Now’s Your Chance To Grow Sunflowers
Ever admired those towering sunflowers with the gigantic flowerheads at the Interstate Fair? Now, you, too, can grow some of these behemoths. Sunflower Farms is offering heirloom sunflower seeds that grow 7 to 14 feet tall with heads more than a foot across. A free packet is available (along with growing hints); just send a long, self-addressed, stamped envelope along with two stamps to: Sunflower Farm, P.O. Box 818, Palm Harbor, FL 34682.
Show them the gate
You could call it “The Gate Escape.” As many as 15 percent of new homes in the South, 10 percent in the West, and 3 percent in the North are being built in restricted-access developments, USA Weekend reports. Nationwide, there are about 8 million people living in about 20,000 gated communities.
A magazine sampler
Those with Web access can sample four magazines with decorating ideas, creative projects and home repair instructions. The magazines are Country Sampler, Romantic Homes, Country Business and Country Sampler Stores. The site is: www.sampler.com.
A Web site that now contains full articles on gardening is GardenEscape at www.garden.com.
Load up and shoot
Get out your camera and load up. The winner of the American Home & Botanical Garden Photo Contest gets $1,000 in cash.
You don’t even need a gorgeous garden to enter, you can go to any public garden and shoot away. The idea is to celebrate gardening as a photographic art form.
And, if you need help, a free brochure with tips about photographing flowers and gardens is available; send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: American Garden Photo Tips, c/o 8026 Venetian Dr., St. Louis, MO 63105.
The photo contest deadline is June 30, and entry forms are available from American Garden Photo Contest, c/o 1706 Washington Ave., St. Louis, MO 63103, or by calling (800) 669-9699, ext. 4200, or on the Web at www.cpiphoto.com.
The cash prize for second place is $500, and $100 for third. Free cameras will be awarded for five honorable mentions.
Start cleaning any time now
For those suffering from allergies, The Maids International offers these tips for spring cleaning:
Vacuum and dry clean draperies.
Wipe walls and doors with a slightly damp cloth to remove some of the sticky, invisible dander.
Cover cloth furniture with slipcovers so they can be cleaned regularly.
Deter ants by washing counters, cabinets and floors with equal parts vinegar and water.
Change the filter in your furnace and air conditioner.
And, as long as we are thinking spring cleaning, ACE Hardware offers these suggestions:
Disguise ugly furniture scratches by rubbing bits of pecans or Brazil nuts into the wood.
Loosen sticky windows and sliding glass doors with a silicone spray, a bar of soap or a candle.
Recycle a leaky garden hose by drilling additional holes into it and using it as a soaker hose.
Other tips are available at www.acehardware.com.
, DataTimes