A staghorn fern mounted on a rustic plaque is one of the intriguing floral crafts you can make in the series of classes to be held this fall at Lockwood’s Greenhouses, 4484 Clark St., Hamburg. The staghorn fern has fronds that look like the horns of a staghorn deer. It’s an epiphytic plant or air plant. Epiphytic plants usually grow on another plant such as a tree and derive their moisture and nutrients from the air, rain and debris accumulating…
by Connie Oswald Stofko A lot of beautiful potted flowers were sold this past week for Easter by Lockwood’s Greenhouses, 4484 Clark St., Hamburg. But when the flower falls off, what do you do with the plant? “People don’t know what to do with flowers they get at Easter,” said Teresa Buchanan, garden center manager. “A lot of those flowers will come back.” Here are tips from Buchanan on how to handle those wonderful potted flowers so that you can…
by Connie Oswald Stofko You know what they say about Western New York: If you don’t like the weather, wait 10 minutes. You may think we’ve had nothing but snow and cold this winter, but I can assure you we’ve had thaws. I know because the arrangement of frozen spheres that I told you about in mid-December melted before Christmas. Luckily, just before New Year’s Day we got more cold weather (hey, I’m looking for the silver lining), so I…
by Connie Oswald Stofko When you ask someone what kind of tree is used at Christmastime, they will immediately reply: pine. But pine isn’t as popular for Christmas as it used to be. According to Steve Lockwood, owner of Lockwood’s Greenhouses, Fraser fir is the top seller. Lockwood’s Greenhouses grow their own Christmas trees, which they cut and sell in the garden center at 4484 Clark Street, Hamburg. They grow only firs now. Pine, as well as spruce, used to…
Learn how to decorate your very own fresh wreath for the holidays in a workshop on Saturday, Dec. 7, at Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses, 118 South Forest Rd., Williamsville. Workshops will be held at 10 a.m. and again at 2 p.m. Each workshop will begin with a brief explanation and decorating demonstration by a member of Mischler’s staff. Afterward, you will be given a fresh, 24-inch evergreen wreath and red bow. You can choose from a selection of trims. Additional…
by Connie Oswald Stofko In a rare occurrence, the first day of Hanukkah falls on Thanksgiving this year. But there are so many holidays at this time of year that many of us will be celebrating more than one in the coming weeks. In addition to Thanksgiving and Hanukkah, there’s the winter solstice on Dec. 21, followed closely by Kwanzaa and New Year’s and Three Kings Day. Oh, and Christmas. When you are looking for a flower that will bridge…
I visited the yard of Jim “Wak” Nowicki during Garden Walk Buffalo in July. He had lots of interesting elements in his summer garden, including live fish in bowls suspended from tree branches, which we’ll talk about more toward the end of this article. But he doesn’t relegate his creativity to the summer months. He took a few moments out of the tour of his summer gardens to give me a sneak peek at his Halloween decorations that were stored…
The traditional poinsettia is beautiful with its red and green coloring, but there are many varieties that you might like even more. You can see many new and nontraditional varieties of poinsettias at Mischler’sFlorist and Greenhouses, 118 South Forest Rd., Williamsville. Mischler’s grows their poinsettias right in their greenhouses in Williamsville. A new one is Picasso, which Yadon describes as “naturally airbrushed,” with shades of cream on red. One of my favorites is White Glitter, which is red with white…
by Connie Oswald Stofko Your garden in the Buffalo area might not have much color this time of year, but you can change that by making your own Plexiglass light toppers. You can decorate for Valentine’s Day and other holidays, show your support for the Buffalo Sabres or other teams, or express your personal interests with these simple lights. This idea comes from Ben Sperandeo of Buffalo, who shared views of his yard as well as his lights with visitors…
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