Sunday, March 28, 2010

Rochester Hypertufa Expert in National Magazine


Check out the current issue of Garden Ideas & Outdoor Living, a Better Homes & Gardens Special Interest Publication, for a piece on Rochester hypertufa artist Betsy Knapp. The story was written by Upstate Gardeners' Journal publisher Jane Milliman after a photo shoot last summer at Knapp’s city home.

The containers, made with a special mix of Portland cement, peat moss, vermiculite and polypropylene fibers, are perfect for creating tiny landscapes. Knapp’s intense attention to detail, artistic sensibility and vast knowledge of alpine plants combine to make the planters exquisite, perfectly proportioned little scenes.

Garden Ideas & Outdoor Living is available on newsstands throughout the country.

Buffalo National Garden Festival Debuts in ‘10


Anyone who has experienced Garden Walk Buffalo knows that the there is something extraordinary going on. But Garden Walk lasts just one weekend, and the city has a lot more to offer than what can be experienced in such a short time. So a group of avid gardeners, community activists and marketing professionals have come up with a way to extend the magic—the five week National Buffalo Garden Festival.

From June 18 through July 25, 2010, the festival will feature walks, talks, tours and more, incorporating existing goings-on and adding quite a bit more. Businesses, museums, neighborhood groups and others will coordinate their events under the festival’s umbrella. Buffalo gardening expert Sally Cunningham will serve as the project’s coordinator.

For more information, visit NationalGardenFestival.com or call 800-BUFFALO.

Happy Birthday to Us!


This issue marks the fifteenth anniversary of the Upstate Gardeners’ Journal. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long—I certainly don’t feel fifteen years older than when we started.

I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every advertiser, subscriber, reader, contributing writer, critic and cheerleader. We’re grateful to have learned a lot about horticulture and a little about business, and for all of the wonderful friends we’ve made over the years.

We’ve been looking back at that very first issue, and I have to say that is still makes me proud. It was only 24 pages, black and white with one spot color (green, of course), but even back then Dean’s eye for clean design set the magazine apart. Like each one since, it was painstakingly proofread by my mom, Sarah Koopus. Some of the advertisers in that very first issue are still with us today! These include the Greater Rochester Flower and Garden Show, which we now know as GardenScape, Clover Nursery and Garden Center (formerly DeVisser’s), Van Putte Gardens, Sara’s Garden Center and of course, my dad, Jeff Koopus.

In the past fifteen years we’ve grown considerably, expanded geographically, added color, put up a Web site and gone to all-digital production. Much of our growth is directly attributable to our Western New York representative, Maria Walczak. Brian Eshenaur, who has been my go-to-answer-guy since the beginning, joined up “formally” as technical editor a while back, and subscriptions management and the calendar are now under the capable supervision of Debbie Eckerson. It’s a great team. I’m very lucky.

In fifteen more years, who knows what changes technology, the weather, and life in general will bring? It’s my hope that I’ll still be publishing the Upstate Gardeners' Journal, in whatever form that takes, that you’ll still be reading it, we’ll all still love getting out and playing in the dirt, and that none of us will feel any older than when we started.