Herbs Topic Of Next Sundays In The Garden Series
The winter-long series of Sundays in the Garden programs continues Feb. 28 from 2 to 4 p.m. with a program titled “Using and Preserving Herbs,” presented by Doris Delatte.
The seminars are held in the Manito Park Meeting Room and cost $5, $3 for Friends of Manito members.
Other seminars in the series are “Using Native Plants in the Landscape” by Toni Fitzgerald ($3, free for FOM members), April 11; and “Touring the Iris Test Garden” at St. John, Wash., May 23, with Jim and Janet Leifer (free to all).
Preregistration is requested, call 467-6687.
Pend Oreille County news
Kudos to Carol Mack and John Stuart who live and garden in Newport, Wash. They have been chosen as regional testers for Organic Gardening magazine. They are part of a team of 16 testers who will grow new flower and vegetable varieties and then report their results in Organic Gardening.
Passionate about grass?
The annual Turf, Tree & Landscape Conference will be held at the Spokane DoubleTree Hotel Feb. 4-5.
The conference is geared for professional gardeners, arborists, nursery employees, landscapers and Master Gardener volunteers.
For registration information and a schedule of speakers and workshops, contact WSU Conferences & Institutes, PO Box 645222, Pullman, WA 99164; or call (800) 942-4978, fax (509) 335-0945 or e-mail wsuconf@wsu.edu.
Has it been that long?
The years slip by and before you know it, the hot water heater goes out. Shouldn’t it last longer than the 30 years you’ve lived in this house?
Well, no.
The HouseMaster Home Owner Information Center has compiled a list of how long things in your house should last (depending on the level of use):
Garbage disposal: 5-10 years
Stove: 15-25 years
Dishwasher: 7-12 years
Refrigerator: 10-18 years
Faucets: 8-12 years
Toilet mechanism: 5-10 years
Washer/dryer: 10-12 years
Water heater: 8-15 years
Septic system: 20 years
A complete list
For gardeners who go nuts over catalogs and want to see just about every one available in their mailboxes, the best way to do that is order the Garden Catalog Guide.
The guide us updated every year and this year includes information about 139 garden catalog companies.
For a copy, send $2 and your name and address to Garden Catalog Guide, Mailorder Gardening Association, Dept. SC-7, PO Box 2129, Columbia MD 21045.
Beyond the birds and bees
The folks at the Butterfly Garden Club are offering a free packet of seeds that, when grown, will entice butterflies to your yard.
To get the seeds, send a long self-addressed, stamped envelope (with 2 stamps) to: The Butterfly Garden Club, PO box 629, Burgin, KY 40310. There’s a limit of one free packet per household; additional packets are available for $1 each.
The National Arbor Day Foundation is offering a new pocket guide for identifying trees, “What Is That Tree?”
The 84-page guide will help you identify 157 species of trees found in the western United States.
For a pocket guide, send a check for $3 and your name and address to What Tree Is That?, National Arbor Day Foundation, Nebraska City, NE 68410.
How are you sleeping?
It’s a new year and it could be time for a new mattress. To help you decide if the life of your mattress is over, Sealy, the manufacturer of mattresses, offers these tips:
Concentrate on the feel of the mattress when you lie down at night. Do you feel any coils or bumps?
Listen to your mattress; do you hear creaks when you roll over?
Check the warranty date. Even the best mattress or box springs has a life of only eight to 10 years.
Trust your body, if you wake up with little aches or pains, your body may not be getting proper support when you sleep.