There are definitely widely different types of dianthus. For example, Firewitch is very popular. Bluish foliage - blooms all summer. But Sweet William is also a dianthus. While it does help to cut it back, I usually let some go to seed and it is really ugly at that point! Ellenrr, how tall are your dianthus? Could you put some late daylilies in front of them? Maybe chrysanthemums? I take an electric hedge clipper to my mums a couple times early in the summer to keep them pinched back. I have also been known to take it to the dianthus to clean it up a bit. Would that perhaps work for you? The mums don't bloom till a bit later (depending how late you cut them back), but they make an attractive mass of foliage in the meantime.

Here's a recipe I tried once for dandelion wine. It turned out okay, a little syrupy, but fine. No one could really get over the ick factor of drinking something that had been sitting out on the counter for months, though. Dandelion Blossom Wine The late Edna Lewis was a Southern-cooking legend. She grew up in a small farming community in Virginia. In The Taste of Country Cooking (Alfred A. Knopf 1990), she wrote that in the very early spring, she would see her neighbors picking dandelions. For winemaking, she wrote, they had to be picked before noon. After that, the blossoms would close up tight. The wine was drunk at breakfast. This is adapted from her recipe. 1 gallon open dandelion blossoms 5 quarts boiling, noncarbonated water 3 1/2 pounds sugar Pick dandelion blossoms far away from polluted areas, in clear, open fields. Have at hand a good, clean stone crock or Pyrex container, because you will be pouring boiling water over the blossoms and a glass jar will crack and spoil your blossoms. Pick over the blossoms. See to it that there are no spiders or bugs in them. Rinse. Drop the blossoms into the crock and pour the boiling water over them. Cover with a clean white napkin and let stand for three days where it's not too cold. Strain through a thin, clean, odor-free cloth into a clean glass jar. Add the sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves. Cover again with a clean cloth and leave in the kitchen in a warm, draft-free place for three weeks. Then strain into clean, dry jars, filling up to the top. Tie a clean cloth over the mouth of each jar and leave to finish fermenting, which will take about four months, or until the wine stops being effervescent. Then strain carefully into clean bottles, leaving behind any sediment that settles on the bottom. Fill the bottles nearly full and cork tightly. Store in a dry, dark place.

Christine, well done!! Congratulations! And congratulations to everyone else, for doing one heck of a great job! I picked up quite a few ideas from all of you wonderful OBFERS! And thank you again Sheri, for a very fun and creative swap!!!!! Happy weekend to all! Annie

I had a cheap secretary office chair. Its back became useless and the back support failed, In preparation to discard it, I took the back off and inspiration hit. The low seat with casters was perfect as a roll around seat on the garage floor when servicing equipment such as lawn mowers, bicycles, and autos. It beats stooping over to get at low places like waxing the lower panels of a car. We recycle dozens of 64 fluid oz plastic bottles, but a few have been put to other uses. Using shears, I cut the bottom off and gave the end a scoop shape. The handle and lid was left in place. It made a good bird seed scoop. There were some scraps of lumber left over from building our house. Some measurements, a few hand saw cuts, and nailing the parts together gave me a nail carrier. I've been using that thing for 40 years. Other scraps were used to make 3 shelves for the back of the garage. Asphalt sealer comes in large plastic buckets. About every 5 to 7 years, my driveway gets a coat of sealer. Not all of the buckets were discarded. I kept about 10 of these and those come in handy for a variety of chores. If I need a ballast weight to hold me lawn mower handle down to tip the mower up for removing the blade, I grab a bucket, go out back and put in a few rocks from the rock pile and now I have a ballast weight to do the job. Other buckets can store sun flower seed after the sack has been opened. Setting the lid on the bucket makes a mouse and insect proof container.