by Connie Oswald Stofko by Connie Oswald Stofko From one sweet potato, you can sprout several plants, and you can get as many as six to 10 potatoes from one plant. You can eat the leaves, too! Cheryl Harris, a gardener who grows an amazing variety and amount of vegetables on her double lot in Buffalo, tells us how to grow these tasty and nutritious vegetables. You’ll be able to visit her this year during two events: the East Side…
by Connie Oswald Stofko by Connie Oswald Stofko Gardeners in Western New York have started to notice the red lily leaf beetle, which can devastate your lilies (true lilies, but not daylilies). I’ve written about red lily leaf beetles before; see details here. Last year we shared a couple home remedies that might keep red lily leaf beetles away. One is diatomaceous earth and the other is a homemade spray. There aren’t any controlled studies that look at how effective…
Beech leaf disease is a new tree disease that has been identified in Erie County. It is listed on the “Top 10 Tree Insects & Diseases,” an article you will find in the newest edition of WNY Gardening Matters. Beech leaf disease Beech leaf disease (BLD) affects and kills both native and ornamental beech tree species. BLD was just discovered in recent years and there is a lot we still don’t know about this disease, according to the New York…
by Connie Oswald Stofko Stop weeds before they even pop out of the ground–that’s what pre-emergent herbicides do. Pre-emergent herbicides act on seeds at the germination stage. Corn gluten meal is an organic pre-emergent herbicide. There are synthetic pre-emergent herbicides, too. These can work well on grass seed and broad-leaf seeds. However, like every herbicide, they don’t kill every type of weed. They don’t kill existing weeds. And they don’t work on plants with tap roots, such as dandelions. They…
by Connie Oswald Stofko Want more color throughout the season? Have a problem with deer? What native plants are good for a garden? How can you attract hummingbirds or butterflies? There’s an easy answer to all these conundrums: Gardens to Go. Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses in Williamsville is creating flats of perennials on different themes, such as Constant Color, Western New York Natives, Deer Resistant and Butterflies. Each flat contains 12 different varieties of plants on that theme, for a…
by Connie Oswald Stofko Please help me congratulate the three lucky winners in our recent prize drawing held by Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com. They are: Dina Volpe of Cheektowaga Ellen Joyce of Cheektowaga Cheryl Stoyle of New Jersey (She visited the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens several years ago when on a camping trip and can’t wait to visit Western New York again!) The names were drawn at random. Everyone who was subscribed to Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com by March 23 was entered into the drawing. I’m…
_____ by Connie Oswald Stofko Lesser celandine is an invasive weed that can take over your lawn and gardens. “Whatever you do, don’t ignore it,” said Master Gardener Lyn Chimera. It’s pretty, but… Lesser celandine (Ficaria verna, formerly Ranunculus ficaria) is easy to ignore, Chimera acknowledges. It’s a spring ephemeral and dies back, so it’s easy to forget about it once it disappears–but it will return. And because it’s pretty, many people don’t recognize it as a weed. Chimera was one…
Garden Walk Buffalo and East Side Garden Walk are coming back for in-person visits! Garden Walk Buffalo, the largest garden tour in the United States, will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, July 24 and 25. The East Side Garden Walk, one of the newer garden walks in Western New York, will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 17. If you want to share your garden on either of these walks,…
by Connie Oswald Stofko I know thousands of you have been waiting to see if you are one of the three winners in our wonderful prize drawing worth $250. Two of the winners got back to me promptly, but there is no third winner yet. The person who was third on the list didn’t respond by the deadline, so I had to go to the fourth person. I’m still waiting for that person to respond. If they don’t respond in…
by Connie Oswald Stofko by Connie Oswald Stofko It’s spring on the calendar, and it feels likes spring in our gardens, too! Snowdrops and crocuses are blooming while daffodils and hyacinths are budding. It’s been sunny and warm outside! Here are a few things you can do in your spring garden in Western New York. Take a walk in your yard Pick up any trash that has blown into your yard. See if you have damage from rabbits, deer or…