by Connie Oswald Stofko When some people go on a garden walk, they want to visit only the gardens that are clustered closely together. If you do that on Lockport in Bloom, you’ll miss this treasure. Jan and Craig Powley have seven acres of land– Three acres are horse pasture, and the horses provide a ready supply of manure for the organic flower gardens and vegetable gardens and the remaining acreage. You can see these gardens in person on the…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko When Julie Anderhalt was looking for a house in 1989, it was a seller’s market. A house would go on the market and it would be bought in an hour. So when she found a house she liked and realized someone else was interested in it, she quickly put in an offer. It was a whirlwind, she said, but her offer was accepted. Later she asked the owner of the house who owned the lot next…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko It’s been a dry spring in Western New York, and now that summer is officially here, well, it’s still dry. Gardeners I’ve talked to all say the same thing. Thunderstorms that were predicted passed right by. Even when we got rain, there wasn’t enough to help our gardens. While the beach-goers are loving this weather, what we as gardeners should be hoping for is a good, all-day soaking rain, said Teresa Buchanan, general manager at Lockwood’s…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko In a narrow yard, you can create an illusion of more depth in your gardens. Instead of planting flowers right up against a fence, pull your gardens away from the fence and add shrubs in the back. The darkness at the back of the garden makes the gardens appear deeper. That was a tip from Robert Then of 25 Greenfield St., Buffalo, who shared his gardens during the Parkside Garden Tour on June 26. His yard…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko It was well into June when I finally turned my attention to the window boxes on my front porch, which is the main point of interest in my plain front yard. It seemed like every other gardener in Western New York had their pots of annuals out already, and I felt like I was running behind. But what I learned was that waiting until June to go to your local garden center can work to your…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko There’s something you wouldn’t guess when you look at the garden island in the backyard of Ron and Kathleen Krebs on South Irwinwood, Lancaster. All of those shrubs and trees, including the large arborvitae on one end and the red twig dogwood on the other, were picked out of the trash. And they’re not the only plants in the Krebs’ yards that were rescued. About 50 “orphaned” shrubs and trees that had been tossed to the…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko “You don’t have to have a flower to make an impact,” said Kristin Pochopin, interim director of horticulture at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens. You can see that lesson on display at this year’s Celebration of Coleus and Color, which is again sponsored by Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com. The show will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily from Saturday, June 18 through Sunday, July 24. This exhibit is included with regular admission to the…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko A gardener asked me awhile back to do a story on how to grow onions that are big– like the ones you can get in the grocery store. I know nothing about growing onions, so I talked to Jen Weber, retail manager at Mike Weber Greenhouses, 42 French Rd., West Seneca. It’s all in the spacing, Weber said. If you want to grow big onions, plant them far apart. You can start with small onion plants…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko When you’re shopping for plants for your garden, don’t overlook shrubs. Many shrubs will give you lovely flowers, and there are smaller, more compact varieties of shrubs available that won’t overpower your yard, said Ray Crawley, store manager at Goodman’s Farm Market, 2227 Cayuga Drive Extension, Niagara Falls. First, let me assure you that there’s still plenty of time to plant things in your garden. There’s no rule that says you have to get all of…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko Whether you’re tired of using the same annuals every year or you’re new to gardening and don’t know where you start, here are some interesting suggestions for annuals from Lockwood’s Greenhouses, 4484 Clark St., Hamburg. These plants all like sun. Varieties of cuphea “It’s a nice, reliable, good overall plant,” said Jill Kisker, grower at Lockwood’s, referring to different varieties of cuphea. It’s also known as cigar plant for the shape of its flowers. “The hummingbirds…...
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