Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com

volunteers in garden bed at Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens

Want to work in a big garden? Volunteer at Botanical Gardens

If you love to garden but don’t have as much space to work in as you would like, consider volunteering at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens. The Botanical Gardens is looking for volunteers to help out in many ways, including horticulture. A volunteer orientation will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 6 at the Botanical Gardens, 2655 South Park Ave., Buffalo The orientation is free. Register online or contact Karen Hammer, Program and Volunteer…...

Monthly Subscription Membership Required

You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here

Aug 22, 2017

Tips on harvesting vegetables

Did you ever pick a big, red tomato and slice it open, only to find you should have left it on the vine a little longer? You can find tips on harvesting vegetables, including when to pick them, from the Home Garden Seed Association, which also goes by ezfromseed.org. In most cases, tomatoes should be not only fully colored, but slightly soft when squeezed, according to the Home Garden Seed Association. There are some exceptions. Large heirloom tomatoes can be…...

Monthly Subscription Membership Required

You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here

Aug 22, 2017

Get up close to monarchs during festival at Audubon Nature Center

Walk around an indoor garden filled with free-flying monarch butterflies during the Monarch Butterfly Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26 at Audubon Community Nature Center, 1600 Riverside Rd., one-quarter mile east of Route 62 between Jamestown, New York, and Warren, Pennsylvania. You can hand-feed the butterflies or wander over to see how citizen scientists tag them to track their migration to Mexico. Observe their life cycle as you examine monarch eggs and hold caterpillars. Festival admission is…...

Monthly Subscription Membership Required

You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here

Aug 22, 2017

post office cancellation for Alden Garden Club anniversary

Special postal cancellation observes anniversary of Alden Garden Club

by Connie Oswald Stofko A postal cancellation has been created to mark the 25th anniversary of the Alden Garden Club, and a short presentation with members of the club will be held at noon tomorrow, Wednesday, Aug. 16 at the Alden Post Office, 13127 Broadway St., Alden. The pictorial cancellation was designed by club members Janet Hastreiter and Sue Galbraith. Special cancellations like this one are prized by collectors. “Alden will receive letters from all over the country,” said Michele…...

Monthly Subscription Membership Required

You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here

Aug 15, 2017

sunglasses for solar eclipse in Buffalo NY

Don’t look now– a solar eclipse is coming to your garden

by Connie Oswald Stofko We will experience only a partial solar eclipse here in Western New York, but it should still be impressive. “If it’s a nice sunny day, you’ll definitely notice it,” said Gene Timothy of the Buffalo Astronomical Association. He is co-director of their observatory at Beaver Meadows in North Java. The eclipse will occur here on Monday, Aug. 21. It will happen gradually over a period of 2 hours and 39 minutes. The moon will begin to…...

Monthly Subscription Membership Required

You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here

Aug 15, 2017

Aphids don’t need males to breed; see how to deal with them

Aphids can cause problems in your garden because they feed on so many different plants. Not only that, aphids can breed quickly. Aphids can reproduce asexually– no males are necessary, according to an article on aphids in this month’s issue of WNY Gardening Matters, produced by the Master Gardeners of Cornell Cooperative Extension in Erie County. Spring and summer aphids are all females and so are their offspring. Find out more about aphids and what you can do if they…...

Monthly Subscription Membership Required

You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here

Aug 15, 2017

Late blight is affecting tomatoes, potatoes in WNY

by Connie Oswald Stofko All of Western New York is at risk for late blight, said Emily Reynolds, executive director of Cornell Cooperative Extension in Chautauqua County. Late blight was confirmed on tomato plants in Chautauqua County this weekend, she said, and the genotype is still being determined. The first report in the state came from Erie County on July 10, according to a blog post on late blight published by the New York State IPM Program. (IPM is integrated…...

Monthly Subscription Membership Required

You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here

Aug 15, 2017

Pick up– or send– a six-pack of can’t-miss perennials

by Connie Oswald Stofko Some gardeners know exactly what plant they want and can ask for it by its Latin name. Then there are others, like me, who just have a vague idea of the plant they want. Something that deer don’t like, or something that hummingbirds or butterflies do like. Or maybe native plants because they’re usually easy to maintain. If you’re not sure where to go from there, Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses can help. “We take the complexity…...

Monthly Subscription Membership Required

You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here

Aug 8, 2017

Could you get sick from a tick while gardening in Western New York?

by Connie Oswald Stofko “Compared to 10 years ago, calls and questions about ticks have more than doubled,” said John Farfaglia, extension educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Niagara County. The geographic range of ticks has been increasing, he said, and ticks can transmit Lyme disease as well as other diseases. Are you at risk in your garden? Your garden probably isn’t a high-risk place, but the areas near your garden might be. If your yard has well tended beds…...

Monthly Subscription Membership Required

You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here

Aug 8, 2017

Create a wall of hydrangeas for a wedding or other special occasion

by Connie Oswald Stofko How would you like a wall of hydrangeas? This display intrigued me at the annual conference of GWA: The Association of Garden Communicators held right here in Buffalo from Friday to yesterday. At the trade show, this wall of blooms was used by Bailey Nurseries, a grower, to show off its brand of reblooming hydrangeas called Endless Summer hydrangeas. You could create a blooming wall like this for a special occasion. The hydrangea plants are in…...

Monthly Subscription Membership Required

You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here

Aug 8, 2017