If you grow it, they will come — and blog about it.

A group of 70 gardening bloggers, hailing from 23 states and Canada, is in town this

weekend to get a close-up look at the blooming Buffalo garden scene.

The visitors will stop by the Delaware Park Japanese Garden, Urban Roots Community Garden Center and many private gardens. They already are raving online about the trip.

Gallery: Delaware Park Japanese Garden

"There's going to be an unprecedented amount of publicity for Buffalo and its gardens," said Jim Charlier, president of Garden Walk Buffalo and one of the hosts of the bloggers.

The visit is the third Garden Blogger meet-up, following a trek to Austin, Texas, two years

ago and 2009's stop in Chicago.

Charlier and Buffalo Spree Editor Elizabeth Licata, who contributes to the popular Garden

Rant blog, went on the Chicago trip and suggested Buffalo as the group's 2010 destination.

Charlier said the bloggers had heard of the success of Garden Walk Buffalo, and it wasn't

hard to sell them on a trip here.

"They knew something was going on here, and they were anxious to see what all the fuss was

about," he said.

Most of the bloggers are book authors, contributors to magazines and columnists who host

blogs such as "Vintage Garden Gal" and "Red Dirt Ramblings."

The bloggers arrived Thursday and started their trip by visiting some gardens in Allentown

before they enjoyed dinner at the Twentieth Century Club.

Friday, they began with a tour of gardens on Summer Street. Charlier said the morning

showers didn't faze the group.

"Rain is a good thing for a gardener," he said.

Then they went to the Japanese Garden, where officials announced improvements to the symbol

of peace and friendship.

The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy, friends and sponsors have invested $100,000 in the

garden, including the hiring of Japanese garden design expert Kristin Montoya.

"We're just really making sure that this garden is here for a long, long time to stay,"

Thomas Herrera-Mishler, president and CEO of the conservancy, said at the Buffalo & Erie

County Historical Society.

The work includes replacing more than 200 rhododendrons and azaleas with several specimen

maples and pines, adding signs and installing an automated irrigation system.

Conservancy employees also have reset much of the stonework in the garden and are working

to fix erosion problems that occur because of the garden's position on the hill behind the

society.

The garden was established in 1970, and the stairway was built with stones from Kanazawa,

Buffalo's sister city in Japan.

After the Japanese Garden stop, the bloggers went to lunch at Rue Franklin and then planned

to see the West Side Urban Roots co-operative garden and the Front Yard Garden Competition on

North Parade Avenue.

Saturday's plans feature stops at trial gardens at Erie Basin Marina and the Buffalo and

Erie County Botanical Gardens.

The visitors are busy firing off tweets and blog posts.

"Martha Stewart is due here soon!" wrote Susan Reimer, a columnist for the Baltimore Sun

who writes the Garden Variety blog, as she posted a photo on her Twitter account.

"BikeGarden" wrote "Buffalo has some amazing garden things happening," one of many comments

tagged on Twitter with the term "#buffa10."

Major sponsors for the visit include Troy-Bilt, GardenRant.com and the Buffalo Niagara

Convention & Visitors Bureau. For details, visit http://buffa10.blogspot.com/.

The visitors are getting a private preview of Garden Walk Buffalo, which will be held July

24 and 25 this year.