by Connie Oswald Stofko If your garden was wet or you were busy and didn’t get any food plants in your garden this spring, don’t fret. It’s not too late. You can plant vegetables, including broccoli, from seed. You can also plant fruit trees and bushes. Vegetables Now is the time to plant seeds for many vegetables that you can harvest in fall. In addition to broccoli, seeds that you can sow now include lima beans, coriander, dill, collards and…...
Tag: Garden tips
Gardeners take advantage of sloped backyard; see it on Amherst Garden Walk
by Connie Oswald Stofko A natural slope creates a terraced effect in the backyard of Darryl Moden and Chuck Hidy, and they take advantage of it with features including a Medina stone wall and steps leading up to a pergola that serves as a gateway to the top tier. This is one of about 25 properties you can see on the Amherst Garden Walk to be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 12. You can pick up…...
Newcomers to Buffalo like how garden evolves with help from neighbors
by Connie Oswald Stofko “Going into my garden is like going into another world,” said Lyne Richmond. “It’s very peaceful. “So much of what’s in my garden is from my neighbors, and that gives it more meaning.” Lyne and her husband Ken live at 81 Larchmont Rd., Buffalo. You can see their garden during the Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk in the University area of Buffalo and Amherst from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 12. Maps will be…...
Show off your talent in container design contest at Mischler’s & you could win great prizes
Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses, which has won awards for its own container designs, gives you a chance to show off your talent and possibly win a great prize in its new Container Design Competition to be held Saturday, Aug. 2 at Mischler’s, 118 South Forest Rd., Williamsville. It’s free to enter. The first, second and third place awards are gift certificates from Mischler’s for $100, $50 and $25, respectively. The first place winner gets an additional honor: the opportunity to…...
Upcycled items add interest to 7-year-old garden; see it on Williamsville Garden Walk
By Connie Oswald Stofko Linda and Jaime Klubek of 48 Cadman Dr., Williamsville, have so many gardens they have named them. There’s the Asian garden featuring decorations influenced by that part of the world; the art garden, which features original glass creations made by Linda as well as statues and recycled items; the frog garden, home to many playful statues of frogs; the shoe garden, which contains a collection of shoe-shaped planters, and the grotto, a quiet and secluded spot for…...
Niagara Escarpment makes unique backdrop for Lockport gardens
by Connie Oswald Stofko The backyard of Barbara and Anthony DiMino of Lockport has one feature I’ve never seen in any other garden landscape. Because they’re situated on the Niagara Escarpment, their property ends at the top of a steep incline that shoots up three or four stories high at the back of the yard. You can see this unique landscape during the 10th Annual Lockport in Bloom Garden Tour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 12 and…...
Make it look like a garden & not just a collection of plants, plus how to avoid digging new beds
by Connie Oswald Stofko “Before, it just looked like a collection of plants,” said Elaine Clutterbuck of 728 Crescent Ave., Buffalo. “Now it looks like a garden.” What did the trick? Pathways. “I think the pathways are what made the garden,” she said, looking around her attractive backyard. “Before, it didn’t look like it had any unity.” I visited the gardens of Elaine and her husband Don during the Parkside Garden Tour on June 29 and learned so much. You…...
Reach new heights with inspiration from this Buffalo yard on Open Gardens
by Connie Oswald Stofko The most interesting thing about the landscape of Gordon Ballard and Brian Olinski– and trust me, there are many interesting things packed into this space– is that you can’t see straight through from the front to the back. When you step inside the gate, you follow a path lined with tall plants. There are are bushes, tall perennials and ornamental grasses; vining plants climbing up trellis and arbors, and flowers of all kinds displayed in large…...
Garden walk preview: See how these Hamburg gardeners reuse scrap materials
by Connie Oswald Stofko “We never throw anything out,” said Ken Haberman of 39 West Ave., Hamburg. He and his wife Shirley have found ways to use scrap material in their gardens. When a driveway was put in, the extra topsoil became raised beds at the front of the house. Broken concrete was used to hold the soil in place and create a lovely terraced effect. When a chimney had to be torn down, they used the flues as tall…...
Beat the heat with this ingenious cooling neckwear from Lockwood’s Greenhouses
Summer is here and so is the hot weather. Even though this is what we’ve been waiting for all winter, sometimes we need a break from the heat. Teresa Buchanan, garden center manager at Lockwood’s Greenhouses, 4484 Clark St., Hamburg, recommends the Neckbandoo. It’s made by Blubandoo and contains non-toxic polymer crystals that quickly expand to a gel when immersed in water. According to the company, Blubandoo products quickly dry to the touch, but stay hydrated, keeping the wearer cool…...