by Connie Oswald Stofko Snow is coming to Western New York, and heavy snow is expected in the Snow Belt, according to the National Weather Service. It’s time to protect your gardens from heavy snow—you never know if the winds will shift and surprise you. By the way, if heavy snow warnings are surprising you, it’s probably because most of us in Western New York haven’t gotten any snow yet this season. Buffalo has now set the record for the…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko Traditional poinsettias are still a welcome sight, but “the Princettia variety is becoming more and more popular,” said Mark Yadon, vice president at Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses, 118 South Forest Rd., Williamsville. “Princettias are compact, mounded plants,” Yadon said. “The flowers are smaller, but more abundant.” A traditional poinsettia has larger flowers, but there are fewer of them. An aside about poinsettia flowers: What we call flower petals on poinsettias aren’t really petals. They’re bracts, which…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko I had a poor garlic crop this year. Instead of large bulbs with separate cloves, I got small bulbs without any separate cloves. I don’t know what I did wrong. For years I have planted garlic with no problems. I think it’s the easiest food plant you can grow. John Farfaglia, extension educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Niagara County, concurred. “It’s hard to go wrong with garlic,” he said. Though garlic is usually easy to grow,…...
Did your morning glories wait until autumn to bloom? The Master Gardeners in Erie County received calls from people wondering why their morning glories didn’t bloom earlier, said Carol Ann Harlos in “Lessons from the Hotline” in WNY Gardening Matters. One reason the morning glories didn’t bloom earlier might be the soil. The plant likes poor soil. If the soil is rich in nutrients, the plant tends to put energy into leaf growth instead of making flowers. This article also…...
Our climate is changing, and it’s changing in many different ways, said Stephen Vermette, professor of geography at SUNY Buffalo State University. Some changes are beneficial to gardens in Western New York, but other changes cause problems. Here are some takeaways: a by Stephen Vermette Warming temperatures The air temperatures have been getting warmer since 1965. The graph below shows average annual air temperatures, as reported at the National Weather Service (NWS) station at the Greater Buffalo International Airport in…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko It’s November, but there is still plenty to do in your garden in Western New York. Compost pumpkins Are your jack-o’-lanterns drooping? It’s time to compost them. Don’t compost pumpkins that were painted, bleached or glittered. The pumpkins will decompose more quickly if they’re in smaller pieces. This is the fun part! Just hold the pumpkin as high as you can and throw it on the ground. It works best if you smash it on concrete,…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko “One of the craziest things people do is to rake up leaves and put them in a bag,” said Tom Kerr, senior naturalist at Buffalo Audubon Society. “Leaf litter is important, but some people scoop it up and throw it away!” Why you should leave the leaves Remember the food chain in science class? A plant is food for a certain insect, and that insect is food for a bird, and so on. If you took…...
It’s time to plant garlic. Find out about that and more in the newest edition of WNY Gardening Matters, produced by the Master Gardeners of Cornell Cooperative Extension in Erie County. See these articles:…...
Bats are insect-eating machines, eating thousands of flying insects in a single night! That’s one reason why gardeners should help bats. And one way you can help bats is by planting a pollinator garden. The plants attract insects, and the insects pollinate the plants. Bats are a player in that, too, by keeping the insect population in check. We have nine species of bats in New York State and they all eat insects, according to the New York State Department…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko Tomatoes like warm weather. They don’t do well with the cool days and cold nights that most of Western New York has been experiencing recently. But don’t worry; there are steps you can take to keep on harvesting! Tip 1: Make a mini-greenhouse This will work whether your tomato plant is a container or in the ground. Get a clear or translucent plastic bag that is slightly bigger than your plant. Slip the bag over your…...
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