One of the most graceful plants that can enhance your outdoor garden is available now in many different colors: the calla lily, which isn't really a lily, nor is it a calla, although it is related to the latter genus. In reality, the calla lily is the common name for the zantedeschia genus; just as our family trees can be at times daunting in their complexities, so too with our favorite flowers. The genus calla was originally named by the famous Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus, but when the German botanist Karl Koch realized that it had become apparent that the genus needed to be split up, he honored his fellow Italian botanist Giovanni Zantedeschi by naming the new genus after him. The Europeans quickly recognized the value of this new flower, and it became a popular favorite for both weddings (as it signifies magnificence and beauty) and funerals.

To enjoy callas for you shade garden area, plant them in a location with morning sun/afternoon shade. Now we're going to talk about how to enjoy the calla outdoors. Perennial bulbs, or rhizomes, calla lilies can grow to a height of from 1.5 to 4 feet with long, rich green leaves. While white is normally associated with this flower, they actually come in a wide variety of colors, from white to pink, purple, yellow, orange, and even black! They are tolerant of most pests and diseases, and are suitable for cut flower gardens, or planting en masse in beds, low borders, patio pots or planters. As with most plants, they will appreciate a cover of mulch, which holds in the moisture and keeps weeds at bay.

While their normal blooming time is listed as late spring, this northern gardener finds that they thrive throughout the summer outdoors, until close to the first deep frost. If you live in USDA zones 8 through 10, they are perennials outdoors and will not require indoor storage. In colder climes, after the foliage has withered away, dig up the long-fingered tubers, storing them in a breathable bag in perlite, peat moss, or vermiculite. When frost danger has passed, you may then transplant them outside, fertilizing with a 5-10-10 or 5-10-5 mixture.

One caveat: as calla lilies contain a poisonous ingredient called oxalic acid, keep children and pets away from your plants. Our colorful callas are available now in 6" containers. White calla lillies are available in 1 gallon and 5 gallon.

The Lenten rose--helleborus (also known as Christmas rose)--is one of the easiest and most rewarding plants to grow. It has the ability to bloom in the colder months of the year when other plants are sleeping, making it the star of any late winter/early spring garden.

This sturdy little evergreen plant originally hails from southern Europe and parts of western Asia. It grows 12-18" high and wide, with shiny, blue-green, leathery leaves and finely-toothed edges. It produces flowers from as early as late fall in warmer regions all the way to late spring in colder climates.

The Lenten rose gets its name from its flowers, that tend to be the most prolific around the period of Lent. Each plant produces many flower stalks that bear a single 2 to 4 inch single or double bloom. Thanks to an increase in hybridizing, the flower colors range from slate grey, near-black, deep purple and plum, through rich red and pinks, to yellow, white and green. We have many of these colors available now in the one gallon size.

The outer surface of the sepals is often green-tinged, and as the flower ages it usually becomes greener inside and out, with individual flowers often remaining on the plant for a month or more. The inner surface of each sepal may be marked with veins, or dotted or blotched with pink, red or purple. Some even have a "picotee" effect.

Nearly every garden has a spot for hellebores, and the plants will thrive in many different environments. They are excellent for bringing color to garden borders, under deciduous trees, or between other shrubs. They can handle shady locations, but perform best if given morning sun. They are stout little plants and once established, become reasonably drought-tolerant, a hard find for shady gardens..

Lenten roses like rich, well-draining soil. Treat them just like any acid-loving plant and amend the soil with peat moss or an acid planting mix. Remove any old, tattered foliage each spring after blooming. Lenten roses don't require much fertilizer, and actually perform best if they don't receive any summer feedings. Treat them with and acidic fertilizer, such as Gro Power Plus, in the winter time, before they start to bloom. Then sit back and wait for them to put on another show of color the next year.

Can you grow grass in shade?

Answer:

That depends on how much shade you actually have. Fescue types of grass will tolerate shade better than most grasses. You can also use a shady blend grass seed such as Pennington, but even shade-tolerant grasses need a certain amount of sunshine to grow. Ultimately, the way you manage your shady lawn is more important than which seed type you select.

Five practices that will help your shade tolerant grass survive in the shade:

• First, mow your grass higher. Grass in the shade should be cut approximately 1/2 to 1 inch higher than the grass growing in full sunlight. This will allow more leaf area to intercept the limited amount of sunlight.
  
• Second, fertilize less often, at half the normal amount so the grass won't try to grow what it can't support.
  
• Third, water more (and deeply) in the hot summer months, so the grass is not stressed by heat.
  
• Fourth, selectively prune and thin limbs of heavy shade producing trees to allow more light to reach your lawn. Remove all limbs below ten feet. Rake and remove leaves or needles before they accumulate.
  
• Finally, try to minimize traffic and activities in the shaded grass areas during the summer months. This will reduce the wear stress on the turf. If the grass is in a path where traffic cannot be avoided, place stepping-stones or pine bark to create a trail.

If you combine these suggestions, you should notice a much healthier lawn. If none of this works, consider replacing your shaded area with shade-loving flowers, groundcover, or mulch.

Click to print this article.

Daylight Saving Time begins at 2 am on Sunday, March 14, 2010 so be sure to set your clocks forward one hour! Your clocks should be set from 2:00 a.m. local standard time, to 3:00 a.m. local daylight time.

Incidentally, not all places in the United States observe Daylight Saving Time; Hawaii and most of Arizona do not use it, and Indiana waited until 2006 to adopt the usage.

The original concept is attributed to Benjamin Franklin in 1784. In a whimsical letter to a French journal, he said that Parisians could save thousands of francs a year by waking up earlier during the summer because it would prevent them from having to buy so many candles to light the evening hours.

We remember to change our clocks by the phrase "Spring forward, fall back." As spring begins on March 20, 2010, a mere 12 days after the onset of Daylight Saving Time, why not embrace this season of renewal, and replace the batteries in all of your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. This simple act will reassure the safety of your family; properly working detectors save thousands of lives each year.