by Connie Oswald Stofko Feeding wildlife started with feeding her own family, explained Molly Goldthwait of 78 Woodlawn, Lancaster. She and her husband Leon used to buy organic produce, but that got too expensive to do when they had their children, Beatrice, 10, and Henry, 7. By creating organic gardens for their own food, they created a supportive environment for wildlife. The Goldthwait Family shared their yard during the Lancaster Garden Walk on July 21 and 22. To qualify for…
Native Plants Day set at Lockwood’s Native Plants Day, part of the National Garden Festival, will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, July 7 at Lockwood’s Greenhouses, 4484 Clark Street, Hamburg. Topics include the significance of native plants, revitalizing neighborhoods by creating beautiful livable growing places, and the impact of individual decision-making on the quality of life in Western New York. Speakers include: Sally Cunningham, author, consultant and director of the National Garden Festival sees an opportunity…
Spring is an overlooked time for gardens in the Buffalo area. It seems we spend our time waiting and preparing for the end of May, the traditional time to plant tender annuals, and we forget to pause and enjoy the beauty of spring gardens. With perennials, you can have successive waves of blooms in your garden starting in early spring, said Fran Evans of Hamburg, who is a Master Gardener with Cornell Cooperative Extension Erie County. I visited his garden…
Sometimes I have bits of information that I think will interest readers, but each bit is too short for a whole article. I save them up until I have enough to offer you a potpourri of news. I hope you find something that interests you. Add height to your garden with an old ladder Maxine Osiewicz of Clarence had an old wooden ladder that was no longer safe to use. Instead of throwing it away, she secured it to her…
If you want something in your garden that your neighbors don’t have, try native plants, suggests Ken Parker, CNLP, native plant specialist and manager of trees, shrubs and perennials at Lockwood’s Greenhouses. He will talk about native woodland plants that you can grow in your own garden at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 5 at Lockwood’s Greenhouses, 4484 Clark Street, Hamburg. The fee is $10. He will also be one of several speakers at a Native Plants Day at Lockwood’s on…
If you own land on a lake, creek, river or other body of water, you may know that using native plants in the landscape can benefit the environment. But it can benefit you, too. You can learn more on how to care for your waterfront property at a series of workshops scheduled by Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper. The workshops will provide technical assistance on the topic of waterfront or riparian habitat restoration using native plant species. The first workshop will be…
I don’t know why everyone doesn’t grow the Jerusalem artichoke, also known as sunchoke. This plant starts out from nothing and grows a dramatic ten feet tall in one season. It flowers in September, adding autumn interest to your garden. You can plant it in fall, so it gives you a chance to putter in your garden now. If that weren’t enough, it’s a food plant. The roots are delicious! I hadn’t heard of this marvelous plant until I got…
by Connie Oswald Stofko Whether you treat your maladies with an herbal tea or a pill from the drugstore, your medicine probably got its start in the garden. At the kick-off event for the medicinal gardens at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens Wednesday, a proponent of herbal medicine and pharmacists from D’Youville College gave their views on healing plants. Yolanda Smith, left, a member of the Seneca Nation of Indians, is a medicine gatherer and talked about the…
A 20-foot blue spruce, along with a birch, crab apple, dogwood and Japanese maple, are part of what is essentially a giant container garden built on top of a narrow asphalt driveway in Buffalo. Ellie Dorritie of 415 Summer St. shared her gardens during Garden Walk Buffalo on July 30 and 31. More than 350 gardens were on display during the event, which is the largest garden tour in the nation. Dorritie’s back garden includes brick pathways, which you can…
Many gardeners feel they must get their garden planted by Memorial Day weekend or they’ve missed some sort of deadline. They think that if they go to a garden center now, they’ll see nothing but shriveled-up specimens on a discount table. Surprise! It’s still planting season in Buffalo and Western New York, and garden centers are full of fresh, new perennials and trees that you can plant right now. Plus, you get instant color and instant flowers because these fully…
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