We’re located in the Buffalo area!
Connie Oswald Stofko, publisher
E-mail: Connie@BuffaloNiagaraGardening.com
Phone: (716) 833-5187
Address:
175 Stevenson Blvd.
Amherst, NY 14226
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We post events for free for nonprofit organizations and for advertisers. You can e-mail the information to me at Connie@BuffaloNiagaraGardening.com. Please make sure to include the address of the place where you are meeting; people may be coming from other towns and not know where a community center or church is located. The information I need is what the event is, time, day, date, place and address. Optional: If you have someone who is willing to respond to questions about the event from our readers, include a phone number or e-mail address to be included in the post. Include other information that is relevant to the event. Please send information only for events that are open to the public. You don’t have to wait to send us your information; you may send us all of your dates for the coming year at one time if you like. We try to post the information as soon as we get it. We publish the magazine on Tuesdays, so make sure you get an event to us before the Monday preceding your event.
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If you are having difficulties, email me at Connie@ BuffaloNiagaraGardening.com and I will subscribe you. Please include your Zip Code in the email.
Connie I am having difficulty subscribing to your gardening website…….please advise.
Bonnie
Bonnie,
I’m so sorry you’re having difficulty. If you tell me what your Zip Code is, I’ll register you myself.
Can you tell me what went wrong so I can fix it for others?
I’ll contact you directly by e-mail. Thanks for letting me know.
Best,
Connie
Hi, I am also having trouble clicking on after giving my e-mail address… nothing happens. Zip code is 14075
thank you,
Sue
Sue,
I’m so sorry you had problems signing up. Thank you for letting me know so I can investigate. In the meantime, I have added you to our list.
Best,
Connie
hi, Connie.
Wanted to let you know that I am going to be teaching a carnivorous plant class at Lockwood’s in Hamburg on June 4th at 1:00 pm…we will have fabulous specimens for sale after class…
Hi Connie,
The Hummingbird spring migration is in full swing right now and there have been several reports in and around Western NY. Remind your viewers if they haven’t already hung a feeder to please do so since there are so few natural nectar sources available yet due to the long cold spring we have had this year. Several of the early spring plants that they use here are not blooming yet. My first male showed up May 4th at 7:11 in the evening and he must have been in need of some instant energy as he made about 6 visits to the feeder before dark while he was perched in the bushes right next to the feeder. This is a stressful time for hummers having to locate food sources after such a long journey.
I would also advise your readers NOT to use the commercial nectar mixes as we are not sure what affect the red dye has on these tiny jewels. It is just as easy and much cheaper to make your own from 1 part plain wbite granulated sugar and 4 parts water. No other ingredients are needed nor safe to use.
Thank you Connie for a wonderful local gardening ezine.
Penny
Hi Connie, Thanks for taking the time to come out to Holland for our flower show. Your pictures are lovely.
Barb Brant
President of H.G.C. and chairman of our flower show.
Hey Connie…the site looks great. Think you hit a nail on the head here. How do I subscribe? David
I love the stacked clay pots. Is it made using a straight piece of rebar? I am in Texas and this project looks like a great way to have a vertical herb garden. I’m on my way to the home improvement store now! If you have a weekly email that you send out, please put me on your mailing list.
Okay folks, here’s what Cherie has to say about how she stacked the pots:
“I purchased a long bar with a large fork at the end to be placed in the ground. The fork prongs give the rod more stability. Just above the fork is a small piece of metal welded in a slanting position. I purchased this rod at a garden show at the Agricenter in Hamburg for about $18. The seller told me to go buy the clay pots at Home Depot or any garden store. I find that Portulaca is a great plant for this design because the top pot dries out quickly and Portulaca is stuff in the sun and does not need so much watering. I’m sure someone could make his/her own rod, but that small welded slanted piece is the key component. I’m happy so many people were interested in my pots. I think it has a Mexican flair to it.”
help i cant find the article on my garden from sat jul16 course i am computer illiterate
I would like to know if we could get some coverage for our garden walk Aug 6th. We also will be having a night showing it’s our 7th one maybe more garden walks would join the night showings if they could see that 2 groups are doing this with great success
Absolutely! I’m looking forward to the Starry Night Garden Tour, which is part of the Black Rock & Riverside Tour of Gardens. Last year I covered the daytime portion of the walk because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to get usable photos at night with the camera I had. This year I have a digital SLR or manual camera, and I can take photos in low light. I was pleased with the photos I got at the Ken-Ton garden walk. I understand they got the idea of doing a nighttime walk after going on your tour.
Here are the articles from the 2010 Black Rock & Riverside Tour of Gardens:
Nick Fratello, 11, offers tips on attracting birds to your garden
Gracious patio garden graces once-abandoned lot in Buffalo
Don’t forget to subscribe. It’s free to subscribe, and when you subscribe, the newest issue is emailed to you every week!
i would like to be sent your newsletter – a friend at work has shared this and i love it!
thank you
Just want to wish yu a very Merry Christmas and to congratulate you on a wonderful job you have done with the Buffalo-Niagara Gardening website and newsletter.
Winter Solstice begins on Dec. 22 and after that the days will start to slowly lengthen and rift toward spring!
Thank you Connie
Penny
Penny,
I was just thinking of you the other day! Thanks so much for your kind words!
Will you let me know when it’s time to put up feeders back up for hummingbirds in the spring?
The weather may get colder as winter progresses, but the days grow longer, and that sunlight means so much to me. Thanks for reminding us!
Best,
Connie
I have two quite lovely healthy looking schefflera plants, each about 5-6 years old. Have noticed over the past two year much sticky dripping from these pretty plants. Drips onto other surround plants, etc.
I have sprayed them on a regular basis with a Dawn,vinegar, water mixture. Not much help with the
stickiness but the plants all remain healthy looking. Can I continue to ignore or is it something horrible that will destroy my lake room jungle. HELP!!
Dale, I don’t really know what’s going on with your plants, but I’ve contacted a master gardener from Cornell Cooperative Extension who is looking into the problem. I’ll let you know when I hear back.
Sounds like you have a problem with scale or aphids attacking your schefflera causing the sticky substance. Giving your plant a regular shower will help prevent insects from making your plant their home. Make sure the underside of the leaves are showered since that can be a favorite home for insects to hide.
Now that the insects have found your plant, you need to get aggressive with kicking them out. If the weather remains warm, move your plant outdoors to a shady protected location. Give your plant a weekly shower first with water, then using either insecticital soap or a homemade version of six tablespoons of rubbing alcohol, a few drops of dish detergent, added to a gallon of water, Spray the leaves once a week making sure to include the undersides of the leaves and soil. This should be done for a few weeks or until they are gone. After it looks like things are inproving, you may want to change the soil before bringing the plant back into the house.
Sharon,
Thanks so much for that great answer. The master gardeners at Cornell Cooperative Extension are so helpful!
Connie
I have three rose bushes that I want to transplant. Any suggestions to how I go about doing this and any fertilizers I should use? Also should I cut them down to 2 to 2 1/2′ prior to the transplant?
Great questions. I will include them in tomorrow’s issue and see what information we can get for you. Thanks for writing.
Has anyone else ever dealt w/ these guys? one stop @ the shop & I went from newbie to having a clue.
I hope that sharing this info isn’t a problem. I’m a newbie to this site, but I thought that I’ld share the following experience since I benefited so much from it.
I stopped into Buffalo Roots 3231 Main Street Buffalo, NY 14214 (716)240-9074
last week for the first time. I spoke w/ Chris (or should I say Professor Chris PHd (proper hydroponics defined)) regarding the many problems that I was having w/ my hydroponic setup. Let me tell you that I was blown away by the level of service and knowledge that this guy gave me.
Chris basically set me straight and gave me the knowledge & tools to resolve my many issues / problems that I was experiencing with my setup. He explained to me the in’s & out’s of correct PH level, how to correct the PH Level, what types of lights/lighting that are best for my needs (LED, Metal Halide, HID, HPS, etc. ), overall design options, energy costs of a hydroponic setup, insect & spider mite indentification and problem solution, nutrients (including when & how to use throughout the growing & flowering cycle), what hydroponic medium I should be using for my setup, the options for air filtration including systems that use activated Carbon & charcoal, the different kinds (including the best) of hyroponic pumps that were available, etc.
With in 8 days from the time that I spoke w/ Professor Chris & following his instructions I have seen an incredible improvement in my setup.
I’m telling you that Buffalo Roots is passionate about hydroponics, gardening, and making this world greener even if it is only happening one customer at a time. It literally only takes about 20 seconds (or less) to realize how much these people care and the high level of hydroponic growing knowledge that Buffalo Roots has to offer.
Oh ya, I forgot to mention the best part, I never even felt like I was talking to a sales associate or had a type of product pushed on me. To sum it up I felt like I was dealing w/ my own private technical support team who actually know what they were supporting!
Professor Chris, I just want to thank you for saving my investment and helping me get back on track. Let me know if you ever publish a book on hydroponics (if you haven’t already) – I’ll be the first inline to purchase it.
Just wanted to post an update regarding the progress of healing my sick hydroponics setup. It has been over two weeks since I stopped into Buffalo Roots Hydroponics & Organics, speaking w/ Chris (my new Go To guy) & following his instructions.
I now have my PH level at 6.3, no more burnt plants and I’ve noticed a vigorous increase in growth.
FYI for you Hydroponic newbie’s, burnt plants can often be caused by not having the correct balance/level of nutrients. I’m an obvious NEWBIE who is on a steep learning curve. Prior to talking w/ Chris, I thought that the burnt appearance of the plant leaves was caused by lighting ( can be a cause, but not in my case). But, by adjusting the nutrients that I was adding to the system, my plants have responded incredibly well.
I’m starting to get really excited now that there is very strong possibility that I’ll be enjoying fresh home grown veggies all through this winter.
Does anyone have any suggestions/info regarding the indoor growing of lichen(such as British Soldier (Cladonia Cristatella), Cladonia Pixie Cups, etc), lycopdium (Princess Pine), Cushion Moss, Fern Moss,
etc.
I’m looking for specific info on ideal humidity level, ph level, growing mediums, terrarium setups, H2O (when to water & how much), levels of light (what amount is too much or too little), etc.
I’m particularly interested in the British Soldier Lichen.
Also, has anyone ever had any luck w/ gathering & germinating Lichen and Lycopodium spores. I have heard about recipes that use buttermilk, oats(oatmeal), yogurt, etc mixed with the lichen to make a type of shake/slurry that is applied to rocks or wood. Again, any info on light conditions, humidity, ph levels etc. including recipes will be greatly appreciated.
I am aware that lichen is very sensitive to pollutants & toxins in both the air & soil.
Thanks
Interesting question. I don’t have any experience growing lichen. I’ll post this as a question in our next issue and see if some of our readers can help us out.
When do I cut scapes? If & when do I fertilize my garlic. When do I harvest.
Thanks so much for your question.
Now (October) is the time to plant garlic. Harvest garlic scapes in the spring. See detailed answers in this article:
http://www.buffalo-niagaragardening.com/2010/10/12/get-ready-to-plant-garlic-and-try-different-varieties/
I don’t fertilize my garlic. Mix some nice compost in you soil and you should be fine.
Best,
Connie