by Connie Oswald Stofko Buffalo in Bloom, the project that recognizes City of Buffalo residents who maintain their properties with gardens in their front yard, is back after a hiatus of several years. In past years, the idea was for teams of volunteers to cover the entire city, block by block, and recognize residents who put effort into their front yards. Unfortunately, it was too difficult to get enough volunteers for such a massive undertaking, said Linda Garwol, chairperson of…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko “My favorite flowers are phlox and oriental lilies because they’re fragrant,” said Ed Dinki, “and I love the color. Asiatic lilies are nice, but they’re not too fragrant.” You can get tips like that and see some amazing gardens when you dare to stray from the clusters of gardens at the center of a garden walk map and take a few minutes to visit some of the outliers. The Amherst Garden Walk, which took place July…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko “It looks pretty peaceful out here,” Joyce Heath said, surveying her yard on the Snyder-CleveHill Garden View on July 10. With so much happening in the world, especially in recent weeks, it’s a feeling she tries to convey in her gardens. Rocks in a side garden were inscribed with “Tranquility” and “Peace Love Joy.” A flag emblazoned with “Peace: Back by popular demand” found a prominent spot elsewhere in her yard. “It’s a happy place,” exclaimed…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko “It’s not meant to look perfect or manicured,” Dr. Kenton Bruce Anderson said of his front yard at 44 Montrose Ave., Buffalo. “It’s meant to be carefree, but look as if somebody takes care of it.” You can see this fun garden on the Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Saturday, July 16. The walk will also feature a night tour called Capen by Night from 8 p.m. – 10 p.m…....
by Connie Oswald Stofko “The response we always get is, ‘I had no idea these things were happening,’” said Mary Van Vorst. That’s the reaction from people who went on the Beyond Flowers Tour and the East Side Momentum Tour. Van Vorst is one of the volunteers who helped organize these bus tours, which are part of Gardens Buffalo Niagara, the group that organizes the garden walks and Open Gardens. The Beyond Flowers Tour will show you eight sites in…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko A magnolia tree will be a symbol of the friendship between Buffalo and its sister city in China, Changzhou. A ceremony was held yesterday at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens to mark the gift. The event was attended by a 40-person delegation from China consisting of Changzhou’s government officials, performers, businesspeople and a Chinese television crew. The crew is shooting a documentary called “A Tale of Two Cities,” highlighting the cultural and arts exchanges…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko Can you get garden mums to come back year after year? Yes, you can, said Ethan Waterman, manager of Waterman’s Greenhouse, 12316 Vaughn St. (Route 240), East Concord (Springville.) “Planting them now is the trick,” Waterman said. “You can’t take a mum out of the pot in October and shove it in the ground and think it will come next year. You have to plant them now to get them established so they make it through…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko When some people go on a garden walk, they want to visit only the gardens that are clustered closely together. If you do that on Lockport in Bloom, you’ll miss this treasure. Jan and Craig Powley have seven acres of land– Three acres are horse pasture, and the horses provide a ready supply of manure for the organic flower gardens and vegetable gardens and the remaining acreage. You can see these gardens in person on the…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko When Julie Anderhalt was looking for a house in 1989, it was a seller’s market. A house would go on the market and it would be bought in an hour. So when she found a house she liked and realized someone else was interested in it, she quickly put in an offer. It was a whirlwind, she said, but her offer was accepted. Later she asked the owner of the house who owned the lot next…...
Although they’ve been around for years, a lot of people still aren’t aware of Open Gardens, a great activity that’s special to Western New York. During Open Gardens, more than 70 great gardens in 12 groups throughout our area are open for you to visit on Thursdays or Fridays for four weeks in July, starting this week. It’s organized so that gardens in a certain geographic area are open on the same day and times. Some gardens, such as those…...