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Wednesday, May 4, 2005 | ||
Bad Links? | What to plant in shady areasWhen youre dreaming up your spring gardening plans, keep in mind these shade plants recommended by The Old Farmers Almanac Gardeners Companion All-Seasons Garden Guide. Alpine barrenwort: green, heart-shaped leaves turn bronze in fall. Various flower colors are available. Bleeding heart: a fernlike plant that produces drooping, heart-shaped flowers in spring. Bugleweed: with purple and green leaves and blue or pink flowers in summer. Coral bells: clumps of green or purple leaves topped with pink or white spires of flowers in early summer. Cranesbill: fernlike leaves and white, pink, purple or blue flowers from early summer to early fall. All but small, compact species are recommended. Lily-of-the-valley: a low-growing plant with fragrant, tiny white bells in late spring. Plantain lily (hosta): glossy leaves in various shades of green or blue or variegated forms. Spotted deadnettle: a hardy ground cover with variegated leaves and, in late spring, purple flowers. Sweet woodruff: ground cover with tiny white flowers that bloom in late spring. Wakerobin (trillium): three-leaved plant with white, gold or maroon flowers in spring. White wood aster: spreading plant that produces white flowers in late summer. Keeping your roof ice-free A couple of Minneapolis entrepreneurs have tweaked an old home remedy to come up with a new way to melt ice dams. John Valiton and Scott Rethwill have developed Ice Viper, a mesh tube filled with a chemical deicer that melts ice buildup on the edge of a roof. The product is modeled on the idea of filling a nylon stocking with salt and placing it on the roof, except these tubes are filled with magnesium chloride, sodium chloride and a corrosion inhibitor. Just like salt, the deicing compound is designed to prevent damage to the homes exterior and reduce concrete scaling. Ice Viper sells for about $16 and is available at The Home Depot and some hardware stores. Knight Ridder News Services | |
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