Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com

Poinsettias are white and pink and speckled– explore new varieties

The traditional poinsettia is beautiful with its red and green coloring, but there are many varieties that you might like even more. You can see many new and nontraditional varieties of poinsettias at Mischler’sFlorist and Greenhouses, 118 South Forest Rd., Williamsville. Mischler’s grows their poinsettias right in their greenhouses in Williamsville. A new one is Picasso, which Yadon describes as “naturally airbrushed,” with shades of cream on red. One of my favorites is White Glitter, which is red with white…...

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Nov 20, 2012

watering garden in late autumn in Buffalo NY

5 tips for your late autumn garden and more items too good to miss

Five tips for the late autumn garden There is still plenty that you can do in your garden, including planting! Here are a few things you can accomplish in your garden right now. They come to us from Jeff Salmon, president of Arbordale Nurseries & Landscaping, 480 Dodge Road, Getzville. The soil is still warm and you can still plant. Late fall plantings will continue to root and establish themselves, so you’ll be farther ahead if you plant now than…...

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Nov 20, 2012

When I count my blessings on Thanksgiving, I think of you

I hope this doesn’t sound corny, because I mean it. As we approach Thanksgiving, I realize that I have many things to be grateful for, and you are one of them. I started Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com a little more than two years ago. It seemed like a good idea, but there were so many unknowns. It was the middle of the biggest recession this nation has seen since the Great Depression, and that seemed like a risky time to start a new…...

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Nov 20, 2012

Use a nature theme to bridge from fall to winter decorating

When it comes to decorating, gardeners like to bring the outdoors inside, and using a nature theme actually makes it easier to transition from fall holidays to winter holidays. Pine cones are great transitional elements, said Mary Gurtler, designer at Lockwood’s Greenhouses, 4484 Clark St., Hamburg. The wine glasses in the photo above are a great example of that. If I describe them as being painted in fall shades of yellow, brown and green, you can picture them on a…...

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Nov 13, 2012

How to keep your canna lilies over the winter & 2 more tips

“I haven’t bought canna lilies in years because they multiply,” said Kristen Suto of Busti Avenue, Buffalo. We visited her lush front yard, which has a view of the Niagara River, during Garden Walk Buffalo in July. Suto has canna lilies in pots and in beds throughout her gardens. The yellow flower in the photo below is another canna lily. If you haven’t already brought in your canna lily bulbs for the winter, do it now. When Suto brings her…...

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Nov 13, 2012

pumpkins with succulents at Lockwoods in Hamburg NY

Easy way to turn a leftover pumpkin into a Thanksgiving centerpiece

If you have a whole pumpkin left over from Halloween, here’s an easy way to fancy it up for Thanksgiving. This idea comes to us from Becky Watts, CNLP, garden consultant at Lockwood’s Greenhouses. Take a whole pumpkin. (Note that the green pumpkin in the photo is a real, fresh pumpkin. It’s a variety called Ghirardelli.) Glue Spanish moss to the top of the pumpkin using Aleen’s Craft Glue. Watts said she spreads a band of glue about two inches…...

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Nov 6, 2012

picking up autumn leaves in tarp in Amherst NY

Don’t waste those leaves! 3 tips to turn autumn leaves into compost

by Connie Oswald Stofko Autumn leaves are so valuable for your garden. You can rake them onto garden beds to serve as mulch. This can help protect your plants during the winter. After that, many of us still have plenty of leaves left. These are great for compost. Here are three tips to make the most of your autumn leaves. Gather leaves up in a tarp. I used to rake my leaves into a pile. Then I would pick them…...

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Nov 6, 2012

Get professional garden design help like I did– free!

We used to have a dog named Cookie who liked to sit out front and bark at pedestrians. Her favorite spot was the garden by the front porch steps. In the summer, she would dig down a bit to find some cool soil to nestle in. If it rained or even snowed, she would snuggle in a dry spot under the overhang. Even when the weather seemed unpleasant to me, Cookie liked being out there. Cookie kept the rabbits away…...

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Oct 30, 2012

Northeast native flowers from National Garden Bureau

Perennial for 2013 is ‘wildflower,’ says National Garden Bureau

2013 has been named the Year of the Wildflower by the National Garden Bureau, the non-profit organization promoting gardening on behalf of the horticulture industry. Each year, the National Garden Bureau showcases a plant in each of three categories: vegetable/edible, annual and perennial. The showcased plants are supposed to be popular, easy-to-grow, widely adaptable, genetically diverse and versatile. The wildflower (though it’s more of a category than a plant) certainly meets those criteria. We talked to representatives of Lockwood’s Greenhouses, 4484…...

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Oct 30, 2012

4 big tips for creating a garden with year-round interest

by Connie Oswald Stofko In the Buffalo area, when we talk about creating year-round garden interest, what we really mean is: How do I make my garden look good in autumn and winter? From May to August, it’s easy to have beautiful landscaping, flowers and lots of color. All the garden walks are scheduled during that period, so we can find plenty of inspiration for summer gardens. But what if we’d like our gardens to be pretty now and throughout the…...

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Oct 23, 2012