by Connie Oswald Stofko Whether we want to grow food or enjoy beautiful flowers, pollinators are so important to our gardens that an entire week has been dedicated to them. About 75 percent of all flowering plants rely on animal pollinators, according to Pollinator Partnership, which works to protect the health of these animals that are vital to not only our gardens, but to agriculture and our ecosystem. The group initiated Pollinator Week, held this year from June 15-21, out…
by Connie Oswald Stofko One marker says “Dog crossing” and another announces “I love my cat.” For gardeners who don’t want to take sides, there’s a marker that says “Bless all the creatures of the garden.” Express your feelings for whatever animal has stolen your heart with garden ornaments from Goodman’s Farm Market, 2227 Cayuga Dr. Ext., Niagara Falls. Maybe your dog joins you in your garden, creating holes in places where you need them, or more likely, where you don’t need them. You can…
by Connie Oswald Stofko As I sat outside yesterday in shorts and bare feet, it felt as if summer was here to stay. But that’s how it feels every spring in Western New York, and every year our spring weather takes us on a roller coaster ride. The high was in the 70s yesterday, yet you know we’re still going to get freezing temperatures before summer really arrives. Some years we’ve had flakes of snow flying around in the air in May. I know…
You don’t have to have a college degree to help advance scientific learning in plant and nature topics. You can help scientists collect data on a number of local and national projects. Here are a few projects that might interest you. __________ Let scientists know where squirrels are & where they aren’t Take a look around your home, office, school or other location and, whether you see squirrels or not, enter your observations at the Project Squirrel website. Scientists want…
by Connie Oswald Stofko Barb Ciesla and her husband Henry had a front yard with a line of yew bushes straight across the front. She wanted something more interesting and decided to redo the entire front. “I’m 60 years old and I don’t want to do it all again,” Ciesla said. “I don’t want to have to redo it in five years because things got too big. I wanted things that grow very slowly.” She spent the entire winter researching…
Walk through an enclosure filled with monarchs and other native butterflies during Monarch Madness from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, June 8 at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, 2655 South Park Ave., Buffalo. The exhibit will include native plants that the butterflies need to eat, to lay their eggs on and, in short, to survive. Folks from the Eastern Monarch Butterfly Farm in Clarence will be on hand to talk about the butterflies. There will also be…
by Connie Oswald Stofko Let the clover and dandelions grow in your lawn. Minimize your pesticide use, too, especially on flowers that are attractive to honey bees. Those are ways gardeners can help with the problem of Colony Collapse Disorder, said Reed Johnson, assistant professor in the Department of Entomology at the Ohio State University. Dr. Johnson will speak at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 3 at the Honey Bee Festival at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, 2655 South…
by Connie Oswald Stofko Birds do it. Bees do it. And birds and bees help plants do it. In the video below, we bring you a sneak peek of “Innuendo: The Secret Sex Life of Plants,” the kick-off presentation of Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens’ 2014 Science Café Series. In this entertaining video, David Clark, horticulture instructor at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, shows us some of the strange ways plants create more of themselves. Clark is…
For many of us, part of the enjoyment of our gardens is watching the birds that come to visit. You can help scientists learn more about the birds in our area by participating in Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count. The census events take place around Christmastime, from Dec. 14 to Jan. 5. The Buffalo Audubon Society and Jamestown Audubon will hold events, and beginners are welcome. The events are: Saturday, Dec. 14 The Jamestown Audubon will hold an event in Warren,…
An ecologically important parcel of land in Lewiston that supports rare plants is several steps closer to being protected as the Stella Niagara Preserve, thanks to work by the Western New York Land Conservancy. The Niagara River Greenway Commission on July 16 voted unanimously that the proposed preserve was consistent with the Niagara River Greenway Plan. Less than a week later, the Greenway Ecological Standing Committee of the New York Power Authority approved a $500,000 funding request. This grant is…
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