Archive for April, 2010
High school roundup: Softball, baseball, tennis and track
COLUMBIA STATION — Columbia senior Jen Solanics threw a perfect game as the Raiders mercy-ruled Lutheran West 17-0 Tuesday in a Patriot Athletic Conference Stripes Division softball game. Solanics struck out 11 as the Raiders (5-1,3-0 PAC) pounded out 17 hits, five for extra bases. Columbia 42(11) 00 – 17 17 0 Luth. West 000 [...]
Good to Grow – Celosia (Cocks Comb)
Your crazy aunt with the peculiar wig. Celosia get all ‘“feathery” and curly and silly looking when summer gets here. They provide you with most every color you could want. They are drought-tolerant and like living here. Think about getting a few–who doesn’t love a crazy aunt with the funny wig?
Shaq ready to go for playoffs but likely won’t see action tonight
INDEPENDENCE — Shaquille O’Neal now has another nickname. “Grandpa” went through a full-contact practice with the Cavaliers on Tuesday at Cleveland Clinic Courts and will be ready to go when the playoffs start this weekend, though it now looks like the 7-foot-1, 325-pound center won’t play in the regular-season finale tonight in Atlanta. “He looked [...]
Good News
We know how important mulch can be to keep out weeds, preserve moisture and give a nice appearance, but did you know that one of your best sources of mulch is in you hands, right now? Newspapers, dunked briefly in a bucket of water and spread in several thicknesses, provide a great weed barrier, a [...]
Good to Grow – Snapdragons
Snapdragons come on, like gang-busters in the spring, with colors, wild and soft. After suffering through a long summer they return to send you into autumn with flare.
Good to Grow – Mums
Just because that Mum at the nursery says it is a “hardy” mum, don’t you believe it. It is very difficult to get ahold of a true “hardy” Mum, these days (the hardy Mums you see may be hardy SOMEwhere but they aren’t here). That doesn’t mean you should avoid them. Just get the ones [...]
Mill Hollow Nursery Specializing in Hard-to-Find Plants and Container Gardening.
Each year, Mill Hollow Nursery sets itself apart from other greenhouses by offering the highest quality and selection of unique plants, personalized advice, and reasonable prices. Wander through the greenhouses and grounds to discover a wide assortment of perennials, annuals, vegetable plants (including many heirloom varieties) and culinary herbs. You will find many new varieties [...]
Tribe’s Perez says struggles are mental, says he has to improve
CLEVELAND — Chris Perez has been walking batters, blowing leads in the ninth inning and throwing teammates under the bus. That’s no way to act as the Indians’ new closer. Perez inherited the ninth-inning job when KerryWood was injured shortly into spring training, but after converting his first two save opportunities, the right-hander has failed [...]
Good to Grow – Blanket Flower
It has a habit of growing in a nice compact and attractive formation. It doesn’t so much “spread” as “enlarge”. The foliage is nothing special–not “unattractive” so much as “unremarkable”, but the plant becomes covered (could this be why it is called a “blanket flower”?) with colorful and eye-catching flowers… LOTS of flowers. They look [...]
Watering as the Weather Warms Up
For lawn care afficionados, perhaps no time of year is more frustrating than summer. While the warmer time of year affords homeowners more time to work on their lawns, excessive heat can also make those efforts seem futile. Depending on where you live, drought restrictions could also prove irritating, limiting the amount of water you [...]
Everything Old is New Again!
The Rain Barrel is making its return to environmentally-aware homes and gardens. The barrels collect run-off from roofs and repurpose it for watering gardens. The gathered water saves money by not requiring the use of “metered” water for plants, and it prevents the run-off from entering the water-treatment system – requiring expensive processing. The barrels [...]
Native Ohio Plants – Purple Coneflower (Echinacea)
The foliage is nothing to get excited about but the flower…the flower starts-off with a daisy-ish head; the petals quickly begin to fold-back to highlight the large, colorful, spiked center. Leave them alone and they make a great winter feature.
Good to Grow – Forget-Me-Not …and you won’t (forget them)!
Striking, sky-blue (maybe better than that) with bright yellow “eyes”. There are two kinds (around here) the ones that are short, need shade, and blossom in the spring. But the kind that catches MY eye is the one that grows in ditches along the road. Not as flashy as the “ditch-lilies” found in the same [...]
Xeriscaping
Xerascaping is the fast-growing push towards a lawn-less (or at least a “less lawn”) existence. Lawns are terrible wasters of water and energy, plus the lawn mower exhaust is tough on the ozone layer. The move toward less lawn, more native plants, more hardscape (rocks, decorations) and more mulch, is a move towards a better [...]
Try “The Potting Bench” at Thome Farms…
Keep the mess at OUR house… Thome Farms invites you to try “The Potting Bench”. Plant your purchases here in your pots (or ours) and keep your home mess-free. Don’t want to get your hands dirty? No problem! We can also plant your flowers for you! Thome Farms can help you create huge gorgeous baskets [...]
Good to Grow – American Waterlilies
Once established, can fill a pond with foliage that looks as though it would be highly welcoming to every frog in the neighborhood AND flowers that are breathtaking in their beauty. They can be a little aggressive (they’ll take over the pond, if you let them), so be prepared to be ruthless But, oh, my, [...]
Helping You Make The Right Choice For Your Lawn
If you own your own home, you’re going to need to buy a lawn mower at some point. That is, unless you’re lucky enough to have a gardener or have dedicated your entire yard to a “No Mowing, Wildflower Area.” Choosing which lawn mower to buy can be either an exciting challenge or a bewildering [...]
Good to Grow – Hand-Me-Downs
My favorite flowers are the ones that come with a story: I got these from Gramma’s Garden; these came from the lady who lived next door; these came from my best friend’s yard; those, I found along a roadside. Everything in your yard doesn’t have to have a pedigree (though you want to be careful [...]
Weeds?!?
Prairie Milkweed This used to grow “everywhere” in farm country but with the improvement of chemical weed killers and the disappearance of fence rows, the Milkweed is becoming hard to find. So what? Not only is this “weed” attractive, in bloom but it also is the only plant upon which Monarch Butterflies are willing [...]
Kep Landscaping Brings Years of Experience to the Job
At Kep Landscaping, Bob and Steve bring to you a combined experience factor of nearly 30 years. Steve has a horticultural degree and 20 years of in-field experience. He has an eye and a flare for looking at something and seeing the potential beauty of what it could become. Bob has nearly 10 years of [...]
Ride ‘N’ Drive at Krystowski’s
Tractors with mowers; tractors with loaders; tractors with backhoes; tractors with tillers; zero turn mowers; string trimmers; leaf blowers; ATV utility vehicles. Ride em! Drive em! Put them all through their paces!! What a great opportunity for you to see, operate, compare and learn all about yard care tools firsthand… all with no sales pressure! [...]
Give Straw Bale Gardening a Look
Straw bale gardening is probably very old but for most of us, it is a very new idea. The common straw bales that are familiar to most anyone who has taken a summer drive in the country, are used, with only a little preparation, for raised-bed gardening. Eliminating the need for diggingup the soil, amending [...]
EC distance runner happy to have college selection behind him
Marty Coolidge is a much happier runner these days. The Elyria Catholic senior distance runner has his college selection behind him and can now focus exclusively on his final season of high school track. Coolidge will attend Iowa State to continue his track and cross country career while majoring in meteorology. Meteorology? You mean we [...]
Photo gallery: Keystone right at home, opens with sweep on new track
LAGRANGE — The new Wildcat Stadium at Keystone High School is a couple years away from hosting football games. But Wednesday, it was ready for track. As a result, the Wildcats hosted their first home track event since 1996, sweeping Columbia in a Patriot Athletic Conference dual. The Keystone boys won 98-39, while the girls [...]
VIDEO: Police ID quick-change scammer
AMHERST — Police are crediting some unusually good surveillance video footage and an eagleeyed store owner with helping them to identify a woman with a lengthy criminal history across Northeast Ohio and Pennsylvania who is accused of perpetrating a quick-change scam here, too. “If she has the guts to go do this all over the [...]