by Connie Oswald Stofko The landscape of Mary Lou Szalach and Kevin Papendick is beautiful, with garden islands in the front yard, but it was the backyard that I wanted to see. That’s where they have raised beds that are self-watering; the beds are connected to their sprinkler system. I visited them last year on the North Tonawanda Garden Walk. Papendick displayed a diagram that laid out the set-up; see above. I colored it in to make it easier to…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko When Carol and Rick Stumpf bought an empty lot for their home 30 years ago, ash trees were already established. A house and gardens followed and the Stumpfs enjoyed their landscape. “It was all shaded back here,” Carol said. “I had all my beds how I wanted them.” She gazed longingly around her huge backyard, remembering how it used to be before her mature ash trees–and many others across Western New York– were killed by emerald…...
What looks like a huge, lush garden is really extreme container gardening. “Everything is in pots,” said Scott Dunlap. His husband, Joe Hopkins, does the gardening and together they share their Buffalo Cottage District landscape on Open Gardens and Garden Walk Buffalo. You can get a glimpse of their gardens in this video, created by Jay Jinge Hu, who also shares his Williamsville landscape on Open Gardens. Other interesting tidbits from Hopkins and Dunlap’s landscape: See more videos here…....
by Connie Oswald Stofko Majestic trees rise high above the huge backyard of Kim and Seth Kaiser. “I retired a couple years ago,” Kim said, “but when I was working, this was my respite.” The size of the backyard itself, 200 feet deep, is remarkable. “Who would ever think this is back here?” a visitor wondered. Kim replied: “It’s a surprise!” When the Kaisers moved into their East Aurora home 33 years ago, “There were no flowers here,” Kim said…....
by Connie Oswald Stofko Are you ready to see colorful flowers, unique garden art and an overall beautiful landscape? In this video, Jay Jinge Hu, who shares his own landscape on Open Gardens, takes us on a tour of the gardens of Mitch Flynn and Ellen Goldstein, who will again this year share their landscape on Open Gardens and Garden Walk Buffalo. Whatever you enjoy about a garden, you can probably find in these gardens. There’s the sculpture Flynn made…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko As 2023 comes to a close, it’s time to take a look at the year in gardening in Western New York. Let’s start with events. There were classes, workshops, exhibits, plant exchanges, sales and garden club meetings—all helpful and fun. (All the garden club meetings on my Events page are open to the public.) Then there were the garden walks and Open Gardens. More than 400 gardens were open for you to visit—for free! Garden Walk…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko As you walk along the driveway to the backyard, you make your first encounter with sharp angles. The vegetable beds are rectangles. Another bed is a triangle. Plant supports are triangles. “We have some circles and arcs to make the rectangular shapes more interesting,” said Paul Orrange. He and his wife Susan Orrange shared their Whiting Street landscape on the North Tonawanda Garden Walk in July. The Orranges have been in their home for about 25…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko “This is the hidden gem everyone wants to see,” said Christina Brown as she showed me the sandstone pond that is original to her house, built in 1916. It may be the only pond like it in our area. “I couldn’t make a pond like this now,” she said. “I couldn’t afford it. The cost of sandstone is ridiculous.” You can visit her landscape on Chatham Avenue during Garden Walk Buffalo, the largest garden tour in…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko “People come at five in the morning to drink their coffee in my yard,” Elizabeth Triggs said. “Every day, people come back here to read and write. It’s a community yard. You can sit down and relax.” You can visit Mrs. Triggs, as she is respectfully known in her neighborhood, on the East Side Garden Walk this weekend to find out how she and others have built strong alliances in her community. It’s a long and…...
The season of garden walks will kick off this weekend with Lewiston GardenFest from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 17 and 18 on Center Street in Lewiston. Here are some photos–and tips!–from a couple of the gardeners who will be sharing their landscapes during the Lewiston GardenFest. You can see and learn more during the actual event. “Celebrate summer at Lewiston GardenFest and come away inspired to enhance your own green spaces,” said Mary Ann Yates,…...
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