Container plantings add color to the garden surrounding the backyard patio of Mary Murrett, who shared her gardens at 178 Hirschfield, Williamsville, during the Village of Williamsville Garden Walk on June 30. She has fun designing her containers as she goes along. “I go nuts at the nursery,” Murrett said. “I take one of these, and one of these and one of these.” When she gets all her plants home, she sets a piece of plywood across a carpenter’s trestle…...
“Let your inner zany self come out,” said Kay Kalick, describing what you must do to create an award-winning container garden. Kalick is coordinating the container garden contest to be held as part of the Lewiston GardenFest from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 23 and 24. The GardenFest includes a garden walk, vendors and speakers. The container contest is judged by the public and awards will be presented at 4 pm. Sunday, June 24. Prizes are…...
by Colleen Morrissey, herb manager and container designer at Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses If you love salad and enjoy gardening, plant a “lettuce bowl” container garden. It’s a quick and easy project. You don’t need much space, so you can have a “lettuce bowl” container garden on a sunny balcony, front stoop or just outside your kitchen door. Setting the container on a picnic table or other tabletop may discourage rabbits, slugs and other pests. This is also a…...
There’s nothing like a freshly picked tomato, and tomatoes are easy to grow everywhere in the Buffalo area. You don’t even need a garden– a very simple container will do. Thomas Mitchell, a horticulture teacher at Niagara County Community College, shared tips on growing vegetables during a presentation at Plantasia, Western New York’s premier garden and landscape show held in March. Mitchell’s number one point was that you have to have good soil. I demoted that tip to number two…...
I spotted my first robin last week. My crocuses, daffodils and hyacinths are blooming. The weather has been amazingly mild– bordering on hot! And the calendar says that today is the vernal equinox. Any way you look at it, spring has arrived in Buffalo, and we gardeners are raring to go. Here are six great gardening tips you can use right now: Spring gardening tip #1 Try new Cool Wave pansies, a frost tolerant plant that trails and spreads. It…...
We promised to tell you more about annuals that will work well in your Buffalo area garden. Today we’re going to talk about a black annual, a drought-tolerant annual and a shade annual with colorful leaves. Bonus: If you love impatiens for shade, try a new variety that you can plant in sun. These tips are shared by the staff at Lockwood’s Greenhouses, 4484 Clark Street, Hamburg, NY 14075. Lockwoods will exhibit at Plantasia, which will be held at the…...
Fairy gardens have such a wide appeal, it’s easy to see why they’ve become such a hot new trend in the Buffalo area. Fairy gardens are great for people with limited space, for people who want to share gardening with a child, or for people who just like being creative. “Basically, a fairy garden is a miniature garden planted in a container or in the landscape,” explained Mark Yadon, vice president at Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses, 118 South Forest Rd.,…...
In a previous article, we told you that using annuals in your Buffalo area garden can help give you constant bloom. Today we’ll tell you about three more great annuals that work well in containers. These suggestions were provided by the staff at Lockwood’s Greenhouses, 4484 Clark Street, Hamburg, NY 14075. Mandevilla “These are some of the best plants you can have,” said Jill Kisker, grower at Lockwood’s. The flowers of the mandevilla have a lovely shape and come in…...
My garden is built around perennials, and I would recommend that strategy to anyone. But this year I vow to use more annuals. Yes, perennials are great because they stay in your garden year after year–you don’t have to spend money buying them every year. Plus, they tend to spread. You can start with a small garden and expand it from year to year. The problem with perennials is that while the plants are there all year, the blossoms come…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko At a recent workshop at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, David Clark shared this ingenious way to plant hardy annual seeds right now in the Buffalo area– outside! I love this idea because I always get itchy to do some gardening at this time of year, but there’s generally not a lot to do outside. I’ve tried to start seeds inside at this time of year, but it doesn’t work. It’s simply too soon…...
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