Category: Garden tips

Garden tips for the Buffalo area.

el at Pelion Garden in Buffalo NY

Grow tunnel and herb garden under leaves: Did the plants survive this cold winter?

by Connie Oswald Stofko In November, Caesandra Seawell, garden manager, showed us how she extends the growing season in the Pelion Community Garden at City Honors School in Buffalo. She insulated the herb bed by adding a thick blanket of leaves and, after two frosts this fall, the parsley was still green. On another raised bed with a grow tunnel, the broccoli, kale and cabbage were still doing well even though the temperature had dipped to 15 degrees Fahrenheit. But…...

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May 13, 2014
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Find a good home for your extra plants by donating them to nonprofit gardens

When you’re thinning out your perennials, you probably feel sad when you have to throw those extra plants on the compost pile. Two Western New York organizations that would be delighted to find a good home for those plants are the Genesee Country Village & Museum in Mumford and Grassroots Gardens of Buffalo. Genesee Country Village & Museum The Genesee Country Village & Museum recreates a 19th-century country village with costumed interpreters in restored historic buildings. This season the gardeners…...

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May 13, 2014
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Impatiens courtesy Margery Daughtrey

Update: Impatiens might do okay in WNY this year, or they might not

by Connie Oswald Stofko If this summer is like last summer in Western New York, you might be able to plant impatiens and have them perform well, perhaps into August, anyway. But there are still a lot of ifs involved, and there are certainly no guarantees. Margery Daughtrey, senior extension associate with Cornell University who co-wrote a fact sheet on how downy mildew affects impatiens, gives us an update on what Western New York gardeners might expect from impatiens this…...

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May 6, 2014
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Things you can do in your garden now & tips to push the season

by Connie Oswald Stofko The weather will be warmer this week and it will be great to get outside and work in your garden. There are many things you can do in your garden right now, and, if you’re an impatient gardener, we have a few tips on how you might try to push the season from Teresa Buchanan, garden center manager at Lockwood’s Greenhouses, 4484 Clark St., Hamburg. Now is a great time to plant trees and shrubs, Buchanan…...

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May 6, 2014
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bee from Buffalo and Erie Botanical Gardens

You can help protect bees from toxins; learn more at Honey Bee Festival

by Connie Oswald Stofko Let the clover and dandelions grow in your lawn. Minimize your pesticide use, too, especially on flowers that are attractive to honey bees. Those are ways gardeners can help with the problem of Colony Collapse Disorder, said Reed Johnson, assistant professor in the Department of Entomology at the Ohio State University. Dr. Johnson will speak at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 3 at the Honey Bee Festival at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, 2655 South…...

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Apr 29, 2014
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Two new emerald ash borer infestations confirmed in WNY

Recent detections of trees infested with Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) in Angola (Erie County) and Fredonia (Chautauqua County), both near the NYS Thruway, remind us that we need to continue to prepare for the eventual spread of this devastating invasive insect, according to Cornell Cooperative Extension. The Chautauqua detection is the first reported find of EAB infested ash trees in that county, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). A free information session on the EAB…...

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Apr 29, 2014
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herb sign and accent plants at Mike Weber Greenhouses

Welcome Mike Weber Greenhouses, our new premium partner

Please welcome our new new premium partner, Mike Weber Greenhouses, 42 French Rd., West Seneca. Mike Weber Greenhouses is known for their Gardener’s Own™ brand plants that they grow themselves. You can buy these high-quality plants at their garden center as well as at Wegmans and at other independent garden centers. As you plan your herb garden, plan a stop at Mike Weber Greenhouses. They grow 95 different varieties of herbs. It’s a popular place for flowers, too– They specialize…...

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Apr 29, 2014
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Got Easter flowers? Keep them blooming for years to come in Western New York

by Connie Oswald Stofko A lot of beautiful potted flowers were sold this past week for Easter by Lockwood’s Greenhouses, 4484 Clark St., Hamburg. But when the flower falls off, what do you do with the plant? “People don’t know what to do with flowers they get at Easter,” said Teresa Buchanan, garden center manager. “A lot of those flowers will come back.” Here are tips from Buchanan on how to handle those wonderful potted flowers so that you can…...

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Apr 22, 2014
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Help a reader: What is this awful plant?

by Connie Oswald Stofko A reader sent me this question: “I have what I assume is a weed every year in one garden bed. I cannot get rid of it no matter what I try. It is green leafed and grows on a stem that snakes under ground. The stem is reddish purple under ground and the leaves come up from that as it spreads all over. It can get very tall. It’s coming up already. It twists through my…...

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Apr 22, 2014
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It feels like summer, then winter– What you can do in your garden now

by Connie Oswald Stofko How do we know it’s spring in Western New York? One day it feels like summer and the next day it feels like winter. On Sunday I opened my doors and windows and it got up to 74 degrees Fahrenheit in the house. Today? Snow. Sigh. If I get nervous that winter is making a comeback, I remember that I have seen robins and crocuses in my neighborhood. I know spring is here to stay. But…...

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Apr 15, 2014
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