by Connie Oswald Stofko What I want you to notice about these photos are actually the things you can’t see. In the first photo, you don’t see an air conditioner. Instead you see a garden. This was in the yard of Pat Noonan of Hamburg, who shared her landscape on the Hamburg Garden Walk in 2017. I stood right in front of this garden and didn’t know there was an air conditioner there until it was pointed out to me…....
by Connie Oswald Stofko We’ve had a long and pleasant autumn, but some Western New Yorkers have had to shovel already. Even if you still have grass showing, you know winter is on the way. Here is a list of last-minute gardening tasks to do to prepare your garden. Put away your breakables. Anything that’s breakable, such as glass garden ornaments, ceramic bird baths or ceramic pots, should be brought inside. There is a chance that wind might topple some…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko No matter what color they are, autumn leaves are like gold for your garden. You can use them in so many ways, so don’t rake them to the curb. In fact, if you see bags of leaves set out to the curb, take them home! A friend gave me five big bags of leaves last year and I used the last of them about a month ago. I’m ready for more! The two main ways I…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko You can enjoy spring flowers inside during winter, weeks before they appear outside in gardens, but you may not want to do it the way they do it at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens. First of all, they force bulbs on a grand scale. (Forcing is getting a plant to bloom at a time when it wouldn’t normally bloom.) Last week they planted about 21,000 bulbs in pots. They can’t plant more because “there’s…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko If you have bad patches of lawn, you can take steps in November to repair them by using what is called the dormant seeding method. November isn’t the best time to sow grass seed, but if you missed the ideal period (mid-August to mid-September), you can sow in November, said John Farfaglia, extension educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Niagara County. Don’t plant grass seed in late September or in October because the seed will sprout,…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko The bad news is that some of the trees in the arboretum (outdoor collection of trees) at the Buffalo and Erie Botanical Gardens were damaged and had to be removed. The good news is that new trees will be planted in their place, and the new specimens were chosen to fit into the plan originally designed by famed landscape architect Fredrick Law Olmsted. Even more good news is that the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy expects to…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko When Pat Noonan moved into her Hamburg home in 2011, the yard was totally bare. Noonan, now 88, was at a point in her life when some people give up gardening. And at any point in your life, starting from scratch on a landscape can be daunting. But with help from neighbors and relatives, she now has a landscape that she enjoys. She shared her garden on the Hamburg Garden Walk on Saturday and Sunday, July…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko “Alliums are flowers that people see in the spring, and they come in expecting to buy them,” said Mark Yadon, vice president at Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses in Williamsville. “It’s showy and they think, ‘I’ve got to have that.’” Although these great flowers appear in spring, you have to plant them in fall. “Right now is the time to plant them,” Yadon said. You can plant them through mid-November, if you can still work the soil…...
by Pam Jones Master Gardener Volunteer, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Allegany County There are many ways you can continue enjoying the herbs from your garden all winter long– nine ways are described here. Grow on windowsill You can dig up your garden herbs, plant them in pots and bring them inside on a sunny window sill. Rosemary does not overwinter in our area, but will do well inside. If you want to bring herbs inside, do it soon. At the…...
There are still lots of things you can do in the garden now. The Master Gardeners of Erie County have posted new articles in WNY Gardening Matters, including one on what to do in the garden in October. One of the tasks addressed was cutting back perennials. For winter interest, many gardeners like to leave rudbeckia, butterfly weed, mums, heuchera and grasses standing, said author Peggy Koppmann. But there are some perennials that just get ugly after frost and are…
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