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Congrats to the three winners in our home-decor contest. Jan Boehm, Matt and Gayle Mercer and Cindi Gentry won gift cards after their names were drawn from among those who submitted their home-decor and home-solution photos. You can see the photos — and still upload yours to be featured on Kansas.com — in the gallery. View the photos at Kansas.com/garden.
Volunteer open house at BotanicaSometimes the first of March slips by unnoticed for being the first day of meteorological spring, giving place to the vernal equinox and the first day of astronomical spring on March 20.
The last weekend of February and the first week of March used to be a lot different for people in Wichita’s garden industry.
Sometimes it seems as if there are as many gardening books as there are dandelions in spring.
Q: One of our bathroom’s walls and trim were painted with textured paint. I hate it. Any suggestions on how to get rid of it or cover it?
Whether it resembles a well-traveled saddle or a buttery smooth burst of cherry red or lime green, leather furniture is classic and strong.
Don’t get Susan McKnight wrong. After 31 years in the floral business, she can attest to the fact that red roses still rule the choice of flowers to give on Valentine’s Day.
Entryway floors take a beating.
Perhaps it’s a mirror at the end of a dark hallway or a picture on an easel serving as a headboard for your bed. Do you have a favorite decorator touch that you’ve added to your house, or a design solution that you’ve found for a problem area? Snap a photo and upload it at Kansas.com/upload, along with a brief description of what is pictured, by Feb. 20.
Project Beauty luncheon – Robin Macy, musician and owner of Bartlett Arboretum in Belle Plaine, will be the speaker at a Project Beauty luncheon at 12:30 p.m. Feb. 16 at Wichita Country Club, 8501 E. 13th St. The cost is $17, and everyone is welcome. Make a reservation by calling Marilyn at 316-618-4282 by Feb. 13.
Today’s houses are filled with components that weren’t so common years ago. They make your home more efficient and less work. You can’t ignore them entirely, though. So, as you plan your chores and projects for the coming year, here are some to keep in mind.
Limestone/marbleThe Home Show will have a little more variety this year after picking up a few businesses that used to be part of the now-closed Wichita Garden Show, says Wess Galyon of the Wichita Area Builders Association. The builders association sponsors the Home Show, which will be Thursday through Feb. 12 in all three halls of Century II.
Daffodils are blooming today in extension agent Bob Neier’s yard.
Just about every home has an eyesore.
Grass around trees – Ward Upham of K-State reminds us this week about research done by Jason Griffin and others at the John C. Pair Horticultural Center in Haysville regarding the competition that grass poses to trees. Their studies showed that keeping grass, especially fescue, at least 3 feet from the trunk of a tree increases tree growth. The diameter of tree trunks was twice as large for trees without fescue or bluegrass around them, and 50 percent bigger for trees without bermudagrass competition. Redbuds showed 300 percent more top-growth weight and pecans 200 percent more in plots without grass. Leaf areas were 200 percent larger in trees grown in plots without grass competition and leaf weight showed a 300 percent increase.
I can’t remember a newsier January in the garden world, with headlines being made on the global, national and state level. Here are a few of them:
The cotton choices that apply to sheets also apply to towels. The two most popular types of towel construction are combed cotton and ring-spun cotton, said Keith Hagood of The Company Store.
Wichita has warmed up half a zone, from 6a to 6b, under a new plant hardiness map released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
I don’t know if it’s because of a bad tomato crop in 2011 or despite it, but there’s been plenty of conversation about tomatoes to go around for a January.
You could say Amy Reich and her husband, John Pracher, entered the new world of wallpaper by accident.
