Garden tips for the Buffalo area.
Here’s a question from a reader: Does anyone have suggestions for perennials to plant with spring bulbs this fall that will emerge and cover the leaves of the tulips and daffodils after they bloom and then slowly turn yellow? It’s a south-facing spot with much sun and good drainage, along my garage wall. Thank you! Val Betts Lake View (Hamburg) I talked to Claudia Kolbe-Hawthorne of the Cleve-Hill section of Cheektowaga last year about how she gets waves…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko That muggy weather we’ve had this past week made it feel more like July than September. But Labor Day is over and kids are headed back to school. That makes many people think the gardening season is over. No it’s not! Here are a few reminders of things you can do in the garden now and for the next few weeks. Start a new garden Many people think spring is the perfect time to start a…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko We gardeners want to be kind to the environment, but it can seem so complicated. We may know that we should have a sustainable landscape, though many of us probably can’t define exactly what that means. We should be organic, which encompasses so many different gardening practices. Can we do it all and have a pretty garden at the same time? Yes, and gardening expert Sally Cunningham will tell you how during a talk at 10…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko “We just really like recycling,” said Carrie Madigan, who gardens with her mother Patty Connors at 180 Crowley Ave., Buffalo. “I don’t want to buy something super expensive if I can make it.” Visitors saw many examples of her creative gardening on a budget during the 11th annual Black Rock & Riverside Tour of Gardens held Aug. 1. The Starry Night Garden Tour was held during the evening. It was the last garden walk of the…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko The established perennial garden in the front yard of 166 York St., Buffalo, was an added incentive for Nick and Marideth Heim to buy the home three years ago. That garden was one of more than 400 landscapes that were shared on Garden Walk Buffalo on July 25 and 26. Garden Walk Buffalo is the largest garden walk in the nation. Many of the streets were crowded with visitors, and free shuttles drove tourists among the…
by Connie Oswald Stofko I heard something on South Buffalo Alive that I’ve never heard from a gardener on a garden walk before. “Right now everything is just about perfect,” Peter Clancy said as he surveyed his yard at 39 Edgewood, Buffalo, on July 19. Often gardeners will tell me about the spectacular flowers that finished blooming the week before, or they will tell me how much better the garden will look in a few days when a different flower…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko A lot of gardeners seem to view Memorial Day weekend as a deadline. They think that all of their planting has to be done by then. Not true! “There is still lots of time to enjoy flowers,” said Mark Yadon, vice president at Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses, 118 South Forest Rd., Williamsville. This is a great time to buy annuals for several reasons, Yadon said. The plants that you buy now are larger than the plants…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko Jim Aichinger and Tim Kuntz’s gardens are lovely during the day. “But when the lights come on, oh, it’s wonderful back here,” said Kuntz. They shared their Cornwall Avenue landscape during the Night Lights portion of the Ken-Ton Garden Tour on Friday and Saturday, July 17 and 18. The daytime portion was held Saturday and Sunday, July 18 and 19. The front as well as the back is lit 365 days a year, Aichinger said, with…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko The gardens of Pat Arnold are filled with many flowers, including 30 rose bushes, but if you pause to look more closely, you’ll notice other elements that add to the gardens’ beauty. You might call it Buffalo-style garden art, or you might dub it upcycling. “It’s artwork I do from odds and ends I pick up,” she said. “I just look for things that people put out at the curb, or things at Salvation Army or…
by Connie Oswald Stofko “The wetness we had early in the season has caused disease issues that will show up the rest of the season,” said John Farfaglia, extension educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Niagara County. These issues include mildew and blight. How you handle it depends on the particular plant that is affected as well as on your gardening preferences. Some plants that get a fungal disease don’t need to be treated at all. If a lilac bush…...
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