In conjunction with the Niagara Frontier Orchid Society, the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens will host the fall Orchid Show Saturday, Oct. 12 from 10 a.m.to 5 p.m.and Sunday, Oct. 13 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Botanical Gardens, 2655 South Park Ave., Buffalo. Whether orchids are your passion or simply just a hobby, the Orchid Show offers beautiful and award-winning displays. Get your orchid questions answered. Specialty vendors will also offer a plant sale including merchandise…
Grants available to towns, school districts for tree projects
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is accepting applications for urban forestry project grants. The deadline is Dec. 5. Communities can apply for tree planting, maintenance grants or invasive pest studies in cases involving an infestation of the emerald ash borer or the Asian long horned beetle. Grants are available to municipalities, public benefit corporations, public authorities, school districts and not-for-profit organizations that have a public ownership interest in the property or are acting on behalf of…...
Heirloom vegetables connect us with previous generations; learn more at fair
by Connie Oswald Stofko Starting in 1910, Jim Tammaro’s great-grandmother grew lovely flowers, a dianthus called ‘maiden pinks’, in the garden of her Rochester home. In 1960, his aunt took some of the plants to her home. In the 1980s, when his aunt died at the age of 93, the plants were turned over to Tammaro. Now Tammaro carries on the legacy, growing the maiden pinks outside the front door of his Williamsville home. Growing these plants that have a…
Amherst Arboretum project to be recognized at bi-national conference
The Amherst Conservation Advisory Council will be recognized for the Arboretum at Amherst State Park Project at the 2013 Conference on the Environment: A Bi-National Summit be held Thursday and Friday, Oct. 3 and 4, at the Adam’s Mark Hotel in Buffalo. The conference is for environmental professionals and community leaders from the United States and Canada. The public can attend the conference’s opening event, an evening with Gord Downie, front man for the band The Tragically Hip, at 6…...
Add interest to your WNY garden with a roller coaster effect
by Connie Oswald Stofko Here’s a tip for designing a new perennial bed. You can use this tip now– Fall is a great time to plant perennials and start a new garden in Western New York. There’s still plenty of time for the plants to set roots. We all know one general design rule is to place taller plants in back and shorter plants in front. But Chet Okonczak of Cheektowaga, whose garden we saw in the spring, has interesting…...
Tips: Keep cats from eating plants and keep bees from bothering you
by Connie Oswald Stofko I had a great time recently speaking to the Silver Creek Hanover Garden Club. What a fun group! They gave me a some great tips that I want to share with you. A member has trouble with cats eating her indoor plants. What can she plant that cats won’t eat? One audience member suggested aloe. Her cat chomped on her aloe plant– but only once. Apparently the cat didn’t like the pointy parts. Well, the questioner…
Check out the new features of our Events page
Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com offers you the largest, most up-to-date list of gardening events in Western New York. Now we’ve added some new features to make it even easier for you to find the events that interest you. In the black ribbon across the top of the page, you’ll see Events. You can click on that and you’ll see a list of upcoming gardening events listed in chronological order. It looks a lot like our previous Events page, so you’ll find that familiar…...
See new landscape design at Richardson Olmsted Complex in Buffalo during free event
What would Olmsted do now? That’s the question designers attempted to answer as they created a new landscape for the Richardson Olmsted Complex, a National Historic Landmark. The designers wanted to remain true to the original intent of acclaimed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted while addressing concerns of the 21st century. You can see the new landscape during an event for the public called South Lawn Celebration from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28 at the complex, 400…
A thought at the beginning of autumn in WNY
“Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits.” ~ Samuel Butler, Victorian author …...
Bring fish in for winter or leave in pond? Arbordale offers tips
In Western New York, should you bring your fish inside for the winter or leave them in your pond? That’s one of the questions Jeff Salmon, president of Arbordale Nurseries & Landscaping, will discuss during presentations on closing your pond for the winter. A free class will be held at Arbodale, 480 Dodge Rd., Getzville. The class is about 45 minutes long and will cover what to do with pond equipment, fish care, cleaning, plant care and more. It is…...