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Some perennials, such as heart-leaf bergenia or mondo grass, retain foliage year-round. In warmer regions, they stand as evergreen sentries amid seasonal change. Hidden amid perennials’ wonderful attributes, however, lie a few challenges. What You Need to Know While some plants feature easy-growing personalities, shrugging off disease or unfurling self-cleaning blooms, most perennials need attention. Because perennials require knowledge to grow, tending them becomes a lifelong pursuit filled with fresh learning opportunities....

What Is Intermittent Fasting? There are a few widely accepted methods of IF. Alternate Day Fasting For Alternate Day Fasting (ADF), dieters participate in fasting days where no calories are consumed, cycled daily with non-fasting days throughout the week. Modified Alternate Day Fasting: follows the same format, but allows for 25% of caloric needs to be consumed on fasting days. (That’s 500 calories on a “fasting” day for those following a standard 2,000-calorie eating plan....

What Is Sun Tea? Unlike your classic hot tea that’s brewed for a few short minutes in boiling (or near boiling) water or iced tea that brews briefly then is enjoyed over ice, sun tea is made by brewing tea in a clear container set in the sun for several hours. Caffeinated black tea is most often used as the base. Is Sun Tea Safe? A batch of sun tea generally sits outside your door for several hours as the outdoor temperature slowly rises and falls....

“The shock of seeing interest rates rise is impacting homeowners’ thinking in terms of cost to finance their projects,” says Rob Cook, vice president of marketing at Discover Home Loans. But even with shifting economic conditions, is it smarter to move or to renovate right now? We asked a few experts about how market predictions and the rising costs of building supplies continue to affect this choice. Read on for their thoughts, plus advice on how to decide which is right for you....

Why Your Tomatoes Aren’t Ripening Usually, tomatoes that aren’t ripening on the vine are overfed and overwatered. It happens to gardeners with the best intentions, but once the plant reaches the size you want, it’s time to cut back on fertilizing. Typically, you’ll only need to fertilize tomato plants two or three times during the season. Reducing water, even to the point where a little stress (slight wilting) shows before you water again, can push the plant to ripen its fruit....

Why Won’t My Zucchini Develop Fruit? To answer this question, it helps to know a few botanical details about zucchini. Unlike the blooms of most blooming plants that have both male and female parts in each flower, zucchini have separate male and female flowers on each plant. This makes pollination a little bit more difficult. It requires male and female flowers to be open at the same time and a pollinator like a bumblebee to carry pollen from the male to the female flower....

Ideas for French Window Treatments

How to Choose a Deck Stain Color Whether you’re looking for a light tint or a solid-color deck stain, here are a few tips for concealing your deck’s age with stain. 1. Return to Color Basics “Remember the color wheel from grade school,” says Jeff Wilson, renowned deck builder and former host of HGTV’s Restore America. Find the most dominant, unchanging color in your backyard (likely this will be your home’s exterior) and choose its complement for a stain....

But what causes pilling, is there anything you can do to prevent it, and how can you remove fabric pills? We’re here to answer all these questions to help you protect and restore your clothes and furniture. What Causes Fabric Pilling? Depending if it’s clothing, furniture, or bedding, as fabric is worn or sat on, its fibers begin to loosen and clump together to form pills. Some fabrics pill more than others, though this doesn’t necessarily mean that those that pill more are of lower quality....

Check out our guide to the different types of lumber, including pressure-treated woods, naturally-resistant woods, imported varieties, and more. We’ll walk you through how to calculate how much lumber you’ll need. Types of Lumber for Decks Lumber used in deck construction generally falls into one of the following categories. Pressure-Treated Deck Lumber Pressure-treated lumber (PT), which is usually pine or fir, is infused with chemicals that make it extremely rot-resistant....

This guide to washing and drying weighted blankets covers care instructions for every fill type, stain removal tips, and cleaning alternatives. Before Getting Started Before attempting to wash a weighted blanket, check the tag for care instructions. Most weighted blankets can be machine washed, but many fabrications cannot safely be machine dried, and it is critical to know this information to avoid ruining the blanket. If the weighted blanket has a removable cover, it can and should be washed regularly, depending on how frequently the blanket is used....

Best Water for Houseplants Perhaps you’re wondering if tap water is OK for your plants. The short answer is, it depends. Most tap water should be fine for your houseplants,unless it is softened, because softened water contains salts that can build up in the soil over time and cause problems. Chlorinated water is also safe for most houseplants, but if you have a filtration system, that’s much better for your plants....

Conversely, a considerate piece of snail mail is never frowned upon. Discovering a hand-addressed card or letter in the middle of a stack of bills, ads, and flyers is like finding a pint of ice cream in the back of the freezer. Jackpot! While there’s no wrong time to send snail mail, these are my top five reasons why now is a great time to stock up on stamps....

7 ½ pound bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed ¼ cup lemon juice 2 tablespoon olive oil 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon paprika ½ teaspoon ground black pepper Cheesy Sauce ½ cup butter 1 cup finely chopped onion (1 large) 3 cloves garlic, minced ½ cup all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon ground black pepper 6 cup milk 3 8 ounce shredded three-cheese blend with cream cheese (6 cups) Pastry Dough 2 ½ cup all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt ½ cup shortening ¼ cup butter, cut up, or shortening ½ cup ice water...