by Connie Oswald Stofko I didn’t know what information I could bring back for my readers when I visited Atlanta last year for the annual conference of GWA: The Association of Garden Communicators. I knew I would see lovely gardens, but since the climate is so different down south, what would interest gardeners in Western New York? Then I talked with Mike Dunn, a gardener desperate to keep deer from devouring his plants. In addition to fencing in his large…
The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens is holding a Travel Raffle with three amazing prizes: The grand prize is a dream vacation of the winner’s choosing, the second prize is a relaxing weekend getaway to Ellicottville, and the third prize will make its winner a Botanical Gardens VIP for 2018. Travel Raffle tickets are $20 each and are available June 1 through Sept. 1. The grand prize winner will be able to choose their dream vacation. The prize includes…
Colorful flowers and plants now greet patients, visitors and staff as they arrive at at Kenmore Mercy Hospital. A healing garden was blessed and dedicated on Friday, May 12. The garden was made possible by a donation to the Kenmore Mercy Foundation by the late John M. Repetski. Open to all hospital patients, visitors and community members, the 2,225-square-foot healing garden is located on the north end of the hospital next to its new Ambulatory Surgery Unit. The garden features…
The PLANT WNY Foundation is offering scholarships for students to study horticulture. The scholarships are available to high school and college students. The deadline to apply is Friday, June 16 for the fall semester. The scholarships are awarded twice a year. Get the applications and more details here. The recipents of the spring 2017 PLANT WNY Foundation Scholarships are: Bryce Gossel, Niagara County Community College – Fred Howarth Memorial Scholarship Marie Myers Shearing, University at Buffalo – The George O….
The first organizational meeting of a new group, the Green Sun Seed Library/Bank, will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 4 in the auditorium of the Niagara Branch Library, 280 Porter Ave., Buffalo. There is a small parking lot next to the library and plenty of parking spaces on the street. The library is on the #5 Niagara bus line. The group intends to hold seed/plant swaps, organic growing workshops and other educational events. During the meeting,…
by Connie Oswald Stofko The photos here give you a glimpse of the new Asian exhibits at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, but it’s something you really should experience in person. The first thing you notice on entering the space is a new water feature, which creates a rhythmic pattern as it swirls the water. In the distance you can see the tall waterfall that has been transformed to look like a mountainous outcropping. To the left is…
by Connie Oswald Stofko I was going to say that the drought is probably what Western New York gardeners will remember most about 2016, but we may have to get used to summers like this. Our climate patterns have changed, and Western New York gardeners should expect more hot, dry summers, according to Cornell University. By June of this year it was already dry. By the beginning of August, Western New York was under a drought warning and gardeners were asked…
Artwork is being sought to create the the official poster that will advertise the 2017 Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk. The “Beauty in Our Backyard: 2017 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. The cash prizes are first place, $100; second place, $50, and third place, $25. Participants will be…
Forest fires raged out of control in several southern states last month, but fire, when controlled, can also be used as a conservation tool. The Western New York Land Conservancy did that on Nov. 7 when it burned a grassland at the Niagara Escarpment Preserve on Leete Road in Lockport. It was the first the first prescribed burn to be done in Niagara County. The 10-acre grassland was healthy, brimming with tall native grasses that gave wildlife a place to…
by Connie Oswald Stofko An Asian theme and new features are in store when Houses 2 and 3 at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens finally reopen after extensive renovations. The goal is to have the buildings open to the public on Jan. 14, said David J. Swarts, president and CEO of the Botanical Gardens. The tall waterfall in House 3 will be back with a different look. The old waterfall had a Mayan feel to it, and that…
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