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Jim Lumley stands amid lilac trees in Lilacland in Pelham Friday. JERREY ROBERTS

Colors, scents aplenty at Jim Lumley's Lilacland in Pelham

Thursday, May 23, 2013

As Jim Lumley, proprietor of Lilacland in Pelham, headed down the gently sloping hills of his country oasis on Harkness Road one day last week, he was spotted wearing a purple shirt and a purple striped tie. He is a real estate agent, as well as a caretaker of more than 200 varieties of lilacs, and he has to dress … 0

Small plants just begining life

Get Growing: For planting season, start with the soil

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Despite the bizarre weather — frost then 80 plus degree heat and thunderstorms — planting season has finally arrived! It’s time to get those tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash and tender annuals into the ground. Proper soil amendment is crucial to gardening success. That’s a lesson I wish I had learned 35 years ago … 0

Greg Cantori is pictured with his 238-square-foot tiny-home, left, parked near his current home in Pasadena, Maryland, March 21, 2013. He and his wife intend to downsize into the tiny-house in the future and taking it with them as they travel. The tiny-house was built onto a trailer frame that can be towed. (Kenneth K. Lam/Baltimore Sun/MCT)

Smaller, cheaper, beloved: Tiny house fans inhabit their niche

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Greg Cantori plans to downsize when he retires. Really, really downsize. His retirement home is 238 square feet — one-tenth the size of the average new American house — and sits in his Anne Arundel County, Md., yard. He and wife Renee can hitch it to a truck and take it with them … 0

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This undated handout photo provided by Lee Anne White (www.leeannewhite.com) shows Berkeley, Calif., landscape architect Jeni Webber's creation of a floral wreath that resembles a color wheel. Long used by artists, a color wheel helps gardeners see the relationships colors have to one another, and plant accordingly. (AP Photo/Lee Anne White)

Think about creating garden color the artist’s way

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Long a companion for artists, the color wheel can also be a handy tool for gardeners. Gardening author Sydney Eddison created a wheel that has 252 colors instead of the usual 12. That’s because nature doesn’t work with … 0

This February 19, 2013 photo shows primroses and daffodils sprucing up a simple window box on an outbuilding display at a recent Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle. Window boxes make practical raised bed gardens -- easy to reach from inside or out. It only takes a few shallow-rooted plants to provide window dressing for even the most rustic buildings. (AP Photo/Dean Fosdick)

Window boxes are raised-bed gardening writ small

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Sometimes the best view isn’t what you see through a window but what catches your eye underneath it. Window boxes deliver color, edibles and fragrance. They’re practical, too, as raised-bed gardens that elevate their contents to within easy … 0

This undated image shows pussy willows in New Paltz, N.Y. Here it is, still early spring, and already fantail willow is into its second show of the year. The fantail willow's color won’t knock your socks off; it’s a hazy yellow, a soft cloud that comes from hundreds of gold-capped threads poking through the “fur” of each pussy willow bud. (AP Photo/Lee Reich)

Pussy willows add color to spring

Thursday, May 9, 2013

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. — Here it is, still early spring, and already the fantail willow — a kind of pussy willow — is into its second show of the year. This show is its most colorful one, and … 0

In this undated publicity photo provided by FinnStyle.com, Marimekko’s Keisarinna fabric pattern, of magnolia blossoms on a soft dove grey background, would be a pretty way to introduce Scandinavian design for spring (www.finnstyle.com). (AP Photo/FinnStyle.com)

Freshness of Scandinavian style goes well with spring

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Perhaps to alleviate the dreariness of long northern winters, Scandinavian style tends toward folk-art florals, crisp checks, plaids and stripes, and wood furniture left natural or painted in colors that evoke the region’s natural beauty. The look is … 0

Get the lowdown on carpet cleaning

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Do a quick online search for carpet cleaning and you’ll find a variety of different methods. The two most common are hot water extraction — mostly known as steam cleaning — and hot carbonation, often referred to as dry chemical techniques. So how do you decide which method … 0

Trilliums are among the wildflowers that will be in bloom at the Woodland Garden Tour Saturday at Charles Stickney's Luther Shaw Road home in Cummington. LAURA RODLEY

Garden tour to benefit Cummington Village Congregational Church

Monday, May 6, 2013

Residents of the Hilltowns and elsewhere can give their mothers a wildflower-filled lead-in to this Sunday’s Mother’s Day at Charles Stickney’s Cummington home, where a Woodland Garden Tour will take place Saturday, May 11. While Stickney is not … 0

NRA attendee Janet Bero waits to have her German Luger appraised during the NRA's Antiques Guns and Gold Showcase during the National Rifle Association's 142 Annual Meetings and Exhibits at the George R. Brown Convention Center Thursday, May 2, 2013, in Houston. NRA's Antiques Guns and Gold Showcase is a television show that runs on the Sportsman Channel.The 2013 NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits runs from Friday, May 3, through Sunday, May 5. (AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Johnny Hanson)

NRA official: ‘Culture war’ more than just gun rights

Saturday, May 4, 2013

HOUSTON — The National Rifle Association kicked off its annual convention Friday with a warning from its incoming president that its members are engaged in a “culture war” that stretches beyond gun rights, further ramping up emotions surrounding … 0

Day-lily in bloom

Get Growing: Plant sale time

Thursday, May 2, 2013

J ust about every town has some kind of plant sale this month. Sponsored by nonprofit organizations, these are prime sources for good, hardy plants, known to thrive in the Pioneer Valley.   The big weekend is May … 0

Interior designer Tamara Kaye-Honey, left, from House of Honey, enjoys the outdoor dining area with owner Melinda Fay at her Eagle Rock/Highland Park home in Los Angeles, March 10, 2013. (Anne Cusack/Los Angeles Times/MCT)

Nostalgia goes with anything: How an L.A. couple turned a pile of memories into a home

Thursday, May 2, 2013

When Mark Fay heard that the F.P. Fay Building was about to be demolished, the “True Blood” sound engineer drove to downtown Los Angeles to see the building named for his great-grandfather. That day, Easter Sunday, he discovered … 0

Anne-Marie Anderson with her chickens in the backyard of her Decatur, Georgia home, April 21, 2013. Georgia. She's one of a number of chicken raisers that are gaining acceptance in some areas while being turned away in others. (Kent D. Johnson/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/MCT)

City chicks: Backyard poultry making a comeback

Thursday, May 2, 2013

A sign on the fence in Anne-Marie Anderson’s Decatur, Ga., home reads: “Beware of Chickens.” Walk in and Anderson’s 18 birds roam freely, digging among the fallen leaves. They squawk and flap their wings to cross a stream. … 0

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