Cash prizes offered in Jamestown Audubon Society’s photo contest The Jamestown Audubon Society’s Nature Photography Contest offers prizes in three categories and two divisions. The youth division is for ages 8-18 or still in high school and the adult division is for ages 18 and over or post-high school. Youth and adult winners in the categories of landscapes, plants, and wildlife will all receive a $100 cash prize as well as free photo finishing. “Every winner receives a cash prize,”…...
Category: Uncategorized
Luxuriant gardens in Clarence were built slowly, filled with perennials
Grassless front yards aren’t seen only in the City of Buffalo. A profusion of flowers fills most of Catherine Klein’s front yard in a semi-rural area of Clarence. “You don’t need grass,” she said. “Grass is green. Flowers are colorful.” As you’re planning your garden for this summer, take inspiration and some tips from Catherine. Catherine and I are related. Her father-in-law and my late father were cousins, which makes me and Catherine second cousins by marriage (or something). I…...
Hand tie a bouquet using your dried roses and preserved leaves
by Connie Oswald Stofko In a previous video, you learned how to dry roses, and last week you learned how to preserve leaves using glycerin. This week, David Clark, horticulturist, shows us how to pull those elements together by making a hand-tied bouquet. It’s easy once you see how it’s done! You can get more great tips from Clark during a series of upcoming workshops that have been organized as part of the 125th anniversary celebration of Blessed Sacrament Church in…...
Order now to get ‘hot picks’ at Botanical Gardens sale, & more news
‘Hot picks’ available during Botanical Gardens plant sale Alstromeria ‘Inca Ice’, seen above, is one of the “hot picks” offered this year as part of the Great Plant Sale of the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens. Only a limited number of specimens of each hot pick will be available. The hot picks must be ordered online. The deadline to order is April 5. Plants will be available for pick-up at the Botanical Gardens during the Great Plant Sale on…...
Hamburg gardener enjoys the unusual– but stinky– voodoo lily
by Connie Oswald Stofko “It’s quite interesting; it’s not beautiful,” Fran Evans of Hamburg said about his voodoo lily, an unusual plant from Cambodia. Last year Evans showed us his many gardens that were filled with early spring flowers. At the same time, his six-year-old voodoo lily (Amorphophallus konjac), a potted specimen, bloomed for the first time. The blossom has a cool pitcher shape, decorated in regal colors of maroon and gold. I’d say the voodoo lily was pretty– if it weren’t…...
Preserve leaves with glycerin for dried floral arrangements
by Connie Oswald Stofko I had never even heard of using glycerin to preserve leaves until David Clark, horticulturist, showed me how. It’s a simple and inexpensive technique. You can learn how to do it in the video below. Last week we showed you how to dry flowers. Next week we’ll show you how to combine the preserved leaves and flowers by making a hand-tied bouquet. You can learn even more in a series of upcoming workshops led by Clark…...
Find speakers for your next event, & more items too good to miss
Find a garden speaker for your next event Garden Talk Buffalo provides a way for garden clubs, garden centers and other groups to easily find speakers. This brand new website is a speakers bureau that lists Western New York’s top gardening speakers. You can find all the information you need, including the speakers’ topics, bios and contact information. If you have an event coming up, but don’t know who is available to speak, check out Garden Talk Buffalo. If you…...
Learn to attract birds to your garden, then count them to help science
The Audubon Center & Sanctuary can help you learn how to attract birds to your garden and invites you to help scientists by participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count. Learn to attract and identify birds in your garden “Bird Feeding 101” will be held Saturday, Feb. 16 at the Audubon Center and Sanctuary, 1600 Riverside Road, Jamestown. You can choose one topic during each of the two time periods. 10-10:45 a.m. How to identify common backyard birds and learn…...
Garden walk season is on the way, & more items too good to miss
Send us information on your garden walk & other events Garden walk season is on the way! This week I got my first email announcing the dates for a garden walk. The 9th Annual Lockport in Bloom will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, July 13 and 14. See more details on our Upcoming Events Page. It’s not too early to submit information on your garden walk or other gardening events. By March people start…...
Wild weather– Should we worry about our Buffalo gardens?
Last week the temperatures were in the single digits. This week it may be in the 50s or even 60s. Should we Western New York gardeners be worried? “I’m probably more concerned that folks don’t have much snow cover,” said John Farfaglia, extension educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Niagara County. Snow is a good insulator and can protect plants against damage that can come from these wild fluctuations in temperature. This is the second year in a row that…...
