by Connie Oswald Stofko I am excited to say that Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com is sponsoring the Great Plant Sale at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens again this year! There’s so much to talk about. The pre-sale is open online now. And the Great Plant Sale will be back in person in May! Pre-sale is open now The pre-sale is being held online. Find great selections of annuals, perennials and shrubs. Sale orders are due April 15, but you should place…
by Connie Oswald Stofko We’ve talked about winter sowing before, and here’s another method for planting seeds outside during winter. I got this great tip from Linda Blyth of the Town of Tonawanda. “This is what we do with poppies, cleome, datura, bells of Ireland and a few others: sprinkle these seeds on top of the snow,” Blyth said. “Why? Because they all need a period of cold in order to germinate! Have you ever tried planting seeds in the spring…
The 25th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, which will be held Friday, Feb. 18 through Monday, Feb. 21, is a way for you to help researchers right from your own backyard. Anyone, from beginning bird watchers to experts, can take part. Participants are asked to count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the four-day event and report their sightings online at birdcount.org. Each checklist submitted during the Great Backyard Bird…
by Connie Oswald Stofko There’s a lot to see in Pat Gurney’s large Orchard Park landscape, but what surprises many people when they visit during Open Gardens is her use of annuals. Gurney uses annuals to add color to shady areas, to fill in areas when perennials are done blooming and to add height or interest in an area. She uses a lot of containers, setting them wherever they are needed. Though she uses annuals, trees and perennials are the…
Winter is the best time to spot the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid, and you can help monitor them from Feb. 12 through March 12 in New York’s first statewide Winter Mapping Challenge. You could win a prize! The challenge is being hosted by NY iMapInvasives and the NYS Hemlock Initiative. To participate: Get outside, find some hemlock trees and check for white “fuzz balls” on the undersides of twigs– these are the egg masses. Report your findings to iMap. Even if you don’t…
The Buffalo Style Garden Art Sale is accepting applications for artists to exhibit. The application deadline is March 26. This popular summer craft sale is a high point of the summer for Buffalo Niagara’s ever-growing and enthusiastic gardening community. Items for sale, in any medium, have to be garden- or nature-themed, or works that can be displayed in a garden setting. Sculpture, planters, metalwork, paintings, lighting, vintage signs, woodwork, architectural remnants, fountains, found art, jewelry, ceramics – anything that relates back…
by Connie Oswald Stofko “I find a statue, then think, ‘What can I plant around it to accent it?’” said Jim Bardot. The statue that was the inspiration for this garden is the Chinese head, situated in the very center. “It sat by itself in the backyard for years,” Bardot said. “I placed it here, I placed it there, then I brought it out front and found other things to go with it.” This Asian garden is one of the…
American wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens), a native plant, is an appealing evergreen groundcover, according to this article in the most recent edition of WNY Gardening Matters. Its glossy leaves emit a pleasant teaberry scent when crushed. Its white flowers are tinged with pink in summer and develop attractive red berries. There’s another evergreen groundcover with the common name of wintergreen, but it’s in an entirely different family. Learn more about spotted wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata) in this article, too. Also in this…
by Connie Oswald Stofko Sales of tree and shrub seedlings are being held in Western New York. You can order from your county or through the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The sales have different ordering deadlines. The organizers suggest you order early to make sure the items you want are still in stock. Some of the sales offer additional items, such as wildflower mixes. Tree seedling sales by county Cattaraugus County Chautauqua County Erie County Genesee…
by Connie Oswald Stofko “Aroids are great for collectors,” said Luke Schiavone, houseplant specialist at Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses in Williamsville. “It’s a big family with lots of variety for a plant connoisseur.” Get a glimpse of that variety with just a few examples of aroids in this article. You can see aroids in person—and get a discount on houseplants—during Houseplant Week at Mischler’s from Friday, Jan. 28 to Saturday, Feb. 5. Find out more about aroids during a talk…