You don’t have to have a college degree to help advance scientific learning in plant and nature topics. You can help scientists collect data on a number of local and national projects. Here are a few projects that might interest you. __________ Let scientists know where squirrels are & where they aren’t Take a look around your home, office, school or other location and, whether you see squirrels or not, enter your observations at the Project Squirrel website. Scientists want…...
Name the next corpse flower at the Botanical Gardens & more updates
by Connie Oswald Stofko You can vote on your favorite name for the new corpse flower, which is currently is its leaf stage at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens. The Botanical Gardens received thousands of suggestions and whittled them down to five: Cinder-Smella, Ichabod, Gomez, Seymorgue and Morticia. (I won’t tell you which name I voted for.) I talked today to Jeff Thompson, director of horticulture at the Botanical Gardens, and he said the leaf is now about…...
Make miniature garden with holiday theme for yourself or as a gift at Mischler’s
Make a miniature garden with a holiday theme during hands-on workshops at Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses, 118 South Forest Rd., Williamsville. These tabletop gardens make great gifts. They can serve as a centerpiece at a holiday party, brighten up a desk or reception area in an office or add cheer to a nursing home. The workshops will be held at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8 at Mischler’s. Each workshop will last about two hours. The first half of…...
5 tips to make the most of autumn leaves in your garden
by Connie Oswald Stofko Do you know that there are people who essentially throw their leaves away? They rake them out to the curb and wait for someone to haul them away. I find that amazing because those autumn leaves are a valuable commodity for your garden– yet they’re free! Here are five tips on making the most of autumn leaves. Tip #1: Use leaves as mulch around your perennials to help them survive the winter. If we have a…...
Corpse flower updates: Morty’s ‘sibling’ leafed out & is on display; third plant is budding
by Connie Oswald Stofko Remember Morty the corpse flower that bloomed last summer at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens? Well, it has siblings. In July, the Botanical Gardens purchased three corms (bulbs) of the plant Amorphophallus titanum. The plant is commonly called a corpse flower because, when in bloom, it emits a smell like garbage or rotting flesh. One of the corms, dubbed Morty, bloomed this summer. The second corm has sent up a single leaf that, as…...
Garden Walk Buffalo accepting applications for grants; deadline is Feb. 17
Applications for Marvin Lunenfeld Beautification Grants are now available from Garden Walk Buffalo, the largest garden walk in the nation. The grants, named for Marvin Lunenfeld, Garden Walk Buffalo’s founder, have helped fund dozens of garden beautification projects across the West Side of Buffalo for a total of more than $50,000 in the last several years. The 2015 grant application can be found here. Completed applications are due Feb. 17, 2015 with funding awards announced in early spring 2015. Garden…...
Tell your gardening friends– It’s free to subscribe to Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com!
by Connie Oswald Stofko There are people who have been reading Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com for years and didn’t know they could subscribe! And it’s free! Yes, you can just visit our website without subscribing, but when you subscribe, you get notified every time new content is posted. That way, you don’t miss a thing! You’ll get great gardening tips that really work in Western New York, see full-color photos and videos, and have the opportunity to peruse the most comprehensive list of…...
Got clay? Don’t want to dig? Want a new bed over lawn? Try lasagna gardening in autumn
by Connie Oswald Stofko It’s autumn, and here’s an outside project you can do today: create a lasagna garden. Lasagna gardening is a method where you apply material to your garden bed in layers, like in a lasagna. Lasagna gardening has several advantages: You don’t have to till or dig your garden bed. The technique works with clay or other poor soil. You can create a new bed over lawn. It’s not labor intensive. It’s organic. You don’t have to…...
Mum Show & more set at Botanical Gardens
I hope you were able to get outside today and enjoy the splendid weather. But this weekend, the weather will be cool and possibly rainy– perfect weather for an indoor flower show! Spectacular mums that you won’t see in a backyard will be on display during the Mum Show to be held from from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily from Saturday, Oct. 18 to Sunday, Nov. 9 at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, 2655 South Park Ave.,…...
Question: What happened to the color on the hydrangea tree blossoms?
Here’s a question from a reader: Hi! I have another hydrangea tree question. My H. Paniculata Limelight is now three years old. The first two years I had large blooms that started out slightly green, changed to a bright white, then turned pink. (See the bright white blooms here.) This year there were many smaller blooms. Some stayed green from August to the present (Oct. 7), and a few went from green to white and back to green. I missed…...