“It’s like an extension of your house, an outdoor room,” Russ Polvino said of his fabric gazebo. “I love to sit out here and listen to music.” I visited during the Saturday Night Lights portion of the Ken-Ton Garden Tour held July 21 and 22, and visitors could see his gardens during the day as well. Polvino shares the home at 1237 Tonawanda St., Tonawanda, with Doug Dedman. The gazebo at the back of the house really does feel like an…
Kathy and Ed Burke moved to their home on Argyle Park in Buffalo about eight years ago. “We moved from a home with a huge garden, but it had become more of a chore than a joy,” Kathy said. Their current backyard is small, but flowering perennials in the sunny beds and colorful foliage in the shady beds make it feel joyful. The Burkes shared their gardens during Garden Walk Buffalo, the largest garden walk in the nation, on July…
Vertical gardens are a great way to add color to a fence or wall. They’re terrific if you don’t have much space for gardening. With vertical gardening, you could install an herb garden right outside your kitchen door, and vertical gardens can be used inside, too. The trick to the vertical garden is the container. It’s basically a shallow box divided into smaller cells. Each cell has a slanted bottom that keeps the soil and plant in place.You can buy…
There’s nothing like a freshly picked tomato, and tomatoes are easy to grow everywhere in the Buffalo area. You don’t even need a garden– a very simple container will do. Thomas Mitchell, a horticulture teacher at Niagara County Community College, shared tips on growing vegetables during a presentation at Plantasia, Western New York’s premier garden and landscape show held in March. Mitchell’s number one point was that you have to have good soil. I demoted that tip to number two…
Fairy gardens have such a wide appeal, it’s easy to see why they’ve become such a hot new trend in the Buffalo area. Fairy gardens are great for people with limited space, for people who want to share gardening with a child, or for people who just like being creative. “Basically, a fairy garden is a miniature garden planted in a container or in the landscape,” explained Mark Yadon, vice president at Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses, 118 South Forest Rd.,…
I often hear people say that they don’t have room to garden. They live in an apartment, they explain, and have only a small patio area. Or worse, they’re not even on the ground floor. Those things didn’t bother the folks with these second-floor balconies that I happened to spot in Buffalo this year. At left, this balcony on Niagara St. near Hudson has more flowers than your average suburban yard! The folks here could have settled for a single…
by Connie Oswald Stofko A new trend in gardening is the development of small bushes that fit nicely into tight spaces– some are even suitable for containers! These new varieties preserve the characteristics we enjoyed in the larger versions. One example of a smaller bush is ‘Bloomerang,’ a very fragrant reblooming lilac introduced two years ago that grows only four or five feet tall. That’s not like your grandmother’s lilac, which might have gotten 10 feet tall, said Mark Van…
by Connie Oswald Stofko “This is the ideal climate for hostas,” said Mike Shadrack. “They like a harsh winter. You can’t grow them in Florida or Texas.” Mike and his wife, Kathy Guest Shadrack, have written The Book of Little Hostas: 200 Small, Very Small, and Mini Varieties. Last week, they introduced us to this plant that enjoys a cult following, and in this article they share some tips on caring for little hostas. (By the way, the proper designations…
by Connie Oswald Stofko The wife-and-husband team of Kathy Guest Shadrack and Michael Shadrack of Hamburg has written The Book of Little Hostas: 200 Small, Very Small and Mini Varieties, which is scheduled to be released Nov. 24. “Little hostas are very, very popular at the moment, and their popularity is ascending,” Mike said. “They have a cult following,” Kathy added. “People collect them like tea cups or Hummel figurines.” The Book of Little Hostas is the first published on…
by Connie Oswald Stofko Unused space on a roof has been turned into an herb garden at Kenmore Mercy Hospital in Kenmore, and it is adding fresh taste to meals there. “We’re trying to change institutional food,” said Kathy Kubiak-McAlpine, food service manager at Kenmore Mercy Hospital. “We want people to view it in a new light.” “It’s not the same old hospital food,” said Vinny Richter, chef at the hospital, pictured above. Kubiak-McAlpine got the idea for the garden…
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