spring flowers in small pots at Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens

5 tips from Botanical Gardens’ Spring Flower Show to use in your landscape

by Connie Oswald Stofko It’s lovely just to walk around the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens during the Spring Flower Exhibit. The fragrance of hyacinths scents the air. Spring bulbs that won’t flower in our gardens for a few more weeks are already in bloom. And flowers that might bloom at different times in your garden are all blooming at once, creating a garden fantasy. And if you look carefully, there are some things you can try in your…...

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portable table for gardening in Niagara Falls, NY

Make a handy, portable work surface with tip from Niagara Falls gardener

by Connie Oswald Stofko Do you need a work surface for potting and other gardening tasks? Would it be helpful if you could easily move that table from one area to another? Use this great tip from Rick Martinez of Niagara Falls, NY: “Since my garden is made up of a series of ‘garden rooms,’ I found that a stationary work surface just wasn’t working. An easy solution to my problem consisted of two large plastic garbage bins and a…...

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pots with flowering plants beside door in Buffalo NY

Look for details on garden walks in Western New York

by Connie Oswald Stofko We can be wowed when we walk into a landscape on garden walks or Open Gardens in Western New York. The overall view is magnificent and there is so much to see. Tip: Take a breath. Then take a step back. Look at the details and think about how you might work those details into your own landscape. The gardens in the backyard of of Kevin Lickers and Ricardo Arce in Buffalo are beautiful, but there is…...

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cauliflower

Start of a new gardening season: Plant seeds for cool weather vegetables

by Connie Oswald Stofko We still have wintry weather in Western New York, but you can begin sowing seeds now–or soon–for cool weather vegetables. As their name implies, cool weather vegetables can withstand cooler temperatures in the air and soil. That means you can transplant cool weather seedlings outside weeks earlier than you can for tender vegetables, such as tomatoes and peppers. In a previous article, Patti Jablonski-Dopkin, general manager of Urban Roots Cooperative Garden Market, 428 Rhode Island St., Buffalo, lays…...

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pink and blue hydrangeas in Western New York

Shrubs, container gardening & climate to be topics at Master Gardener Ed Day

The Cornell Cooperative Extension of Erie County Master Gardener Program will host its Education Day from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 11 at Classics V Banquet Center, 2425 Niagara Falls Blvd, Amherst. Speakers and topics are: The event includes a hot buffet lunch, beverages and snacks. The day begins with registration from 8:30 – 9 a.m. The first of two morning sessions start at 9 a.m. The full hot buffet lunch will be followed by an afternoon presentation…...

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Rhode Island Red hen

Eggs are pricey: Is now a good time to start raising chickens in WNY?

by Connie Oswald Stofko Everyone is talking about how expensive eggs are in Western New York, so maybe this a good time to start raising a few egg-laying hens in your backyard. On the other hand, a big reason for the increase in the price of eggs is avian flu, a deadly disease for poultry. Maybe this is a bad time to start raising laying hens. “There’s not any good or bad time to begin to raise chickens,” said Amy…...

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graphic of fertilizer bag

What do the numbers & letters on a fertilizer bag mean?

by Connie Oswald Stofko The numbers and letters on a bag of fertilizer can be confusing. Let’s take a moment to learn what all this means to our Western New York gardens. Letters on fertilizer bag The letters on the fertilizer bag represent primary nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The abbreviations come from the periodic table of elements: N is nitrogen, P is phosphorus and K is potassium. The standard label displays the nutrients in the same order, according to…...

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garden along fence in Amherst NY

What can you learn from this Amherst landscape?

by Connie Oswald Stofko When you’re visiting landscapes on the many garden walks and Open Gardens here in Western New York, it’s fun to just be wowed by what you see. You might think, “I wish I had a garden like that.” You can never completely replicate someone else’s landscape. Your yard might be shady where theirs is sunny. Or you might have a much smaller yard. Or you might not want to spend as much time watering and weeding…...

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Amaryllis 'Apple Blossom' in Buffalo NY

Reminder: What to do now so your amaryllis blooms next year in WNY

by Connie Oswald Stofko There aren’t many plants blooming outdoors right now, but many Western New Yorkers are enjoying stunning amaryllis flowers indoors. Amaryllis bulbs are popular holiday gifts. If your plant is done blooming, don’t throw it away–it can bloom again next year. It’s pretty easy to get an amaryllis to bloom again, and the small effort you put into the project is well worth the effort. Amaryllis has huge, trumpet-shaped flowers–it’s spectacular! The most important thing to know…...

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