by Connie Oswald Stofko I’m excited to be part of a new feature this year at the ninth annual Lewiston GardenFest: Garden Talk demonstrations. The Lewiston GardenFest is held by the Lewiston Garden Club and kicks off the garden walks of the National Garden Festival. I’ll be giving a new presentation, “Get Crafty in Your Garden,” at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 21 in the Community Tent located in the center of the festival on Center Street in Lewiston. (Part of…...
Tag: Garden tips
It’s time to harvest garlic scapes in Western New York
by Connie Oswald Stofko When you grow garlic plants in Western New York, you don’t harvest the bulbs until late summer, but you can harvest the scapes right now. Your hard neck garlic plants have probably developed curlicue stems called scapes, which are the flower stalks. While they look great in your garden, if you leave them in place they will divert the plant’s energy from the underground bulb. If you want a nice large head of garlic, cut off…...
Help a reader: Is there a trick to using soaker hoses?
by Connie Oswald Stofko I received this question from a reader: Is there some trick to using soaking hoses? The round black ones that are slightly smaller around than a regular hose are the ones I bought and they are made by Swan so that’s usually a good brand. I have a 100-foot perennial bed that I have been nagged about literally for years to put in hoses so I don’t have to spend so much time watering. I bought…...
Coleus can add color & height to shady gardens; see spectacular displays at Botanical Gardens
by Connie Oswald Stofko “The colors are breathtaking,” said Jeff Thompson, director of horticulture at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, talking about the coleus ‘Chocolate Covered Cherry’. “It will visually will stun you.” The colors in ‘Chocolate Covered Cherry’, which you can see in the first photo, are indeed mouth watering. A center the color of cherry candy is surrounded by a chocolatey brown. A thin border of minty green traces around the edges. “The color combination is…...
Tips on color and more from my sneak peek at Celebration of Coleus & Color
By Connie Oswald Stofko Because Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com is the proud sponsor of the upcoming Celebration of Coleus & Color exhibit at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, I was given a peek of what’s in store–It’s going to be spectacular! I got to see some of the containers being prepared for the show and Jeff Thompson, director of horticulture at the Botanical Gardens, shared tips you can use at home, too. Mark your calendar: The show will be held from…...
Dangerous plant: Do not touch giant hogweed! It can cause severe burns and blindness
by Connie Oswald Stofko I saw giant hogweed in Niagara County several years ago. It was about four feet tall and I thought it was an overgrown Queen Anne’s lace. Boy, am I glad I didn’t go near it! Its sap, in combination with moisture and sunlight, can cause severe skin and eye irritation, painful blistering, permanent scarring and blindness. This is a seriously dangerous plant. The plant has been identified in every county in Western New York. See a…...
How to protect seedlings & sprouts when applying mulch
by Connie Oswald Stofko Usually I share tips that I hear from another gardener, but I’m proud to say I came up with this tip myself. My sister, Maxine Osiewicz of Clarence, was telling me about her big project for the weekend. She and her husband Bob were going to spread mulch on their garden beds. The problem, she said, was that there were some tiny lupine plants coming up and she didn’t want to cover them up with the…...
There’s still time to plant annuals; new varieties available for Western New York
by Connie Oswald Stofko There’s still plenty of time to plant annual flowers in your garden or in containers. As I’ve said many times before, gardening doesn’t start and stop on Memorial Day weekend. If you like, you can choose the same annuals you use every year (with the possible exception of impatiens— not many garden centers will be carrying them this year.) But some people want something different. They like odd flowers that you won’t see in other gardens,…...
5 tips for shopping for plants this weekend in Western New York
by Connie Oswald Stofko This weekend is probably the biggest shopping weekend for gardeners. Our gardens should be dry enough to dig in by now, and by the end of May, the danger of frost should have passed, so we’re all excited to buy tender plants and put them in our gardens now. To help you get the most out of your shopping excursion, take a look at these tips. Decide what you want to get out of your garden…...
Get spectacular spring color without sacrificing summer splendor
by Connie Oswald Stofko So many of us are looking forward to the start of the 2014 gardening season, but Claudia Kolbe-Hawthorne of the Cleve-Hill section of Cheektowaga is already enjoying the third wave of color in her flower beds. First there were the hyacinths, which were followed by daffodils. When I visited her last week, there were masses of colorful tulips. But even after the tulips are gone, there won’t be a lack of color. The perennials, such as…...