If you are planning any home renovations this fall and winter, there should be plenty of inspiration and practical information at the Ideas for Living Home Show at the Eastern States Exposition Center this weekend.

Learn about solar and geothermal energy and other "green ideas" from Hampshire County people like Sean Jeffords of Beyond Green in Easthampton and Brian Frank of M.J. Moran of Haydenville, who specializes in geothermal and solar heating. There are also several remodeling companies who have booths, including Barron & Jacobs of Northampton and Yankee Homes of Northampton.

There are bathroom and kitchen experts and companies such as David Miner Home Improvement of South Hadley, specializing in gutters, siding and windows. Adam Quenneville Roofing of South Hadley and ASAP Painting of Hadley will also have booths.

Hours are today from 1 to 9 p.m., tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $7 with $2 discount tickets available in local newspapers. Parking is $5.

TOMATO BLIGHT:

As you clean up your garden this fall be sure to remove all tomato plants. You could bag the remains to be taken to your local landfill or bury them deep in the ground so they will decompose. Do not compost the vines or rotting fruit unless you are sure the compost pile will heat up sufficiently to kill the spores of the blight. Tomato blight, which also affects potatoes, was a terrible problem in our area this year. Experts at the University of Massachusetts are urging all homeowners to take extra precautions to help avoid a recurrence in 2010.

BURNING BUSH:

That gorgeous red-leafed shrub that stands out so well in the landscape right now is burning bush (Euonymus alatus). Yes, it is beautiful right now but admit it, you didn't notice it in the spring when it bloomed and you didn't even notice the tiny fruits so loved by the birds this summer. It's only in the fall that we love this plant.

Well, the love affair must end. Burning bush is such an invasive plant that it is now on the do-not-sell list for nurseries in Massachusetts. If you have one, bite the bullet and tear it out. I finally paid a landscaper to remove mine this summer. For years I had noticed the hundreds of tiny seedlings in its area and right now there are young shrubs from my bush springing up in the hedgerow across the street as well as in my own shrubbery. My fight isn't over yet.

In place of the burning bush, consider a fruiting viburnum, a native Rhododendron vaseyii with a lovely scent and flowers in early summer or even highbush blueberry with flowers in spring, delicious blue fruits in summer and bright red fall foliage. Invasive plants are taking over the habitats of prized natives and should be eliminated from our private landscapes in order to save the forests.

BAMBOO AND BLOSSOMS: The annual chrysanthemum show at Smith College opens tomorrow for two weeks. Admission this year is $2 but free on Mondays and on Friday evening, Nov. 20. Tonight, at 7 p.m., Nancy Moore Bess, who uses bamboo for basketry and sculpture, will speak on "Growing and Preparing Bamboo for Basketry" in the Campus Center Carroll Room. The talk is $5, which includes a reception and viewing of the mum show in Lyman Plant House. On Sunday from noon to 1 p.m. harpist Sue Gerstle will perform in the Church Exhibition Gallery of the plant house. There will be a lecture on Nov. 13 on "Garden Notes from China" by Paul Meyers, whose photographs of plant exploration are on exhibit in the gallery. Admission to the Meyers lecture is also $5, including a reception and mum-show viewing.

WINTERKILL PROTECTION: Pernell Gerver will speak about "How to Protect Plants from Winterkill in New England" tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Historic Northampton, 58 Bridge St., Northampton. Free.

PUTTING THE GARDEN TO BED: Master Gardener Elaine Williamson of Belchertown, who runs a summer plant swap, will discuss "Putting Your Garden to Bed" Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Wistariahurst Museum, 238 Cabot St., Holyoke. A donation of $5 is requested for garden restoration.

FALL PERENNIAL DIVIDING: Learn how to divide and transplant perennials in the fall tomorrow from 1 to 3 p.m. at Nasami Farm on North Street in Whately. Nursery staff will demonstrate proper techniques and participants will be able to take some divisions home. Fee is $26, members $20. Register by calling 508-7630, ext. 3303.