Home and Garden
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Keep the frost date (May 15) in mind when plantingMay 03, 2012 2:01 pm - Even though this spring has been usually mild, with many plants starting growth and flowering much earlier than in other years, you should keep the average last frost da...
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Reacquainting with an old friend — visiting Buffalo Grove PrairieMay 03, 2012 5:30 am - The sun rose over the elevated railroad grade that served as the backdrop for the prairie then and now. I squinted through the glaring beams and my first impression, as ...
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Sometimes gardeners have to let goMay 03, 2012 1:00 am - Support groups exist for all sorts of addictions and obsessions. But for a gardener who just can't stop bringing home the latest, the greatest, or any other plant callin...
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Creative decor is one fold awayApr 29, 2012 5:00 am - In the hands of a paper artist, a humble sheet can be transformed by a few clever folds or cuts into a creature, a structure, even an elaborate diorama. That alchemy is ...
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It’s not so easy to sew up sale of Howe treadle machineApr 29, 2012 3:30 am - Q. While visiting the Smithsonian Institution, we saw our Elias J. Howe sewing machine. Only theirs did not have the beautiful mother-of-pearl inlay that ours has. We fi...
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Ragdale rehab complete, ready for artists to find their musesApr 29, 2012 1:00 am - Scores of butterflies flit around blossoming apple trees, one example of the muses at Ragdale, the Lake Forest artists' retreat where the historic house has just been re...
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Lighten up your decor this springApr 29, 2012 1:00 am - Some go for spring cleaning this time of year, while others pursue a more permanent endeavor — such as getting the house freshened up with a new look. If you are of the ...
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With right planning, your garden can be a perfumed paradiseApr 28, 2012 6:00 am - If someone gave you a spindly shrub named wintersweet to plant now, you might have second thoughts about going to the effort. It is twiggy, spindly and too big. But on m...
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Good bedfellows ensure a bloomsApr 27, 2012 6:00 am - Some plants fall into the must-have category. Consider the incredible burst of color poppies add to a garden — clearer reds and oranges are hard to find in the perennial...
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Nature's red army flies into suburbs on gossamer wingsApr 25, 2012 11:00 pm - Most of the time, an unusual invasion of six-legged creatures in the suburbs will make a homeowner freak out. Not this time. The suburbs are awash in a sea of pretty Re...