Category: Inspiration

by Connie Oswald Stofko This spring, my wonderful neighbor gave me several sunflower seedlings. I was excited (and thankful!) because my husband and I love sunflowers. We had given up on planting sunflowers because rabbits love our gardens. It became too difficult to try to defend—then lose—these wonderful flowers to the rabbits. But this year I decided to try one more time, and I was very careful. I planted the seedlings in large pots and placed the pots outside on…...

by Connie Oswald Stofko I hope you are warm, well and safe. And I hope that, no matter where you live in Western New York, you find things to be thankful for. I am thankful for everything gardeners do to help others, whether they quietly share plants and seeds with a neighbor, volunteer as a Master Gardener, give produce to food pantries, organize a garden walk or add a native plant to their garden or balcony. The gardening environment in…...

by Connie Oswald Stofko I’m taking a short break, but I’ll be back on Jan. 19 with a new edition of Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com. As usual, it will contain great garden tips, events and everything you need to know about gardening in Western New York. We gardeners are already looking forward to next spring–and the days are getting longer! And there’s more to be optimistic about. We’re still in the midst of a pandemic, but two vaccines for COVID-19 have been approved…....

by Connie Oswald Stofko “During this Covid pandemic, gardening has been our therapy,” said Marie Wysocki of Hamburg. She and her husband Jerry shared their landscape during Open Gardens. “Weeding is very therapeutic for us. I’m usually a calm person, but if I didn’t have this…” Many gardeners echoed that sentiment this year, and I feel the same way. We were able to get plants, thanks to the folks at our local garden centers who scrambled to create new systems…...

by Connie Oswald Stofko This spring we endured long, cold stretches of rain. Or snow. We couldn’t wait for dry, sunny days. Summer finally arrived and brought those hot, dry days, but perhaps we’ve had more than you would like. Yesterday I waited for rain that never arrived. Here are four reasons Western New York gardeners like rain in the summer: If it rains enough, we don’t have to water. While some gardeners enjoy the task of watering, others would…...

by Connie Oswald Stofko Here in Western New York, we gardeners have a lot to be thankful for. Here’s my list, and I hope you’ll share your own thoughts in a comment below. I’m thankful that we got plenty of rain this season. I rarely had to water. Gardeners I talked to were thrilled that their perennials were so big and healthy! There are so many garden walks and Open Gardens during the summer in Western New York that no…...