by Connie Oswald Stofko Local gardeners have been asking whether they can cut down the leaves on daylily plants. The flowers are gone, leaving brown stems. Some of the leaves are browning, too. It’s not a pretty sight. If you need something to do and you would like a tidier garden, pull out the brown bloomstalks and pull off the brown foliage, said Kathy Guest Shadrack, who does communications for the Buffalo Area Daylily Society. But don’t cut back the green daylily…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko I am thrilled by the response to my announcement of Super Readers last week! Thank you! Here’s what being a Super Reader is all about: It’s a way to help me stay in business so I can keep offering you great gardening content every week. I know that gardeners value this magazine because they get timely information that really works in our area, so I considered charging a subscription fee. But no matter what amount I…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko It’s September, a time when some gardeners give up on their gardens. But not Patti Zander and Bob Van Hise, who shared their gardens during the City of Tonawanda Garden Walk on Aug. 22. “Oh, I would never give up on my gardens!” Zander said. “We just live for summer. As long as things are alive, we’re out here watering and deadheading.” They have three rain barrels to help keep them supplied with water. No garden…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko Have you ever found a helpful tip in Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com that you can use in your own garden? When the shutdown occurred, did you turn to Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com’s Events page to find out about cancellations? Later, were you happy when you discovered that things were starting up again? Do you like seeing all the pretty pictures of gardens? Then you could be a Super Reader of Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com! To stay in business and keep offering you great local content…...
Two WNY groups are seeking volunteers to help with gardening. North Tonawanda Botanical Garden Volunteers are needed for community work days with the North Tonawanda Botanical Garden Organization, 1825 Sweeney St., North Tonawanda. Meet at the gazebo. Sessions will be from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays. Dates are Sept. 12 and Oct. 3 and 17. Ongoing projects are weeding, mulching and setup of raised beds in the fenced-in perennial bed area. There are 11 acres to keep social distance. Any level…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko I’ve been hearing a lot of complaints lately from gardeners who are having problems with chipmunks. I talked with John Farfaglia, extension educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Niagara County, and my first question was whether we have more chipmunks in Western New York. “We have been getting occasional calls on chipmunks for many years, so I don’t think their populations have increased significantly,” he said. But they can be a problem for gardeners. “If their populations build…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko “Color is the most fleeting experience in a garden,” said David Clark, horticulturist and CNLP. But color isn’t the only way to add interest to your garden. Clark, a dynamic instructor with a wealth of knowledge, will share insights with you during his class on Garden Design in October. It’s one of the classes he will teach online in Horticulture I and Horticulture II, hosted by the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens. See details below. Look…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko It’s the season for homegrown produce, and here’s another local crop you’ll love: homegrown floral arrangements. The flowers are picked daily at Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses, 118 South Forest Rd., Williamsville. “We pick them every day and make sure they’re at the right bud stage,” said Mark Yadon, vice president at Mischler’s. “We don’t want them to open all the way, or to open all at once.” To ensure there’s a continuous supply, new flowers are planted…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko It all started about two weeks ago when an anonymous neighbor complained to the Town of Amherst about the front lawn of Walter and Nan Simpson. The Simpsons mow their lawn, but when an interesting plant pops up, such as Queen Anne’s lace, they mow around it. The neighbor didn’t like that. When a town inspector showed up, he deemed the Queen Anne’s lace to be a noxious weed, according to the town code. Since the…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko In April, my backyard is nearly flat. Most of my perennials don’t reach their full height by then– if they’ve poked out of the ground at all. So if I want to know where I can plant something new, or if I’m trying to decide if that sprout I see is a flower or a weed, it helps to know where things are already planted, what those plants are, and approximately how big those plants get…....