You can now buy the booklet for Open Gardens, which lists all the information you need to visit more than 75 exceptional gardens during select hours on Thursdays and Fridays in July. The booklet is available for a $5 donation at many local garden centers– see the list here. You can also buy a copy at the Erie County Master Gardener Plant Sale on Friday and Saturday, May 25 and 26, at First Presbyterian Church, 1 Symphony Circle, Buffalo….
By Connie Oswald Stofko The front porch “is like another living room,” said Doug Lilley of Livingston St., Buffalo. “I love sitting out here. It’s peaceful.” When he bought this 150-year-old double seven years ago, the upstairs porch was rotting and needed to be replaced. An addition to the back of the house was rotten and Lilley had to lop off the entire addition. The backyard was so overgrown, it was hard to walk back there. Now the house…
The 13th annual Lewiston GardenFest is looking for residents who want to share their gardens as well as vendors for the event to be held 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday, June 16 and Sunday, June 17 on Center St. in Lewiston. The event is presented by the Lewiston Garden Club. It is free to attend. Lewiston GardenFest will include gardens open to the public as well as nearly 80 vendors offering flowers, plants, garden décor and more. There will also be speakers, and Master Gardeners…
by Connie Oswald Stofko After about 20 years of adding trees and garden beds to their Grand Island landscape, Pat and Gary Scott are slowing down and even reducing the size of some beds. “We have to tone it down a little because it’s a lot of work,” Pat said. “If the gardens get too big, it’s overwhelming.” I visited the Scotts on last year’s Grand Island Garden Walk. This year the Grand Island Garden Walk will be held from 10…
Gardeners from the Peace Bridge to Main Street and from Canalside to the Scajaquada can be part of the 2018 Garden Walk Buffalo. May 15 is the deadline to sign up to share your garden on Garden Walk Buffalo. You can sign up online. There is no contest and no prizes; the objective of the garden walk has always been to encourage neighborhood beautification and to promote community pride. Just fill out the registration form and your garden can become part…
by Connie Oswald Stofko In the past, people would hide their vegetable gardens in a back corner of the yard. That’s changing, and more and more people boldly display their veggies in garden beds among their ornamental plants. One problem is that vegetables often need even more protection from critters than ornamental plants do. Jane Bednarczyk protects her vegetable plants, and she does it in a way that’s not only attractive, it’s a focal point of the yard. Bednarczyk…
Artwork is being sought for a garden art competition that offers multiple opportunities for artists including publication in a book, feature on a garden walk poster, and an exhibition. The “Beauty in Our Backyard: 2018 Gardening Art Competition,” produced by the University Heights Arts Association (UHAA), will offer three cash prizes plus an exhibition of the top 25 finalists’ work. The first-place winner’s art will be used to create the official poster for the Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk. The cash prizes are, first place, $100;…
Garden Walk Buffalo is seeking submissions of original artwork to use on posters and other promotional materials for the 2018 event. The submission deadline is Jan. 31, 2018. You can submit any form of art: painting in any medium, photograph, drawing or mixed media. You are limited to five entries. Keep artwork simple. It needs to reproduce well on a variety of materials and items that are sold to promote Garden Walk Buffalo. Artwork should be considered wearable and saleable for…
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 Rosemary Lyons has an ingenious way to squeeze plants into the flagstone patio that takes up all of her tiny yard. One place where there aren’t any pavers is where the wrought iron fence is set into the ground. Lyons set some bricks on each side of the fence, then filled the area around the fence with fresh soil and lots of compost. There was enough room to plant purple pole beans, and the fence was…
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