Clichés and rhyming weather lore passed down through the generations supposedly predict weather patterns and seasonal changes. Naturalists and amateur...

Color experts are hinting that green may be the “it” color for 2010. Although fashion and décor gurus haven’t officially announced...

Q:I have about 17 peonies in a garden. During the second half of every summer, they get black spot. This year, some also got powdery mildew, even though...

Calendar of events relating to homes and gardens Holiday Shoppers’ Fair: 15 Richmond-area museum stores collaborate with an unusual array of gifts...

Q:I have a silver tea and coffee service that belonged to my grandmother. On the bottom, it is stamped “Ascot Sheffield Design, Reproduction by Community.“...

Yes, we know it has been only six days since Halloween, but Christmas is up and running today at the Richmond Raceway Complex. The Craftsmen’s Christmas...

Did it yourself? The budget is tighter, but home-improvement needs and wants never seem to end. The solution may be to get out the toolbox and do it yourself!...

PROJECT: Bookshelf unit/window seat TIME: Two weeks spread over six months COST: $600-$700 HOW THEY DID IT: Jim Savage saw an idea in a home-improvement...

Bryan and Brent Halstead, draped in fake fur from head to claws, were a tad overdressed for a warm fall afternoon. But the brothers had worked on their...

Vibrant foliage isn’t enough to cheer gardeners this time of year as they watch their labors of love shrivel and suffer a crunchy brown death. But...

PROJECT: Backyard fountain TIME: About one weekend COST: $200 HOW THEY DID IT: John and Kristi Anzivino’s project started as a way to recycle a valuable...

Q:I have a large area of English ivy that I have treated with varying success with two herbicides. The waxy coating on ivy leaves seems to reduce the effectiveness...

Calendar of events relating to homes and gardens Ashland Walking Tour: Guided walking tour of the late-19th-century railroad town begins at 11 a.m. tomorrow...

Halloween screams FineLiving.com is standing by to help make your Halloween a little less terrifying. If you’re throwing a monster bash, check fineliving.com/halloween...

Q:I bought a Coca-Cola sign at a flea market about 10 years ago. It appears to be hand-painted with a beach scene. I was told that it dates from the 1950s....

No standard formula for agent commission Q:How do agents get commission on rental property?—Peter Answer: There is no standard formula to compensate...

When Ray Rucker and his wife, Meriam, bought a home in a middle-class Mechanicsville neighborhood in 1990, they were told the brick rancher was haunted....

Haunting tours of historic plantations, sites Historic Haunts of Hanover: Sites in Hanover that harbor strange, haunted tales. Cold Harbor Battlefield:...

Q:Our Knock Out roses were a huge success this summer. However, I have no clue how to prune them. Should they have been pruned in midsummer to encourage...

Calendar of events relating to homes and gardens Lewis Ginter programs: Increase your gardening know-how with programs at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden,...

Poltergeist—Means “noisy ghost” in German;it’s known for making sounds and moving things around.  Shadow people—Black...

Virginia Society of Paranormal Education and Research,

When is the best time to come up with an ingenious idea? Apparently in the middle of the night. Around 3:30 one summer morning in 2007, Mark Di Vincenzo’s...

Contractor sale Hanover Habitat for Humanity and the central Virginia chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry will hold a contractor...

Mark Di Vincenzo talked to hundreds of experts while researching his book “Buy Ketchup In May and Fly At Noon.“ Among other things, he found...

Each spring, I face the same dilemma: Stay in Richmond and revisit the tried-and-true sites along the James River to enjoy songbird migration, or discover...

Calendar of events relating to homes and gardens Prince George Master Gardener Fall Plant Sale & Clinic: Perennials, herbs, trees and shrubs for sale...

Guests who bring a bag of nonperishable food to donate to the Central Virginia Foodbank will receive two free admissions to this weekend’s MAC Events...

Q:My lilac is leaning helplessly. It is at least 20 years old and has been blooming nicely. Two or three years ago, it started leaning. I tried to tie...

Ashland Farmers’   Market, 101 Thompson St., Ashland, 798-9219. 9 a.m.-noon Saturdays through November.   Byrd House Market, behind William...