by Connie Oswald Stofko In the Buffalo area, when we talk about creating year-round garden interest, what we really mean is: How do I make my garden look good in autumn and winter? From May to August, it’s easy to have beautiful landscaping, flowers and lots of color. All the garden walks are scheduled during that period, so we can find plenty of inspiration for summer gardens. But what if we’d like our gardens to be pretty now and throughout the…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko Spring is an overlooked time for gardens in the Buffalo area. It seems we spend our time waiting and preparing for the end of May, the traditional time to plant tender annuals, and we forget to pause and enjoy the beauty of spring gardens. With perennials, you can have successive waves of blooms in your garden starting in early spring, said Fran Evans of Hamburg, who is a Master Gardener with Cornell Cooperative Extension Erie County…....
by Connie Oswald Stofko Tiny yet powerfully fragrant, the lily of the valley (also called May bells) is a favorite for spring gardens. It is the flower for birthdays in May and symbolizes sweetness, purity and return of happiness. The scientific name for the plant is Convallaria Majalis. Lily of the valley is easy to grow. It is a perennial, so it comes back every year. It spreads and keeps its green leaves all summer long, so it can be…...
by Ruth Syron The sweet pea is a charming cool weather flower that is the April birth flower. It has a wonderful spicy, sweet scent that is delicate, yet substantial enough not to be missed. The sweet pea symbolizes “thank you for a lovely time.” I think this meaning fits the scent of the sweet pea because experiencing the aroma is a fleeting pleasure, hard to describe, but you feel thankful that you have enjoyed it. The sweet pea also…...
Last week we gave you tips on creating a garden you can enjoy during our Buffalo winters. In this article, we’ll give you ideas for creating a garden that looks great in the Buffalo area during the other three seasons as well. For examples of what you might plant, we’ll look to the garden of Wayne Gostomski and Tom Flanigan, who live in Buffalo. Their photos are used throughout this story. For spring color, think bulbs, such as crocuses, tulips,…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko A cold frame is a terrific way to extend the gardening season. These can be used like mini-greenhouses during the autumn in raised beds to keep lettuce or spinach growing, and in the spring to keep tender tomato seedlings warm. Buffalo ReUse recently held a free workshop on how to build a cold frame. The workshop was led by Brad Kujawski, left, green space coordinator for ReUse, and Scott Kozak, resource educator for ReUse, right. If…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko The garden of Geri and Dominic Mitro of 701 Orchard Parkway, featured on the third annual Orchard Parkway Garden Walk in Niagara Falls, expresses their gratitude to God. “After praying for three years to find our new home in 2004, we felt so blessed we wanted to glorify the Lord with our landscape,” they wrote in the garden walk brochure. LED lights are strung around the cross in the garden surrounding their front porch, which you…...
© 2012 Buffalo-Niagara Gardening. All rights reserved.