by Connie Oswald Stofko I will present “45 Gardening Tips in 45 Minutes” at the meeting of the Wheatfield Garden Club at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 22 in the Wheatfield Community Center, 2790 Church Rd., Wheatfield. Like all the events we list on Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com, this event is open to the public. I’ll share some of the best tips I discovered as I interviewed home gardeners and gardening experts for the online gardening magazine for Western New York. I can speak…...
UB students design house with Buffalo gardener or urban farmer in mind
by Connie Oswald Stofko Wouldn’t you love to live in a home with a greenhouse where you could grow your own food all year? That’s a key feature of the GROW House being designed by a team of University at Buffalo students to appeal to Buffalo gardeners, or more specifically, to urban farmers in Buffalo. GROW House stands for Grow, Relax or Work House. It’s entered in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015, a two-year competition that will culminate…...
Free: Get advice for your own landscape from gardening expert Sally Cunningham on Oct. 11
It’s not that we don’t have inspiration for our landscapes. We go on the garden walks and Open Gardens. We look at photos on Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com and Pinterest. We see lots of beautiful landscapes that we wouldn’t mind having in our yards. But we just don’t know where to start. You will have a unique opportunity to get advice for your own landscape from gardening expert Sally Cunningham, CNLP, in a small discussion group at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 11 at…...
Winners in Jamestown Audubon photo contest came from around the world
Winners in the Jamestown Audubon’s 2014 Nature Photography Contest came from as near as a few miles from the Audubon Center & Sanctuary to as far away as the other side of the globe. “In the six-year history of the photo contest, we’ve had a number of international entries, but this is the first time we’ve had international winners,” said Jennifer Schlick, Audubon program director and contest coordinator. The purpose of the contest is to fulfill Jamestown Audubon’s mission to…...
Four things to do in your early autumn garden
It’s officially autumn in Western New York, but that doesn’t mean we’re done working in our gardens. We’ve had a lovely stretch of warm and sunny weather, so it’s been a pleasure to work outside, and that pleasant weather should continue for a few more days. Whether you want to be productive or are just looking for an excuse to get outdoors, here are some things you can do in your garden now. Water your plants It has been sunny…...
Early 20th century innovations include lawns, foundation plantings; learn more at talk
by Connie Oswald Stofko We don’t live the way people did at the turn of the last century, and that’s reflected in our landscapes, said Laura L. S. Burchfield, co-author of American Home Landscapes: A Design Guide to Creating Period Garden Styles. Back then, people had outhouses. They needed a space for livestock. An area called the drying yard was set aside for hanging laundry. By the 1920s and ’30s, there were garages for cars, large lawns and even stone…...
Learn how to make spooky fairy gardens in workshops at Mischler’s
Learn how to make a fairy garden with a Halloween theme in workshops to be held Friday and Saturday, Oct. 17 and 18 at Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses, 118 South Forest Rd., Williamsville. Workshops will be held at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. each day. Each workshop will last about two hours. The first half of each workshop will consist of an explanation and demonstration by Mischler’s creative staff. The second half of the workshop will be hands on, with Mischler’s…...
Tribute Garden honors lives affected by domestic violence; events set for Saturday
A Tribute Garden that is being created to honor domestic violence victims, survivors and their families will be dedicated Saturday, Sept. 27, during the 5th annual Break the Cycle Bike-a-Thon and Walk in Isle View Park, 796 E Niagara St., Tonawanda. The bike-a-thon and walk will raise money for the Tribute Garden. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. and the ride and walk begin at 10 a.m. The event is hosted by the Erie County Commission on the Status of Women…
Get tips from history to deal with a combination of dry and wet conditions in your garden
by Connie Oswald Stofko A combination of gardening problems faces Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village, the 35-acre historical interpretive center in Amherst that showcases 19th century buildings set up like a village. Much of the landscape is boggy, so gardens can be wet early in the season. In addition, there’s no irrigation system, and hoses can’t reach all the gardens, so there’s no easy way to water plants during the dry summer months. To deal with these conditions, Buffalo Niagara Heritage…...
Get inspired by another peek at garden art in Lancaster yard
by Connie Oswald Stofko I visited the garden of Karen Deutschlander of Lancaster last summer as she was preparing for the Lancaster Garden Walk, then I showed you how she uses vignettes in her garden. She has quite a collection of other garden art, too. On this first day of autumn, let’s take another peek at some of the art in her garden. I hope it inspires you to get creative in your garden, too. Note: Deutschlander brings in her art for…...