Category: Uncategorized

healthy impatiens in Lancaster NYJune 2013 closeup

How are your impatiens doing? Please let Cornell expert know

by Connie Oswald Stofko Margery Daughtrey, senior extension associate with Cornell University who co-wrote a fact sheet on how downy mildew affects impatiens, would like to know how your impatiens are doing. “I saw a photo last week of an impatiens in the Buffalo area with the distinctive white sporulation on the under-surface of the leaves– definitely downy mildew,” Daughtrey said. Daughtrey provided us last year with a photo showing the disease, which you can see below. “Have any of…...

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Aug 13, 2013
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image for video on how to arrange flowers from your garden in Buffalo NY

Arrange flowers from your own garden with this how-to video

If you have perennial gardens, your showy flowers may be at their blooming peak. Learn how to arrange flowers from your own garden in this easy-to-follow video. Maggie Wittmer, professional floral designer at Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses in Williamsville, shows us how to select flowers from the garden and how to arrange them in a pleasing way. If you don’t have flowers to pick, now is the time to plant flowering perennials for next year. Stop in to Mischler’s to…...

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Aug 6, 2013
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coleus replaces impatiens in front yard on Garden Walk Buffalo 2013

Gardeners make substitutes for impatiens on Garden Walk Buffalo

by Connie Oswald Stofko During last year’s Garden Walk Buffalo, mounds of impatiens were flowering robustly at 689 West Delavan, Buffalo.  But just a few weeks later, the impatiens were dropping their leaves. By September, the impatiens were gone, a victim of downy mildew.  This year, Luis Martinez and Jeff Wilson were among the gardeners who had to find different plants to use in shady areas. I visited them during Garden Walk Buffalo, held July 27 and 28. With 376…...

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Jul 30, 2013
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gardens around inground pool with waterfall in Amherst NY

Amherst backyard with lavish gardens was setting for wedding

by Connie Oswald Stofko Pam Weinrieb  loved her home at 445 Lebrun Rd., Amherst, but she didn’t like how it looked in the front. So for years she concentrated her gardening efforts on the front. When her son decided to get married and wanted the 2011 ceremony in her backyard, she turned her attention to the backyard. The result is a 1.3-acre lot filled with lavish gardens. I visited during the Amherst Garden Walk, held July 20. Above you can…...

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Jul 30, 2013
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Help save trees when you clean your pool filter– look for invasive beetles

While you’re cleaning your pool filter, look for Asian longhorned beetles, an invasive species that can cause serious damage to our trees including the sugar maple. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is seeking help from pool owners during its second annual Asian longhorned beetle Swimming Pool Survey taking place now through Aug. 30. Even if you don’t have a pool, you can submit photos of suspected Asian longhorned beetles to foresthealth@gw.dec.state.ny.us. This is the time of…...

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Jul 30, 2013
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cactus in bathtub in Tonawanda NY

There’s a 9-foot cactus in a bathtub– & that’s just the beginning

A double-tub wringer washer, a bucket for a milking machine and a pan from a salad bar are some of the items that have been found new uses in the garden of Terry and Debbie Calway on Hampton Parkway in Tonawanda. The Calways’ garden was among the more than 50 gardens open to visitors during the Ken-Ton Garden Tour on July 21 and 22. In the photo at left, a huge coffee machine on the Calways’ front porch becomes a…...

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Jul 23, 2013
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title of video about Williamsville NY woman who rescues plants

Williamsvile gardener rescues plants from demolition sites

When a house or other building is being razed, wonderful flowers, shrubs, vines and bulbs are often destroyed in the process. Elise Fila of Williamsville doesn’t like to see those plants go to waste. She rescues the plants to use in parks as well as in her own garden. I visited Fila during the Williamsville Garden Tour, which was held Saturday, July 20. Watch the video below to get a few tips on how you can get free plants by…...

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Jul 23, 2013
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completed memory garden in Williamsville NY

Make arrangement of potted perennials, plus more news

Fresh flower arrangement lasts for years– it’s made of potted perennials! This arrangement makes a great gift for a gardener. Not only is it gorgeous, the recipient can actually have all of these flowers in his or her garden next year! That’s because these aren’t cut flowers; this is actually an arrangement of potted perennial plants. This idea comes to us from Mark Yadon, vice president of Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses, 118 South Forest Rd., Williamsville. Last year he gave…...

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Jul 23, 2013
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border garden in Snyder NY

One project each year turns ‘wasteland’ into vacation spot

One project every year has turned a fixer-upper house with no garden into a relaxing getaway at 389 Berryman Dr., Snyder. I visited during the 11th annual Snyder-Cleve Hill Garden View, held Sunday, July 14. When Debbie Hanny moved in 13 years ago, “There was no garden. It was a wasteland.” The project in the first year was to install the fence in the front yard. This past fall, she and her partner Jerry Schultze put in the raised bed…...

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Jul 16, 2013
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front garden in Buffalo NY

Gardener goes old school with organic gardening in Buffalo

“We’re from New York City,” said Shawn King. “It’s all concrete there. When we got here and saw all this land, we just started planting.” She and her husband, Lew-Jean, have lived for 27 years at 166 Lasalle Ave., Buffalo. I visited them on July 13 during the Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk. “We’ve always had a garden,” Shawn said. “The love of gardening was instilled in me by my grandmother.” In the front yard, a neat arrangement of flowers…...

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Jul 16, 2013
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