Meet Local Gardening Masters

Fri., March 17, 2000

From Staff

Gardening demonstrations, activities for kids and garden advice will all be part of the WSU/Spokane County Master Gardeners’ open house March 25 at the County Extension Education Center, 222 N. Havana.

The free event includes workshops on gardening techniques, exhibits of herbs, container gardening and other horticulture topics, plus refreshments.

Open-house hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For details, call (509) 477-2185 and leave a message.

* Win a helper: Who wouldn’t want a handyman to show up and work for a week on your house — free? For the lucky winner of the OurHouse.com’s Win A Handyman contest, that’s going to happen.

Entrants register online at www.ourhouse.com, and the winner will be selected in a random drawing on April 30. The OurHouse.com handman, Mr. Fix-It (Lou Manfredini) will arrive in late spring to do a week’s worth of home improvements on the winner’s home.

* Like-minded gardeners: A few years ago, cottage gardens became all the rage. Now enthusiasts can join the newly formed North American Cottage Garden Society.

The group will focus on classic English cottage gardening in North American growing conditions. Annual dues are $18 and include a quarterly newsletter, “Small Honesties.” For information, contact president and founder Rand B. Lee, P.O. Box 2232, Santa Fe, NM 87502; or by e-mail at randbear@nets.com.

* Free trees, good cause: Join the National Arbor Day Foundation, membership $10, and get 10 flowering trees, including two each of white flowering dogwood, Washington hawthorn, golden raintree, redbud and flowering crabapple. The trees, 6 to 12 inches tall, will be replaced free if they do not grow.

You also receive a subscription to the foundation’s bimonthly Arbor Day publication, membership card and “The Tree Book” with information on tree planting and care.

Write the Arbor Day Foundation, 100 Arbor Ave., Nebraska City, NE 68410; visit online at www.arborday.org.

* Consider the possibilities: Are you considering a hardwood floor but are confused about the variety of types and styles on the market? The Hardwood Information Center — a trade group — may be able to help.

It has produced a 28-page brochure with full-color photos depicting each species’ color and grain pattern. The species guide also shows applications of each wood in a variety of settings.

For a free copy of the brochure, call (800) 373-9663; write to the Hardwood Manufacturers Association, 400 Penn Center Blvd., Suite 530, Pittsburgh, PA 15235; or go to the association’s Web site at www.hardwood.org.

* Choices, choices: DuPont Corian has added 12 colors to its palette for countertops, which have become standard features of kitchens and bathrooms in new and remodeled houses.

The new colors put the total at 81.

Included are ochre, Turkish blue, adobe and olive, silt, shale, flint and moss, and gravel, tumbled glass, butter cream and beach glass. Information: (800) 426-7426.

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