Fall Garden Planning - Garden plans for next spring and ordering by mail

Fall Garden Planning - Garden plans for next spring and ordering by mail

by: Jill Dow

It's August, the weather has cooled a bit here and the summer monsoons where I live in New Mexico have begun. The kids are starting back to school and I feel the onset of fall. I'm getting that garden planning itch again! It happens 2-3 times a year... This time, it's time to start ordering bulbs and perennials for fall planting. I'm always planning how my garden will look better next season and I suppose most of you do the same. Fall is the perfect time to plant for established growth next spring! Take a good look at your garden now and think about areas you need to fill in. Do you need late season color, early spring blooms? Are there bare spots or places where plants like poppies or tulips go dormant and you need a filler to keep your garden alive with color? I find the best time for next years planning is in the fall when bloom time and plant combinations are fresh in my mind. You may be disappointed with a plant combination you chose last season. Fall is the perfect time to rearrange. Get rid of overgrown plants and revive areas with new color or foliage combinations. Think about areas in your bulb or perennial garden you want to develop. What size, shape and bloom color do you need? Plant them this fall and watch your pans come to fruition come spring. Shrubs and trees do take years to mature and fill their place. You can get a jump start by planting them this fall. When spring arrives they'll be much more hardy and will require less babying. Fall is the perfect time to mail order bulbs, perrenials, shrubs, hedges and trees. We're winding down the season and if you're anything like me you're just not ready to quit quite yet. Sure there's clean up to be done, but I find more planting helps to finish those mundane cxhores. As I clean out I plant new! Ordering online or by mail Ordering plants online can be a bit scary. How are the plants shipped? Will they be good quality? Will they arrive at the right time and will I be prepared to plant them then? Fear not! I've ordered in fall for years and have had tremendous results! Plant Quality and Guarantees Nurseries do differ in what and how they ship so make sure you do some research, but almost all reputable mail order nurseries do guarantee their plants to grow or your money back. I've never had trouble collecting on that promise and I have used it a time or two for certain plants. I also admit, a bit grudgingly as a then new gardener, that I should never have ordered those specific plants for my climate. Nevertheless the nursery did stand behind it's guarantee. How Plants Are Shipped Some plants will be shipped bare root, others as potted plants. This depends on the plant variety and I've actually found preference to bare root plants. They do look dead when they arrive (they are actually dormant), but I assure you that unless they have visible signs of disease like rot they'll thrive come spring. *Note - If you do get any plants that look like the crown has rotted either ship them back immediately or just phone the nursery and they'll ship out new ones. When to Plant While you never know exactly when your plants will arrive, they are shipped to you at the proper planting time for your gardening zone. If plants arrive and it's not convenient to plant immediately just make sure you follow the directions included in your shipment for keeping your plants viable until you can plant them. If you've planned ahead you will know where they go and it'll take you little time to get them in the ground. A Saturday afternoon will usually give you ample time to get this done. Keep in mind these companies have been in business for years and years and have shipped bare root and potted plants for eons. They do know what they're doing and most of them do it very well. They'd be out of business if they couldn't fulfill your planting requirements. Gardening Budgets and Selection You can't beat the cost and selection of ordering by mail! Most mail order companies offer plant varieties you'll never find anywhere else. The selections seem endless and I've been amazed what I can grow in New Mexico. Take advantage of fall specials and free shipping and you get a double bang for you buck. For about half of what I spend on a trip to the garden center on a single spring garden binge, I can have more variety and many more plants shipped to me at home. Get on the Mailing Lists Make sure you're on the mailing list for the following nurseries at least! You'll get a catologue several times a year. Take it into the garden with you,look around and plan accordingly. Then hop online and place an order or order by mail, but use the online resources for their help with plant combinations and companion planting. They offer great suggestions you may not have thought of before. Remember - pictures will help any gardener no matter how experienced. To order catalogues and find this seasons BEST garden specials visit my garden resource center - My website is at http://www.bulbandseed.com

Effective Treatment Options Available for Moderate to Severe Acne

Effective Treatment Options Available for Moderate to Severe Acne

by: Jill Dow

Suffering from even a minor acne flair up can wreck your week, but suffering from continual moderate to serious acne can ruin your self esteem. There are options that can help you if you have moderate to severe acne. One of the most common treatments for acne is a topical cream. The primary ingredient in many acne creams is benzoyl peroxide. Benzoyl Peroxide helps acne by killing acne bacteria and by reducing oil production of the skin. You'll find benzoyl peroxide products available in creams, gels, and cleaning pads. There are also other topical acne applications with different active ingredients. You'll find sulfur, salicylic acid, and resorcinol products. These are all available as over the counter treatments at your local drugstore. Other more potent topical acne treatments are available by perscription. These are generally antibiotic based. They help stop acne by keeping the pores open and uninfected. Sometimes a topical treatment alone cannot do the job and your dermatologist may recommend an oral antibiotic as well as a topical treatment. While there is no known cure for acne, there are a number of acne treatments and treatment combinations available today to help you keep your acne under control. In some cases acne prevention and treatment will be a life-long endeavor, for others it's a problem only during the teenage and young adult years. Regardless of the severity or duration of your acne problem a trip to the dermatologist for proper diagnosis based on your skin type and circumstances is highly recommended. Your doctor will work with you to come up with the best acne prevention plan for you. For more information about acne treatments, acne causes and acne prevention visit http://www.acnefreezone.com

Discover the Truth about Comic Book Collection; Nerdy Geeks or Shrewd Investors?

Discover the Truth about Comic Book Collection; Nerdy Geeks or Shrewd Investors?

by: Comics Galore

It is unbelievable when one says, yeah, I collect comic books, what the general public response might be? Oh no, a slightly off the wall geek. Here is someone who has lost touch with reality. Or someone that is in his or her own little world. I think not. Yes, comic book collectors may sometimes march to the beat of a different drummer, but who says we all have to be cut from the same mold. Comic books are big business. Back in the days of my youth (what, several millennia ago?), I loved reading comic books. And so did a lot of my friends. Whenever we had an extra dime or sometimes a quarter, we could run up to the local small town grocery and spend some very happy times at the comic book rack. We would even go out and find small odds jobs for pocket change, which was enough then to purchase 2 or 3 good flights of adventure and fantasy. I can even remember crawling under our house to retrieve a cat that had the misfortune of dying there. My Dad couldn’t stomach the smell and enticed my friend and I to accomplish the chore for ample pocket change. We braved the spiders and other crawly creatures to retrieve and bury the unfortunate cat. Not long after that, we were the proud owners of yet, several more intriguing comic books. Even the local bully (who was really a pretty good guy) would purchase our worn out or unwanted magazines for far more than they were worth, so we could purchase new ones. I didn’t know much about collecting then. I just liked saving what I enjoyed. I had a large cardboard box that I kept under my bed, filled with all my little treasures. I didn’t realize that I had the beginnings of what could have been something very lucrative. In later years when I headed off to college, I dragged my large cardboard box with me. At one point in time, I left most of my belongings in the charge of what I thought were trusted friends. When I returned from my forest firefighting adventures, my box full of magazines were no where to be found. And needless to say, were my trusted friends either. Others had seen the value in what I had and wanted it for themselves. Oh well, live and learn. That limited collection of comic books and other magazines would have been worth a small fortune today. Are there big bucks in the comic book genre? Just look at what Hollywood has been up to for the last few decades. As far as I can tell, the really big blockbusters started back in 1978 with the release of Superman, The Movie. And since then there has been comic book hero after comic book hero to hit the silver screen. And they all make tons of money. The Hollywood moguls may or may not be “into” the genre, but they can smell large profits. And these kinds of profits aren’t harvested from a small out of touch with reality niche. It take large numbers of individuals forking out 5 to 10 dollars a pop, to accumulate the astronomical profits that Hollywood is seeing these days. Made up bu individuals who may or may not want to admit their avid interest in comic book characters. I will stand up and say, I enjoy watching these movies and have even started my own collection of comic book character DVDs. Who knows, maybe some day my DVDs will become as valuable as comic books. Probably not. Although, not every individual’s collection has magazines worth thousands of dollars, there are a sizable amount of collections that can be worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. These are not people that have lost touch with reality. A while back, the actor, Nicholas Cage, put his comic book collection of about 400 magazines up for auction. Word was that he might have realized a value into seven figures. That ain’t chicken feed. It is not uncommon for single additions to be worth several hundred to several thousand dollars. Some comic books can enter the realm of several hundred thousand dollars for one magazine. Now the owners have to be some pretty rich economically savvy geeks. Are these the types of small niche individuals who have lost touch with reality or don’t want to confess they like comic books? So the next time you hear someone profess, yeah I collect comic books, you may want to look inside yourself and say, how do I release my hidden passion and start collecting myself? Now that you know this, isn’t it about time you start a comic book collection for yourself? It is fairly simple, but there are several things to take into consideration. To get started on the right step, I am accumulating some of the best information on the Net about comic book collecting. Come on over and satisfy your curiosity. About The Author: Dave Gieber the owner of a website built around one of his childhood passions. Learn the basic essentials to comic book collecting success. To receive your free 5-part mini course visit: www.comic-book-collection-made-easy.com/5-day-course,html

Discover the enormous shift that the Net is about to experience in the next 5 years...

Discover the enormous shift that the Net is about to experience in the next 5 years...

by: KMS Video News

...And how you can easily profit from it! Here are the five simple steps to take for on-line success: 1. Get your customers to trust you As every business owner knows, clients are the lifeblood of your e-business. You can be the best practitioner of your craft in the world, but without customers, all your study and training can mean zilch! I’m sure you already know, from personal experience, that people don’t want to do business with just anyone. They want good solid service from people who have been there, done that. If you can provide valuable advice to your prospects, you can be sure that they will begin to trust you and develop a RELATIONSHIP with you. And just how do you position yourself as an expert? How do you gain their trust? 2. Testimonials And not just any old testimonials, we’re talking VIDEO testimonials. Imagine this. What if you could get a super salesman to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks every year… a salesman who never gets sick or tired and all he/she does is direct hordes and hordes of targeted clients to your business? What if this salesman was also a satisfied client? Don’t even try to estimate the astounding value someone like this would bring to your business. And it can all be done with the power of video. 3. The Power of Video Anyone can be a video producer, especially today. Technology has delivered the tools and there is an emerging group of people who know that (don’t tell anyone this) video production is easy, if you have the right plan. Don’t just take my word for it, here’s what the ‘big guns’ of Internet marketing have to say on the topic of on-line video: “Video and DVD has a high value to it and can be completed at a fairly low cost.” You could purchase a Video editing card and a digital camcorder and begin creating your own video information products and testimonials. Video and DVD has a high-ticket value to it and is going to become more and more valuable as it is integrated into the Internet. Jo Han Mok CEO, Super Fast Profit Enterprise www.TheProtegeProgram.com “Joe, what do you see for the future of the Internet? Look for more video as bandwidth opens..." Joe Vitale www.mrfire.com Now desktop video is a huge opportunity and you have the chance to leapfrog other businesses not as informed as you. You can visually show potential customers concrete evidence of: · A video sample of your product · The quality of your work · Satisfied clientele · Your customer back-up and support mechanisms Everyday businesses are looking for an edge. A way to distinguish themselves from the competition. And now getting your business message to the masses in a cost-effective manner is possible. Yes… possible. And you can be the video producer that does it, the ultimate DIY (do it yourself)! 4. The Right Plan Most people think that it takes big bucks to produce video for business. The inside secret is that you can produce quality online or offline video productions with a relatively small investment – and having the right plan that can take you step-by-step through the process is a crucial component. Here are the steps I suggest you should follow: 1. Get yourself a digital video camera 2. Learn how to use it to produce ‘compelling’ video of satisfied clientele. This sounds obvious, but it can be where the majority of operators ‘drop the ball’. (Learn the techniques at www.kmsvideo.com). 3. Engineer cost effective solutions to produce professional production values (in particular the areas of lighting and audio). 4. Polish your production with your desktop editing system. 5. Distribute your message to your clients and potential customers on video tape, DVD or via e-mail And the list of online superstars who see that linking the power of video with the delivery and reach of the Internet as the way of the future is growing daily: “What innovative marketing approaches are you using? One of the most exciting things we've done recently is to put an actual video online..." Mark Joyner Jim Edwards is another Internet marketer jumping on the video bandwagon. A journalist by trade, Jim’s primary medium for delivering his message has been print. He now provides his message in video format online. 5. Understand Your Audience One of the reasons for the preference of video is because you can share a greater amount of information in a shorter time. Understand this: · FACT: The majority of people are auditory and visual learners · hungry for information but, · are time poor. If you understand this, you’ll realize why so many Internet marketers (we’re talking about top-flite, successful Internet marketers) are turning to online video to convey their message. If you, at present, market your business online, take advantage of the current shift to the way information is delivered on the Internet. You still have the opportunity to separate yourself from the majority of on-line marketers and that's where the little guys win. Bottom line… Whether you’re using a web-cam, video camera or a professional broadcast camera the same basic rules of filming apply. Easy to learn and so simple to apply, but can ruin a video if not followed. So don’t allow your important business message to get lost in a jumble of poorly composed images. Apply the basics and deliver the right message to your target audience. Visit http://www.kmsvideo.com for more information Mark Sturge, web master at http://www.kmsvideo.com and owner of KMS Productions. Mark has been filming, editing and producing videos and television productions since 1997 Professional Video Editor & Author Nerissa Oden says ""Mark Sturge has created an awesome way to learn the tricks to shooting great videos"--watch it RIGHT NOW: Copyright 2004 . Please feel free to pass this article on to your friends, or use it in your ezine or newsletter. It's a shareware article so long as the article and byline is kept intact.

Digital Imaging Explained

Digital Imaging Explained

by: The Daily Digital Dose

Digital Imaging Explained By Warren Lynch www.wlynch.com Digital Imaging is a process where an electronic photograph, scanned document, or image is converted into a series of electronic dots called pixels. Pixels is an acronym for "picture elements". After the image is converted, or digitized, it is stored on a memory storage device which may be a hard drive or some sort of electronic storage device such as a memory stick. The pixels are stored in a compressed format to save storage space. As each pixel is being created it is assigned a color value, called a tonal value, of black, white, shades of grey, or an actual color. These pixels must be processed by a piece of software in order for them to be called up and viewed as an actual image later. Traditional cameras capture images onto film while digital cameras use an electronic chip known as a Charged Coupling Device (CCD). The CCD is actually a grid of miniature light-sensitive diodes. These diodes convert photons (light) that strikes them into electrons (electrical impulses). The technical name for these diodes is 'photosite'. The brighter the light is that hits the photosite the stronger the electrical charge is that's produced. After converting the photons into electrons, a mini-computer, located inside of the camera, reads the stored electrical value in each photograph. Then a built-in analog-to-digital converter turns the stored electrical value into a digital value. These digital values are then stored on the cameras memory storage device. When these digital values are recalled by software, and displayed on a screen, they reproduce the image that was originally captured by the camera or digital input device. The digital image that is created by the CCD is huge. It's far too big to be easily stored in the relatively little amount of storage space that's available to a digital camera. Accordingly, the camera's computer compresses the image to make it smaller. There are two basic methods for achieving this compression. The first method takes advantage of repetitive patterns in the image. For example, if you are taking a picture of an airplane that is flying in the sky, a lot of the picture will be a chunk of blue sky. The camera recognizes that there are multiple parts of the image containing the same digital information, so it only records a small piece of the sky. Then it simply creates a map to tell it where the rest of the sky belongs. When the picture is ultimately displayed the sky appears exactly the same as it did in the original image when it was first captured. The only difference is that the overall storage requirements were reduced thanks to the camera's clever mapping techniques. The other method uses a procedure called irrelevancy. This methodology automatically removes digital information that is not visible to the human eye such an infra red light. Digital imaging is amazing yet we have only started witnessing the revolutionary changes that are yet to come. Warren Lynch has been shooting commercial photography since the 70's. Clients include Several Regional and National accounts. Sign up for "The Digital Dose" and receive his Digital Photography tips every other week for FREE! http://www.photopheed.com.

Decorating to Sell a House by Meeting Three Key Needs

Decorating to Sell a House by Meeting Three Key Needs

by: The Home Stylist newsletter

Specific marketing campaigns are no longer just for automobiles and designer clothes. Targeted marketing techniques are now applied to houses that are for sale. Decorating your house in a specific manner to facilitate the selling of it is an important aspect of selling and marketing your home; this type of decorating is called home staging. The goal of this type of decorating is to strategically style to address the psychological needs of the buyer. The buyer has three major needs when they look at the house. 1. Can I imagine myself (my family) living here? 2. Is this an easy, carefree house to live in? 3. Is this a good value for my money? All décor choices you make to sell the house will reflect those needs of the buyer. The most important tip to keep in mind at all times is that first impressions are critical in every area. The first feeling a potential buyer sees this house is curb appeal. That first glance they get as they step in the house can sell the house. First impression will happen in each and every room; make those impressions awesome! 1. Remove: This area of staging is very difficult for some homeowners because it involves decorating as a marketable house not as a beloved home. You do not want anything personal on display. This includes removing all family photographs, all toiletries, mail/bill piles, and all special collectibles. All bathroom and kitchen counters need to be cleared expect for only one or two decorative objects. Generally speaking, remove all wallpaper and paint all rooms a neutral ivory color. This meets the need of being able to imagine living there (and not being distracted by who lives there now) 2. Clean: The house needs to be absolutely sparkling clean. This includes washing windows inside and out, shining the kitchen sink, dusting baseboards, bleaching grout around tiles. It also needs to smell clean and fresh. The house can not smell of animals or cooking. Do not have daily housekeeping supplies visible to potential buyers. This includes laundry baskets and dish drainers - nothing to remind people that there will be work to do in this house. You want to meet their psychological need of living in an easy, carefree house. 3. Reduce: This area of staging® is the most over looked area by the do-it-yourself home seller. All closets of any kind - (foyer closets, master bedroom closets, linen closet, pantry etc) must only be half full. And that does really mean only ½ full. Also consider taking out the extra living room chair or extra dresser in the bedroom. Pack up items you can do without for the next couple months. You want to show that the house has lots of space and room to grow. This meets the needs of good value for the money. These three simple but effective decorating techniques can help you market and sell you home for what it is worth.

Croquet Tournaments US National Championship International Rules

Croquet Tournaments – US National Championship International Rules

by: PlayCroquet Column

I am new to the sport of http://www.playcroquet.com/index.php>croquet , as a professionally competitive sport. I have played backyard croquet and poison croquet with friends and family, but there have never been clubs or professional competitions in my vicinity. I am therefore researching various tournaments, where and when they occur, along with how they are played and how one can enter those tournaments. This is the first of probably several articles which I will write on the subject. This first article will be written on the United States National Croquet Championships. According to the United States Croquet Association website, the tournament occurs from May 31 to June 5. Because the tournament follows international rules, it is also termed the USCA International Rules National Championships, as opposed to the USCA AC National Championships American Rules, which is held annually in November and December. This year (2005) the tournaments were held in Seattle, the same place they were held in 2001, and hosted by the Puget Sound Croquet Club. According to Jeff Soo, who reported on the National Championships in the Croquet World Online Magazine, (May 25, 2005), eleven of the top twenty croquet players, as determined by the World Ranking, competed in the tournament. Because of the small number of lawns available for the tournament, it is limited to only twenty players per one flight. Jeff Soo also said that five of this year’s competitors can claim nine of the last twelve singles titles in this event – Leo McBride, John Taves, Bob Cherry, and Mik Mehas. “Paul Scott has won the last three doubles titles with two different partners.” Also, according to Soo, the games will be played as “straight knockouts,” meaning that each match is won by the best out of three games in both singles and doubles. There will also be a singles Plate match in “flexible Swiss format.” Danny Huneycutt, Croquet World Online Magazine (6 Jun 2005) mentioned that for the first time in North America, competitors were allowed to play “plate game, even prior to being eliminated from the main event.” The plate games were limited to two-and-a-half hours while main event matches, doubles and singles, were limited to seven-and-a-half hours. Time limits and other technical changes made the tournament run smoothly and efficiently. Entry into the tournament was restricted to invitation. Players entered the tournaments by mail invitations, which posted the requirements for entry; hence, I do not know all of the requirements for entry. Since it is the national championships I would assume that all contestants must have won other tournaments, which qualified them for the national championship. The entry deadline was May 16. Jerry Stark and Jeff Soo were co-tournament directors for this years match. This years’ tournament ended with a new national champion, Danny Huneycutt, who beat Paul Scott in a three-game match. Stark won the Plate knockout over John Taves. The tournament did receive some media in Washington where it was held, giving publicity to the sport of croquet and providing an opportunity for croquet players to explain to locals and visitors about the tournament, and the sport of croquet itself. There are many other croquet tournaments in the United States, Canada, and other countries. I will write articles about the other croquet tournaments as well. For more information about http://www.playcroquet.com/index.php>croquet or http://www.playcroquet.com/index.php>croquet sets, go to www.playcroquet.com