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Fall gardening is much more than raking leaves. Take advantage of crisp fall days to harvest fruits and vegetables, plant new seeds and bulbs, and prepare the garden for next year. Schedule fall harvest and planting based on your gardening zone, which is determined by average high and low temperatures, as well as microclimate, precipitation and soil.

Zoning rules

Autumn technically begins at 3:09 GMT Sept. 23 this year, but the start of fall varies widely for gardeners. The USDA hardiness zone map is a good place to start defining your fall gardening zone, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. The

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As the art of bonsai has become hugely popular the world over, another similar concept that is also catching on is Penjing, the Chinese art of tray scenery.

In fact the Japanese art of Bonsai is derived from the ancient art of Penjing. This is also known as Penzai (the word bonsai is the Japanese version of this word) which literally means tray plant.

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Big, bold and beautiful elders (Sambucus spp.) bring to mind country laneways: with shrubs billowing with lacy, white flowers in mid-summer, then later in early fall, hanging heavily with sprays of deep purple berries. “When the elder blows, summer is established,” wrote Gilbert White (1720-1793), the Hampshire naturalist regarded as England’s first ecologist. One hundred years later, Gertrude Jekyll agreed that “Midsummer Day…is clearly labelled by the full and perfect flowering of the Elder.”

Part of the everyday genius of gardening is  adapting an earlier century’s plants to a modern landscape. Graceful and old-fashioned, elders are ideal for vacant corners, fencelines and shrub borders where form and substance are wanted, with little need for maintenance. Ms

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Acceptance

SoulCollage® is an intuitive art tool that is a beautiful blend of intuition and imaginative play. It was created by Seena Frost in 1989 as she worked with clients in her therapy practice in California.

Using very simple materials (scissors, glue, mat board, and magazine images), you can create SoulCollage® cards and interpret them using journaling or other activities.  Your cards can also be used to help you find answers to the questions that arise in your daily life, and to access your own deep wisdom.

The most important thing to remember while you are making SoulCollage® cards is to honor your own process.  Please keep in mind that these steps are only guidelines. Feel

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Mad props to the Weather Shield company for going beyond marketing and self-promotion in its online sustainability efforts. The company, which makes energy-efficient doors and windows, just launched its EnergySmart Solutions Guide, a fairly extensive “micro-site” about energy efficiency.

The site helps users navigate the complicated world of energy-efficient windows. It has an energy-savings climate map, detailed information about window materials and lists rebates and tax credits, including Weather Shield’s own “Live Smart” rebate offer. The compan

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