by Connie Oswald Stofko It’s an Irish pub. It’s an outdoor living room. And it has gardens. That’s what you encounter when you visit Michael Ryan’s backyard on Englewood Ave., Tonawanda. It’s the party place for his family and friends. Visitors are amazed and assume he must spend lots of time maintaining his landscape, but he insists that he’s a lazy gardener who uses lots of short cuts. “It’s two weeks of work at the beginning of the season, then…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko I’m always trying to make Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com more useful to my readers. I know that many of you now use your phone or tablet to check your email, and I want to make sure it’s easy for you to get all the latest gardening news and tips from Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com. If you are a subscriber, this week you’ll notice that the email I sent looks different. My aim was to make the email easier to read on those…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko It’s what so many of us wait for all year: homegrown sweet corn and tomatoes. They’re in season now and you can get them at Goodman’s Farm Market, 2227 Cayuga Dr. Ext., Niagara Falls. Other homegrown produce includes blueberries, green beans, cucumbers, pickling cucumbers, Swiss chard, zucchini, summer squash and beets. You can also buy gardening supplies and plants, including hanging baskets, annuals and perennials. A large selection of hibiscus plants is available and they’re blooming…....
If you enjoy gardening and would like to share your time, consider volunteering with Grassroots Gardens WNY, which educates and leads neighborhood gardeners. They’re also looking for donations of supplies. And please spread the word about workshops for new immigrant and refugee gardeners. Volunteer As an individual or part of a group—class, church group, coworkers, club, circle of friends—you can volunteer with Grassroots Gardens. It can be one-time special event or you can volunteer on an on-going basis. See the…...
Are you looking for a great venue for a cocktail party, holiday party, luncheon or team-building event? Do you know someone who is looking for a gorgeous location for their wedding ceremony, reception, shower or rehearsal dinner? The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens has many indoor and outdoor locations for events. You can learn more at an open house to be held from 5:30-8 p.m. Thursday, July 28 at the Botanical Gardens, 2655 South Park Ave., Buffalo. The open…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko A steep hill that some people might see as an obstacle has become the focal point of Paul Sabato’s backyard. He shared his garden on South Buffalo Alive, a garden walk that took place Sunday, July 17. When he moved in 23 years ago, the staircase to the right was already there, but Sabato put in the rest, including an above-ground swimming pool. The soil was full of rocks. “You put a shovel in the ground…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko Have you gotten any rain lately? If so, lucky you! I’ve been hearing forecasts of thunderstorms, and I happily anticipated having my rain barrels refilled. But we got only lightning. There was barely enough rain to dampen the porch– and the areas under the plastic lawn chairs stayed dry! We’re significantly below average for precipitation, said John Farfaglia, extension educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Niagara County. The last summer that was comparable to this was…
by Connie Oswald Stofko Here’s a question from a reader: “My Asiatic lilies were attacked by the lily beetles last year. “This year they (the red lily leaf beetles) are back in my garden. I literally pulled about 6-8 of my lilies and just tossed them out because they were so bad and distressing me– I even tossed out the soil around them. I still have some beetles and twice daily, I go out and look for them and catch…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko Peter Kurtzworth is the fourth generation of his family to live in the home at 491 Morgan St., City of Tonawanda. When he married Judy four years ago, she brought pieces of her heritage to his homestead: plants from her former home, from her aunt’s cottage and from her mother’s garden. The Kurtzworths shared their gardens on the City of Tonawanda Garden Walk, which featured a nighttime tour on Friday, July 15 and a daytime tour…
by Connie Oswald Stofko Many of you now use your phone or tablet to check your email, and I want to make sure it’s easy for you to get all the latest news and tips from Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com. Next week you’ll notice that the email you get will be easier to read on those smaller devices. And if you open your email on a laptop or desktop computer, I think you’ll also find the new look attractive. I’ll still be offering…...