Sunflowers are a unique and wonderful plant. With the genus name of Helianthus annuus, a member of the Asteraceae family, they were cultivated by native Americans over 3000 years ago as a food source, which has been verified by carbon dating of seeds found in ancient dwellings. Little known fact is that the sunflower gets its name from the way that the head can usually follow the track of the sun itself, with the name helianthus coming from Helios (sun) and anthos (flower), hence sunflower.

With Lewis and Clark mentioning them in the journals of their travels through the plains and other areas, its little wonder that today these versatile plants are used for everything from decoration to cooking oil production, from snacks too ..well, you name it.

Presently, sunflower production is big business in Argentina having vast numbers of acres, followed by Russia and the United States. The US, Dakota, Texas, and Kansas have miles of sunflower farms, their bright yellow petals silently worshiping the sun. You can watch for miles as you drive past the plains. The production of sunflowers is United States second largest agricultural produce, after soy beans, and is valued for its oil.

Many northern lawns suffered a setback over the past year. Excessive heat and drought were followed by torrential rains that tore at the slim grass covering and washed out valuable soil. Heavy weed crops following the rains complicated the problem. Delayed fall seedlings were only partly successful and many lawns went into the winter in poor shape.

March is a great time for renovation of established lawns that must be done at the earliest possible moment. Grass seed sprouts better in cool weather. Grass makes its best growth during this time and to get the seeding done early insures later success. If the lawn was worked over last fall and the grass stand is thin, reseed the entire area, using 1/2 pound of seed per 100 square feet. It will not be necessary to dig or plow the area if this was done previously. Just running the teeth of an iron rake through the soil should suffice to provide enough loose soil for the seed.

What fertilizer?

If youre like most expecting mothers, youve probably got a couple of months until the baby arrives, but you havent started decorating the nursery yet. Maybe youve got a few good ideas, or themes in mind, but no idea how to move forward. It may even be that due to the economic circumstances we live in, money could also be an issue. Whether youre struggling for ideas, or working on a tight budget, wall decals and lettering are great options for creating a unique and creative nursery. Most of the time, youll want to start with a central theme. It could be nursery rhymes, jungles, farm animals, or a princess theme. Whatever your theme may be, you want to start by creating your palette by painting the walls in a color that matches the theme youve chosen.

How I wish I could broadcast this instead of writing so that it would be on-the-breaking-minute news. But even so it would still be too early to know what damage the past winter has done; thats part of the excitement of gardening.

Some of the damage shows up now, more will be caused if we have very heavy late freezes and some wont show up until the hot, dry days of late June or July. That makes it difficult to diagnose winter damage.

Have you discovered the usefulness of sawdust? Although we long felt that it was too acid, if not completely injurious to plants, we now know that it is neither. For a mulch it is better to get the coarse sawdust from outdoor sawmills. The very fine sawdust that you get from the local lumber yard makes an excellent thatch roof that sheds water and consequently is-of no value for a mulch.

Say vinyl flooring and you’ll probably think linoleum. Take another look at vinyl tile flooring today, it’s not what it used to be. In fact, you might be surprised at how far vinyl floors have come.

What is Vinyl?

Vinyl tiles are composed of layers to create long-lasting floors. First comes a thick backing, then a printed design showing a realistic pattern, and a protective layer to give the tile durability. Better tiles have an additional protective wear layer made of urethane.

Choosing the Right Flooring

You can choose from many flooring materials besides vinyl: linoleum, hardwood, carpet, concrete, laminate, slate, rubber, and bamboo. But your eventual choice will be determined by how the room is used. Vinyl tiles may be installed almost anywhere in a home, including the laundry room, kitchen, or bathroom.

How Much Does It Cost?

Vinyl tiles cost from $0.29 to $4.00 / sq ft. Choosing better quality tiles, of course, will cost more depending on the thickness, printed design, and color. If you have a professional install it for you, expect to pay as much as $0.75 to $2.00 per square foot.

Can I Install It Myself?

If you are redecorating your home most likely you are already aware how expensive it can be to add a new personal touch to your home. This may be one reason why you may be wondering if you can skip the bathroom vanity mirror and just recoat the walls of your bathroom. Many people think that the bathroom is the least important room of the house, and thus does not need as much attention or detail as the rest of the house does.

Most guests will have a chance to view your bathroom during a visit. The top three pieces that are used in your bathroom are the sink, the tub and the toilet. But your guests can not keep their eyes from wandering towards their image in the mirror in front of them exiting the room. When a mirror is positioned on the wall above the bathroom vanity you need to position it at eye level so that no matter what height your guest is it is accessible to everyone.

Heaters can be powered by a wide range of fuels including natural gas, wood, coal and electricity. One type of fuel you may not have thought about is pressurized gas. These types of heaters are known as propane heaters. One of the main advantages of this type of heating is that the gas that is used is friendly to the environment.

A propane gas heater requires pressurized gas in order to function. This gas is typically stored in a gas cylinder which you can buy and fill up from places which sell pressurized gas. The gas is usually very cheap, especially when compared to other fuel sources.

These types of heaters are usually used to heat outdoor areas such as patios or decks, or indoors in places like garages. There is a wide range of versions that will suit almost any situation or occasion, and can be used for those special celebrations that occur outdoors.

The most popular type of propane heater is the portable version. However, you can also buy ones that can be mounted on a beam, wall or roof. These mounted heaters are great if you need a heating source which is fixed in one position and that is out of the way while you work.

When it comes to decorating hotels or a doctor’s office, there really is not a whole lot that can be done. You really do not want to spend an overload of money on items that could be stolen or broken. You also really do not want to add too much of anything as that will require extra dusting and care which is not something that is a job anyone enjoys doing. The perfect solution is to add artificial flowers throughout the rooms you are decorating. But why purchase artificial flowers instead of the real thing?

Buying artificial flowers instead of real flowers is not just for budgetary reasons but for other practical reasons as well. But let’s start with the budget. One artificial flower display may cost you anywhere from ten to twenty dollars, depending on the size. A real flower arrangement of that size will probably cost you double that. Plus, the real flowers die and you will have to replace them time and time again. Before you know it, you could be spending thousands of dollars a year just on flowers for decorations.

The Weather Vane

New Year New Dreams New Flowers

Another year has come and gone. And so we find ourselves upon the threshold of a brand new 365 days days which we cannot hoard or save but must spend, wisely or otherwise, each as it comes along. What we do with these days one by one, as they slip irretrievably through our fingers will determine to a large extent what we are to get out of the many months and years to follow.

This is of course, by custom, the season for making good resolutions, mostly concerning rather trivial matters, which are not taken too seriously. Perhaps one will stop (for a week or two) smoking cigarettes, or putting cream in the coffee, being late with regular tasks or losing the weight.

There is, however, one good resolution which every home owner may well keep, and that is: Make plans instead of resolutions. Map out, for the coming twelve months, at least one project which will be of permanent value. Only thus, when the year closes, shall we find the dream which each one of us has concerning the kind of a place we would like eventually to create at least one step nearer realization.

History reveals that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon is a big evidence of a hydroponic garden. Moreover, the Aztec Indians in the now Mexico had a system of growing crops on rafts. These rafts are in shallow lakes that you can still see in floating gardens near Mexico City. Therefore, history shows the great significance of hydroponic system of growing plants even in ancient times.

Developments with hydroponics did not however take place in Europe until 1699 when Woodward discovered it. He found out that he can grow plants in a solution of water to which soil had been added.

On the other hand, Liebig, a German scientist, originated using nutrient solutions to study the nutritional requirements of plants in the 1850′s. It was then followed by Sachs in 1860. Knop also did some studies of nutrient elements in water solutions in 1861. They grew plants in nutrients-rich solutions with mineral salts. This does away with the soil as a main requirement for growing crops.

Many researches on the nutritional requirements of plants extended through even until the 1870′s. By 1925, practical applications of hydroponics were being introduced for the vast development in the greenhouse industry.