So glad we did!