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Spice up the post-holiday doldrums
By Times Staff, Wires
Published January 12, 2008
Everybody's ready for a different-looking flower arrangement - something that doesn't shout, "Holidays!" So try this, from the Flower Promotion Organization, using flowers in the colors of your choice. You'll need a spice rack with those test-tube-style glass jars. You'll need two stems of the following (and these are just suggestions, use as much as you like of whatever you like): Gerbera daisies, roses, standard carnations. Empty six of the spice tubes and fill with water and flower preservative. Cut the flowers to the height of the tubes so the heads of the flowers sit just on the rim. Set them in the rack. Did someone mention Valentine's Day? Grow it, eat it, win it, spend it If you like to eat what you grow in your garden, here's the contest for you. The Web site www.successwithseed.com is offering $25 Park Seed gift certificates to gardener/chefs who submit the best recipes. You must incorporate at least one edible item that can be grown using products from Park Seed Co. (www.parkseed.com). You have until Feb. 15 to enter at successwithseed.com. A garden needs its own personality What makes a garden "authentic"? Claire E. Sawyer identifies five key principles in The Authentic Garden: Five Principles for Cultivating a Sense of Place (Timber Press, $34.95): - Capture the sense of place.Work with where you are and what you have, don't fight them. - Derive beauty from function. Driveways and storage sheds can be beautiful as well as functional. - Use humble materials to create a mood of modesty and casualness. - Marry inside and outside. Blur the lines between the built and the natural. - Involve the visitor. Promote touch, scent, sound and sight. Around the house, fresher flowers The house may be looking a little sparse these days. You've been in high floral decorating mode since November, when bronze chrysanthemums held pride of place near the Thanksgiving turkey, followed by all the Christmas plants and flowers. So now's a good time to bring in plants in nonholiday colors, or indulge yourself in cut flowers that point toward spring.
[Last modified January 10, 2008, 13:56:11]
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