image for Great Plant Sale

See ‘Mini Pennies’ in Great Plant Sale; final release is Monday, March 15

‘Mini Pennies’ are the cutest perennials you’ll ever see, according to the horticulture staff at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens. These baby perennials come in small, four-inch pots and were grown from seed this year by the dedicated horticulture team. Though they may look mini when you pick them up, with a little time and patience, these babies will flourish and fill your garden for many years to come.  ‘Mini Pennies’ make up the newest category in the…

dome at Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens

As exciting as spring: warm weather & a prize drawing for gardeners!

by Connie Oswald Stofko Warm weather and sunshine today! Tomorrow should be even warmer! And Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com is holding its prize drawing! Could Western New York gardeners stand any more excitement? To enter the prize drawing, just subscribe to Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com, the online gardening magazine for Western New York. It’s free to subscribe! You already subscribed? Then you are already entered into the drawing! If you already get the Tuesday emails with the newest articles, you don’t have to subscribe again. You are already entered! I…

houseplants in a dish with cut flowers

Our great prize drawing is back–subscribe for a chance to win!

by Connie Oswald Stofko It’s time again for our great prize drawing! To enter, just subscribe to Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com, the online gardening magazine for Western New York. It’s free to subscribe! Have you already subscribed? Then you are already entered into the drawing! I appreciate the support of my current readers! Three winners will be selected at random from our list of subscribers. Each will win a prize package worth more than $250! The deadline to enter is Tuesday, March 23. If you are one…

hand with flower

Horticulture scholarship available to Erie County students

High school seniors who reside and attend school in Erie County can apply for the 2021 Master Gardener College Scholarship. The application deadline is Thursday, April 1. To be eligible, students must be accepted by a recognized, accredited college or university to study horticulture, botany or a related field. Related fields may include, but are not limited to, agriculture, entomology, environmental sciences, environmental engineering, forestry, genetics, food technology, landscape design, sustainable agriculture, urban geography and urban planning. Get more details here. See…

Mayer Avenue Block Club Garden

Gardening grants available to community groups in Buffalo

Microgrants are being offered for gardening projects in the City of Buffalo through Gardens Buffalo Niagara. Grant applications are due by Sunday, Feb. 28. The application process is easy and you can get help in filling out the application.  Projects must be public ones–seen from the street–and must bring neighbors together. The grants provide up to $1,000 to block clubs and community groups toward: Community gardens Street side planters Historic garden restoration Annuals for baskets Tree planting Street pole basket…

Botanical Gardens 120th anniversary celebration

Raffle & special meals will mark Botanical Gardens’ 120th anniversary

To celebrate its 120th anniversary, the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens will offer a virtual basket raffle and a three-course to-go meal from Wednesday to Friday, Dec. 2-4.  Order tickets online at  BGAnniversary.givesmart.com or email events@buffalogardens.com. Call 827-1584, ext. 220 with questions. Virtual basket raffle Purchase your raffle tickets and enter to win on the items of your choice. The raffle baskets were carefully selected and put together by their committee and are just as fabulous as always. Raffle tickets are…

Arbor Day poster for 2020

Dec. 31 is deadline to enter Arbor Day poster contest

Your photo or artwork could be on the 2021 New York State Original Artwork Arbor Day Poster. The deadline to enter the competition is Dec. 31. 100,000 posters are distributed to 3,500 New York State schools, the New York State Fair and other venues. The winning artist is honored at the annual state Arbor Day celebration in Albany. Photos and artwork must feature trees within New York State and should be sent to arborday@dec.ny.gov. Participants will be limited to five submissions…

graphic of four leaves in four seasons

List your garden club meetings & more on our Events page

by Connie Oswald Stofko If your nonprofit group has meetings or other events that are open to the public, send me the details and I will share them on our Events page. If I already have your event listed, please let me know that you are still planning to hold that event, either in person or virtually. I will happily keep it posted. If I don’t hear from the group, the event gets deleted. That’s because when the pandemic hit,…

gardening tools in The Tool Library in Buffalo

The Tool Library now serves all 8 counties of WNY

by Connie Oswald Stofko People from Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties can now borrow tools from The Tool Library, 5 W. Northrup Place, Buffalo. “It’s a bit of a drive, but somebody could save a couple hundred dollars by borrowing tools,” said Darren Cotton, founder and president of The Tool Library. The Tool Library, a non-profit program that lends tools to people to help them in their gardens and homes, originally served residents in Erie and Niagara…

seed packet

If you get seeds in the mail from China that you didn’t order, don’t plant them

If you get seeds in the mail from China or other countries that you didn’t order, don’t open the seed packet and don’t plant the seeds. Consumers in the United States, Canada, Australia and the European Union have been getting unsolicited packets of seeds from China and other countries. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is investigating. At this point, it seems this is a “brushing scam,” where online sellers create fake orders to…