Beginning and experienced gardeners alike enjoy daylilies. Daylilies are a great choice for beginning gardeners because they’re so easy to grow in the Buffalo area. (Heck, a plant that’s easy to grow is something we all love!) The experienced gardener who’s always looking for something new can appreciate the wide range of colors and shapes of the daylily. Plus, hybridizers are constantly working on new varieties. The Buffalo Area Daylily Society will hold its annual Public Daylily Sale from 9…
In May, my garden was so boggy I thought I’d never have to water again. In June, my garden was hard as a rock. In July, we had that hot, dry spell. During the past week, we finally got some rain, but there wasn’t much. You should have been watering, too. If you can’t keep up with the erratic watering needs of your garden, you may want to consider an underground sprinkler system that operates automatically. There are several advantages…...
You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.
“I love the lights,” said Rosie Dubravac of 74 Simon St., Buffalo. That’s why she opened her yards for the Starry Night Garden Tour, the evening portion of the Black Rock & Riverside Tour of Gardens on Saturday, Aug. 6. It was the last garden walk of the season in Western New York. Dubravac welcomed many visitors, who enjoyed the well-lit front and back yards. The tall lighted ornament you see in the front yard above left is a sunflower…....
You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.
The gladiolus, which is blooming in many Buffalo-area gardens now, is the birthday flower for August. I’m told you’re supposed to plant gladiolus bulbs in spring. That explains why they didn’t come up the first time I planted them– I planted them in the fall. After that fiasco, I again planted gladioluses (the plural is gladioluses, gladioli or sometimes gladiolas). The only reason I tried them again was because I got bulbs as a gift. (Technically, gladioluses have corms, not…...
You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.
A 20-foot blue spruce, along with a birch, crab apple, dogwood and Japanese maple, are part of what is essentially a giant container garden built on top of a narrow asphalt driveway in Buffalo. Ellie Dorritie of 415 Summer St. shared her gardens during Garden Walk Buffalo on July 30 and 31. More than 350 gardens were on display during the event, which is the largest garden tour in the nation. Dorritie’s back garden includes brick pathways, which you can…
A new administration building and two state-of-the-art greenhouses were opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens on Wednesday, July 27. Celebrating the event by using hedge clippers for the ceremony were, from left, Erin Grajek, director of marketing at the Botanical Gardens; Mary Ann Kresse, board chairman at the Botanical Gardens; Dan Kozub, Erie County legislator; Chris Collins, Erie County executive, and David J. Swarts, president and CEO of the Botanical Gardens. The ceremony…
Gardeners in the Buffalo and Western New York area have more plants to choose from than they did just a decade or two ago. The plants are genetically better, too. This is one of the big trends Ron Heimiller has seen in his career as president and head grower at Heimiller Greenhouses in Newfane. The business is celebrating its 30 anniversary. Breeders searched the world for plants that might do well in the United States and bred them for color,…...
You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.
Many gardeners feel they must get their garden planted by Memorial Day weekend or they’ve missed some sort of deadline. They think that if they go to a garden center now, they’ll see nothing but shriveled-up specimens on a discount table. Surprise! It’s still planting season in Buffalo and Western New York, and garden centers are full of fresh, new perennials and trees that you can plant right now. Plus, you get instant color and instant flowers because these fully…...
You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.
“We sit out here every night with a glass of wine,” said Kathi Schwab, as she surveyed her backyard. Soft lighting showcased tall flowers and reflected off the calm water of their inground pool. “Oh, it’s heaven,” Kathi said. The Schwabs shared their yard during Ken-Ton’s first “Saturday Night Lights” garden walk held July 23. Eighteen gardens participated in the evening walk. The nighttime event was part of the Ken-Ton Garden Tour, which held a daytime walk on both Saturday…...
You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.
In the first year, Judy Horan planted eight pink geraniums. Now, just four years later, her garden encompasses the area from the front door of her Amherst condominium, around the corner to her deck. It continues beyond a huge evergreen where she has a small vegetable garden. Oh, and she has a garden on the other side of the driveway, too. “I was bored,” said Judy, who is retired. “But this is it. It’s not going to get any bigger.”…...
You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.