Category: Tips and Tricks
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Best Practices for Caring for Houseplants
International Plant Appreciation Day is April 13 and is the perfect time to refresh your plant parent skills and make sure you are correctly caring for your houseplants. Are your plants getting enough water? Too much or too little sunlight? Did they get neglected during the winter months? We’re here to help. Guide to caring…
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15 houseplants that will improve your indoor air quality
For all of its exploration of the galaxy, the space program has accrued many benefits right here on earth. Thanks to NASA, we know that houseplants can purify the air in our homes and workplaces. NASA originally focused on finding ways to purify the air in orbiting space stations. A 1973 space mission identified 107…
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To make your Christmas wreath last longer, hairspray is a perfect holiday hack
For the holidays, the song says, you can’t beat home sweet home. But while the sunshine of a friendly gaze can warm your heart, home also is where you can find practical solutions to Christmas complications. Take hairspray, for instance. You can spray it on nail polish to make it dry faster as you get…
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Need help sorting out clovers from shamrocks? You’re in luck
I’m looking over a four-leaf clover that I over looked before. Most of us have heard the song by that name, which also happens to be its first line. But you’re in rare company if you’ve actually come across a four-leaf clover in the wild. Your odds of finding one? One in 10,000, according to…
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A Guy’s Guide to Flower Buying
There’s a gender gap when it comes to buying flowers: Women buy 65 percent of fresh flowers, according to the Society of American Florists, while men buy 35 percent. To the extent that men might be intimidated or uncomfortable buying flowers, we’d like to make the experience a more enjoyable one for them. To do…
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Plants and pets: know the facts to keep dogs and cats healthy
No plant says Christmas quite like the poinsettia. But nary a holiday season goes by without poinsettias being negatively associated with pet health. Yet the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says poinsettias “may be the most misrepresented plant when it comes to toxicity. Since 1919 poinsettias have been called lethal if ingested…
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Terrariums back on the job — and perfect for the office
Entire TV shows these days are dedicated to tiny houses, so perhaps it should come as little surprise that mini-gardens are popular again. Royer’s recently reintroduced terrariums to its product lineup. They are individually crafted in our dish garden department in Lebanon and come in rope; dome (small, medium and large); and greenhouse versions. “You…
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To get the best value, buy from a local florist instead of a wire service
There are lots of statistics out there about the economic benefits of buying local. When you buy from locally owned stores, the money stays in your community and puts your neighbors to work. It’s true whether you spend your money at a local restaurant, hardware store or florist. Speaking of flowers, buying directly from a…
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Poinsettia primer: learning about and caring for the most popular holiday plant
We typically think of the North Pole when it comes to Christmas, but the most popular holiday plant originates with our neighbor to the south. Poinsettias are native to Mexico and were introduced to the United States in 1825 by Joel Roberts Poinsett, who was the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico. In fact, Poinsett’s death…
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We get your homecoming going on Fox 43
It was a sort of homecoming for our Barry Spengler, making his first appearance on Fox 43 Morning News in a number of months. But Barry was there to talk about a different kind of homecoming: the high school dance kind. Joining Fox 43’s Heather Warner, Barry showed some of the bling and accents that…