UPDATE: Morty the corpse flower is blooming now. Today, Saturday, Aug. 9, the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens will be open from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. The last admission ticket will be sold at 11 p.m. See a video of Morty in bloom here. by Connie Oswald Stofko In a rare event that might happen only once a decade, a corpse flower is likely to bloom within the next nine days at the Buffalo and Erie County…...
Tag: Perennials
Slow-growing shrubs create low-maintenance garden; backyard is full of perennials
by Connie Oswald Stofko Barb Ciesla and her husband Henry had a front yard with a line of yew bushes straight across the front. She wanted something more interesting and decided to redo the entire front. “I’m 60 years old and I don’t want to do it all again,” Ciesla said. “I don’t want to have to redo it in five years because things got too big. I wanted things that grow very slowly.” She spent the entire winter researching…...
Help a reader: Can you prolong the bloom of a spiderwort?
by Connie Oswald Stofko I received this question from a reader: I have several spiderwort (transcandentia) in a variety of colors. I love the plants, however, their bloom only lasts until late afternoon, then they close up. Is there anything I can do to extend their bloom time or is this just typical of the plant? Also, can they be cut back to bring another full blooming young plant at a certain time during the summer? Thanks, Dawn Brennan I…...
Clay, tree roots & shade: Get tips in this video
by Connie Oswald Stofko I love Western New York gardeners. I tried waiting out the rain Sunday, but it just kept getting worse, so around 1 p.m. I made my way out to the Snyder-CleveHill Garden View, a garden walk that covers parts of Amherst and Cheektowaga. I stopped at the home of Terrie and Jerry Newman at 194 Lamarck Dr. The description on the map said they had struggled with clay soil, something that a lot of Western New…...
5 tips for shopping for plants this weekend in Western New York
by Connie Oswald Stofko This weekend is probably the biggest shopping weekend for gardeners. Our gardens should be dry enough to dig in by now, and by the end of May, the danger of frost should have passed, so we’re all excited to buy tender plants and put them in our gardens now. To help you get the most out of your shopping excursion, take a look at these tips. Decide what you want to get out of your garden…...
Get spectacular spring color without sacrificing summer splendor
by Connie Oswald Stofko So many of us are looking forward to the start of the 2014 gardening season, but Claudia Kolbe-Hawthorne of the Cleve-Hill section of Cheektowaga is already enjoying the third wave of color in her flower beds. First there were the hyacinths, which were followed by daffodils. When I visited her last week, there were masses of colorful tulips. But even after the tulips are gone, there won’t be a lack of color. The perennials, such as…...
Find a good home for your extra plants by donating them to nonprofit gardens
When you’re thinning out your perennials, you probably feel sad when you have to throw those extra plants on the compost pile. Two Western New York organizations that would be delighted to find a good home for those plants are the Genesee Country Village & Museum in Mumford and Grassroots Gardens of Buffalo. Genesee Country Village & Museum The Genesee Country Village & Museum recreates a 19th-century country village with costumed interpreters in restored historic buildings. This season the gardeners…...
Got Easter flowers? Keep them blooming for years to come in Western New York
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…...
Get ready for the 49-cent perennial sale at Mischler’s to be held April 25-May 3
The yearly 49-cent perennial sale at Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses is so popular, the folks at Mischler’s have created a short guide with tips on how to get the most out of this awesome event. The event will be held from Friday, April 25 to Saturday, May 3 at Mischler’s, 118 South Forest Road, Williamsville. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. The plants…...
Flowers for outside right now? Pansies. More cool-weather flowers available next week
by Connie Oswald Stofko In other years you might have been able to work the soil and plant some cool-weather annuals in your flower beds at the beginning of April, but not this year, said Mark Yadon, vice president of Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses, 118 South Forest Rd., Williamsville. “It’s crazy,” he said.”It’s been too cold. “My advice for this year is to do your early plantings in containers.” Even if this past weekend’s snow has melted from your yard,…...