People often ask me how I can offer subscriptions to Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com for free. The answer, of course, is that this great online magazine is supported by local businesses and organizations who want to connect with gardeners. That means that when you’re looking for gardening products and services, this website is a great place to start. Not only can you find wonderful merchandise and services, but these folks are right here in Western New York! Check out the ads that you see…...
To be a vendor at the Lewiston GardenFest, the deadline is May 1. If you’d like to share your garden, the deadline is May 14. The Lewiston Garden Club will hold the Lewiston GardenFest from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 15 and Sunday, June 16 on Center Street in Lewiston. The event is seeking vendors who sell items related to gardening, horticulture and the outdoors, including nurseries, landscapers, garden artists, builders, and others. Vendor applications are due by…...
Here are two tips from the Western New York Rose Society on pruning and planting roses. Tip #1: Don’t prune or plant roses too soon. Wait until you see forsythia blooming in your neighborhood. When you see those yellow blossoms, you will know it’s the perfect time to start planting and pruning your roses. From Steve Styn, Western New York Rose Society Rosarian Tip #2: Don’t cut back your climbing roses. Just trim the brown tips off in the spring. …...
by Connie Oswald Stofko Please help me congratulate the three lucky winners in our recent drawing held by Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com. They are: Nancy McCrae of Elma Carl Yerkovich of Lakeview Freda Peisley of Rochester The names were drawn at random. Everyone who was subscribed to Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com by March 26– even those who signed up years ago– were entered into the drawing. I’m happy to have so many new subscribers, and I love my loyal readers, too! Each of the winners receives a $200…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko Most lawns don’t need phosphorus. And if you use a fertilizer containing phosphorus on your lawn, the excess phosphorus can wash off and pollute our waterways. That’s why the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is running its “Look for the Zero” campaign. If you want to use a chemical fertilizer on your lawn, make sure you choose one without phosphorus. Fertilizer labels have three numbers. The number in the middle is the percentage of…...
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of Garden Walk Buffalo, the Buffalo Architecture Foundation has partnered with Gardens Buffalo Niagara to launch the 2019 Pollinator House Design-Build Competition. This unique design-build competition encourages participants to submit a functional, contemporary pollinator house. The houses will be displayed during Garden Walk Buffalo and then auctioned off to support the programs of both Gardens Buffalo Niagara and the Buffalo Architecture Foundation. The competition seeks to bring awareness to the wide array of pollinators in Western New…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko Local landscapers created gardens at Plantasia this past weekend around the theme of “Plantasia in Paradise.” Various awards were announced at Preview Night on Wednesday. Throughout the rest of the show, visitors were invited to vote for their favorite landscaped garden. It was difficult for many people. I heard one after another say, “Oh, but they were all so good!” After all the votes were counted, Tripi’s Landscaping came out on top and received the People’s…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko Yesterday I took some kitchen scraps out to my compost bin. The air temperature was only about 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and I was surprised by how warm it felt in the sun. It made me want to putter in my garden. But don’t rush things. One thing you have to be concerned about is walking around on a wet lawn or garden bed. Walking on wet soil can compact the soil, which isn’t good for your…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko Tell your friends that today, Tuesday, March 26 is the last day to enter to win a gardener’s prize package worth more than $200. All they have to do to enter is to subscribe to Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com. And it’s free to subscribe! If you are already subscribed, you’re already entered. I love my loyal readers! But if you haven’t subscribed, do it today. You will automatically be entered into our prize drawing. We will choose the winners tomorrow morning (Wednesday,…...
Scholarships are available from the Master Gardeners of Erie County and from the Amherst Garden Club. Master Gardeners of Erie County The Master Gardeners of Erie County are offering a $1,000 scholarship to high school seniors who are going on to college to study horticulture, botany or a related field. The deadline to apply is Monday, April 15. Completed applications must be submitted by mail to the Cornell Cooperative Extension Erie County office, 21 S. Grove St., East Aurora, NY 14052, Attention: Master Gardener…...