Monarchs in every stage of their life cycle can be seen during the Monarch Butterfly Festival to be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 31 at the Audubon Center and Sanctuary, 1600 Riverside Road, one-quarter mile east of Route 62 between Jamestown, NY, and Warren, PA. The event will include a plant sale aimed at getting more milkweed, the only food of monarch caterpillars, into the community. “Despite a huge drop in the monarch population, we have…...
How are your impatiens doing? Please let Cornell expert know
by Connie Oswald Stofko Margery Daughtrey, senior extension associate with Cornell University who co-wrote a fact sheet on how downy mildew affects impatiens, would like to know how your impatiens are doing. “I saw a photo last week of an impatiens in the Buffalo area with the distinctive white sporulation on the under-surface of the leaves– definitely downy mildew,” Daughtrey said. Daughtrey provided us last year with a photo showing the disease, which you can see below. “Have any of…...
‘Beachside bar’ is relaxing spot in Riverside backyard
by Connie Oswald Stofko With water, fish, sand and a bar, it’s like a vacation resort in the backyard of Jim and Linda Whittaker, 56 Evelyn St., in the Riverside area of Buffalo. The Whittakers shared their gardens Aug. 3 during the Black Rock and Riverside Tour of Gardens, which included the evening Starry Night Garden Tour. This was the final garden walk of the National Garden Festival in 2013. The bar essentials, including a refrigerator and a draft beer…
Cunningham, Dore to be honored by state landscape association
Sally Cunningham, CNLP, and Ed Dore, Senior Lifetime CNLP, will be honored by the New York State Nursery & Landscape Association at its annual meeting on Aug. 22 in Syracuse. Both Cunningham and Dore are members of the Western New York State Nursery & Landscape Association. Cunningham will receive the New York State CNLP of the Year award for 2013 for achievements that benefit the professional nursery and landscape industry. She has educated the public about science-based gardening and landscaping…
Arrange flowers from your own garden with this how-to video
If you have perennial gardens, your showy flowers may be at their blooming peak. Learn how to arrange flowers from your own garden in this easy-to-follow video. Maggie Wittmer, professional floral designer at Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses in Williamsville, shows us how to select flowers from the garden and how to arrange them in a pleasing way. If you don’t have flowers to pick, now is the time to plant flowering perennials for next year. Stop in to Mischler’s to…...
Gardeners make substitutes for impatiens on Garden Walk Buffalo
by Connie Oswald Stofko During last year’s Garden Walk Buffalo, mounds of impatiens were flowering robustly at 689 West Delavan, Buffalo. But just a few weeks later, the impatiens were dropping their leaves. By September, the impatiens were gone, a victim of downy mildew. This year, Luis Martinez and Jeff Wilson were among the gardeners who had to find different plants to use in shady areas. I visited them during Garden Walk Buffalo, held July 27 and 28. With 376…...
Amherst backyard with lavish gardens was setting for wedding
by Connie Oswald Stofko Pam Weinrieb loved her home at 445 Lebrun Rd., Amherst, but she didn’t like how it looked in the front. So for years she concentrated her gardening efforts on the front. When her son decided to get married and wanted the 2011 ceremony in her backyard, she turned her attention to the backyard. The result is a 1.3-acre lot filled with lavish gardens. I visited during the Amherst Garden Walk, held July 20. Above you can…...
Help save trees when you clean your pool filter– look for invasive beetles
While you’re cleaning your pool filter, look for Asian longhorned beetles, an invasive species that can cause serious damage to our trees including the sugar maple. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is seeking help from pool owners during its second annual Asian longhorned beetle Swimming Pool Survey taking place now through Aug. 30. Even if you don’t have a pool, you can submit photos of suspected Asian longhorned beetles to foresthealth@gw.dec.state.ny.us. This is the time of…...
There’s a 9-foot cactus in a bathtub– & that’s just the beginning
A double-tub wringer washer, a bucket for a milking machine and a pan from a salad bar are some of the items that have been found new uses in the garden of Terry and Debbie Calway on Hampton Parkway in Tonawanda. The Calways’ garden was among the more than 50 gardens open to visitors during the Ken-Ton Garden Tour on July 21 and 22. In the photo at left, a huge coffee machine on the Calways’ front porch becomes a…...
Williamsvile gardener rescues plants from demolition sites
When a house or other building is being razed, wonderful flowers, shrubs, vines and bulbs are often destroyed in the process. Elise Fila of Williamsville doesn’t like to see those plants go to waste. She rescues the plants to use in parks as well as in her own garden. I visited Fila during the Williamsville Garden Tour, which was held Saturday, July 20. Watch the video below to get a few tips on how you can get free plants by…...