Archive for May, 2010
Cavs pick up Powe’s option
INDEPENDENCE — The Cavaliers have exercised the option year on the contract of power forward Leon Powe. Powe, who was coming off knee surgery after playing for the Boston Celtics in 2008-09, earned $855,000 for the just-completed season after signing with the Cavaliers as a free agent. He will earn $916,000 in 2010-11, making him [...]
Obama in Ohio: Raps GOP as ‘just-say-no crowd’ on economy
YOUNGSTOWN — President Barack Obama is lumping Republicans together as a just-say-no crowd on the economy and warning that the country would be in a “deeper world of hurt” if the GOP had gotten its way. In prepared comments released by the White House, Obama defended the stimulus spending, tax cuts and tax credits on [...]
Tree Huggers – Ash Tree
“The Ash grove how graceful, how plainly ‘tis speaking, The wind through it playing has language for me..” ancient Welsh folksong. Some of the ancient tribes of Europe believed that the Ash tree held a direct line to the heavens. The term “family tree” may have its source in the Ash tree. Medium-sized trees, they [...]
Help Save the Monarch Butterfly
Monarch populations have fallen dramatically. The monarch population is typically measured by the number of acres of pine trees the butterflies fill in the forests of Mexico. This year, due to climate change and other factors, scientists found the smallest area of monarchs over-wintering in 16 years. What can we do? The host plant for [...]
For a Heightened Garden Experience, Plant Yourself This Season
Serious flower gardeners know all about bad backs, bug bites, battered knees and cracked hands. And the payback for their literal sweat equity? A fleetingly pretty patch of yard. Creating and tending to a large flower garden is quite simply an act of love. Plan your plant beds right, and nature’s blooming beauty will start [...]
Spring Craft Ideas for All Ages
Spring is a wonderful time to enjoy nature and outdoor activities — and be creative at the same time. All it takes is a little imagination, a few hours on a sunny spring afternoon, and some inexpensive materials, most of which can be found around the home. Here are a few suggestions to get those [...]
If You Can Dream it, Hutman & Sons Can Build it
Running out of storage and living space in your home? You don’t need to purchase a new home to solve this problem. Just call Hutman & Sons to build an addition on your current home. Don’t go through the hassle of hunting for a bigger home, hiring movers and packing up your life into a [...]
Container Gardens the Ideal for Apartment Dwellers
Well-planned container gardens allow apartment dwellers to maximize on the space they may have on a small patio or balcony and turn it into a lush, green space. Containers enable gardeners to maintain control of plants when there is no available ground for planting. Also, you can move the containers to get the best sun [...]
Plant These to Repel Pests
Certain plants repel pests. Planting them in or near your vegetable garden will reduce the need for pesticides. Grow marigolds among vegetables. Marigold roots secrete a substance that destroys nematodes and eel worms. Include garlic (Allium sativum) in the vegetable garden, or even garlic’s cousins, the ornamental alliums. Alliums of all sorts exude enzymes from [...]
Native Ohio Plants – Kalms, St. John’s Wort
Kalms, St. John’s Wort This happy, yellow flower can be invasive and yet is considered to be “threatened” in Ohio.
Ohio Native Species for Landscape and Restoration Use
Ohio Department of Natural Resources Go native! A healthy and diverse ecosystem is important for clean air and water, soil stability and provides critical food and shelter for wildlife. Whether adding a few native plants to your landscape or substituting them in for exotic species, there are many benefits to going native! The interest in [...]
At Last…You can Dare to Grow Mint
Anyone who has had dealings with mint plants, knows what a problem they can be. The wonderful scents that waft from the various types of mint (spearmint, peppermint, etc.) are just not worth the terrible invasiveness that each exhibits. But I have found the perfect mint…the lesser calmint (Calamintha nepetoides). The leaves are smaller, shinier [...]
Fugitive of the Week turns himself in for Elyria bar shooting
ELYRIA — A man wanted in connection to an Elyria bar shooting last weekend is now in custody, according to his lawyer. Jack Bradley said he turned Maurice Nieves, 21, in this morning a little after 11 a.m. at Elyria Municipal Court. “His mom got in touch with me and asked me if I would [...]
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 [...]
Leaves of Three, Let It Be
Poison ivy can leave you with a rash, a persistent itch and muffled curses. This native perennial grows throughout Ohio, in woods, fields, and sometimes in the garden. It grows in sun or shade, and in wet or dry places. Its growth habit depends on where it is growing, resulting in a trailing ground cover, [...]
Good to Grow – Astilbe
Astilbe (False Spirea) The frilly flower is just the bonus on this attractive foliage- plant. The lacy leaves are eye-catching and delicate in appearance, though the plant can definitely hold its own against the elements. This is one of your rare oppor-tunities to achieve color in the shaded areas where they thrive. Poor soil, damp [...]
Think Outside the “Patch”
You love the homegrown tomatoes but have no place to grow them at home; you love to landscape but you’re getting bored with your old landscaping; you want to vegetable garden but don’t want to dig up your yard for a plot; your kids think that food grows at the grocery store because that’s the [...]
Native Ohio Plants – Black-eyed Susans
Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia) With their showy, golden yellow petals, striking black-brown centers and dark green foliage, they are drought-tolerant and well-acclimated to our summers. They bloom for 3-4 weeks in summer and leave an attractive “black-eye” for the birds and those of us with an “artist’s eye”. Plant one or two and in a couple [...]
Princess profiles: Meet Mexican princess Sarah López
Name: Sarah López Age: 17 Nationality: Mexican Sponsor: Mexican American Citizens Club Parents: David and Susan Lopez High school: Lorain Admiral King Costume: “La China Poblana is a beautifully embroidered skirt from Puebla, Mexico. It is said to be influenced and named after a Chinese slave. It is believed that the people of Mexico admired [...]
Tree Huggers – Birch Tree
Admired as much for its characteristic bark as its whispering foliage, the Birch is most valued for the accent it can provide to a setting. The foliage is unremarkable, the seeds are a little messy but the trunks, best in clumps, give landscape a cool, artistic and natural feeling.
Good to Grow – Begonia
Begonia So many Begonias. The leaves have a great heart-shape…they are speckled (or not), hairy (or not), dark (or not)…lots of variety in begonias. The flowers are large (or small), pink (or white, or yellow, or…). They grow outside (in the summer–they don’t over-winter) for a colorful addition to your garden; or inside as a [...]