HOME

CALENDAR QUIPS

Published

9 years ago

05/01/2017

CALENDAR QUIPS — by Bob Snyder

It’s another week filled with interesting celebrations. May 6 – 12 is
National Nurses Week. A time to salute all those wonderful nurses.
Yes, even the nurses who store the bedpans in the deep freeze.

MAY 7: Tourism Day. Tourism is very important all around the world.
There are countries where tourists are a major food source for the
local wildlife.

MAY 8: No Socks Day. You can celebrate by not wearing socks on your
feet. Or anywhere else.

MAY 9: Europe Day. People in Europe do a lot of mingling. If a man
has a French father, an Italian mother, he lives for many years in
Germany and he dies in Spain – what does that make him? Dead.

MAY 10: Clean Up Your Room Day. A time when kids are told to clean up
the mess they created. It’s an easy task for today’s kids. They just
download a “Clean Up Your Room” app onto their iPhone.

MAY 11: Eat What You Want Day. Forget your diet, indulge for one day.
What really hurts is being on a diet – and not remembering until May
12th that May 11th was Eat What You Want Day.

MAY 12: Odometer Day. The history books tell us on this date in 1847
a man in Utah named William Clayton attached a primitive odometer to
his horse buggy. This was so he could calculate how many miles per
bag of oats his horse was getting.

MAY 13: National Babysitter Day. Definition of “Babysitter”: A young
person you hire to watch your TV.

And finally, don’t forget May is Barbecue Month. Recent studies show
the average barbecue creates more air pollution than the average car.
And speaking of barbecues and cars – a reminder it’s strictly illegal
to BBQ while driving.

COUNTY LIFE

Forged in Fire heliopsis delivers in hot summer

Published

5 days ago

07/16/2026

bowienews

No plant has been more enjoyable in The Garden Guy’s trials than the Forged in Fire heliopsis or false sunflower. There have been a lot of varieties in recent years, but I am going to have to put this one on the must-have list.
Botanically speaking it is Heliopsis helioanthoides, native to the United States. Despite being native to 42 states, many new varieties, award winners and press coverage notwithstanding, it has not been an easy plant to find at the garden center.
Most likely you have never said, “Let’s go to the garden center and pick up a flat of false sunflowers.

Read the full Garden Guy column in today’s Bowie News.

HOME

Giant Lone Star: A heavenly hosta

Published

4 weeks ago

06/25/2026

bowienews

As a card-carrying member of the Sons of the Republic of Texas, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the Shadowland Giant Lone Star hosta.
Make no mistake, I don’t believe this hosta was discovered in the shady soil under a Texas Madrone in Guadalupe National Park. It was actually a sport or morphological change in s hosta named Key West. That sounds like a fairy tale story all its own.
But Shadowland Giant Lone Star has winner written all over it. It is large and has thick leaves. When 12 straight days of rain brought out a rainforest of slugs and other forest floor creatures, the bane of hosta growers everywhere, it didn’t load up with holes but simply got more beautiful.

Read the full Garden Guy column in Thursday’s Bowie News.

HOME

Pink cloud in the garden is beautiful

Published

1 month ago

06/18/2026

bowienews

Supertunia Mini Vista Pink Cloud petunia is having its debut year or thanks to Susan Middleton Turner in south Georgia’s zone 9 Miller County it’s breakout year.
Susan’s house looks quite like a movie set, and you would have to think that Supertunia Mini Vista petunias play a prominent role.
Last year it was the award-winning Supertunia Mini Vista Indigo that dazzled with incredible color. The petunias were planted in banister baskets across the front of the house. I featured her photos in an article I wrote about Mini Vista petunias.

Read the full Garden Guy column in your Thursday Bowie News.