BunnyFence helps with protecting your plants

BunnyFence helps with protecting your plants

A couple of Illinois gardeners have developed a nonlethal weapon in the battle with the bunnies.

Their solution is BunnyFence, a plant protector that doubles as garden art.

Its decorative metal panels link together to form a miniature fence around the base of a medium to tall plant, sort of like a vase.

It’s not meant to protect large areas, but rather individual showpiece plants.

BunnyFence ranges in price from $6.99 to $8.99 per panel, depending on the quantity purchased.

It can be ordered at www.bunnyfence.com.

Book targets Midwest and herb gardening

“Herb Gardening for the Midwest” targets its information to this region’s conditions and the plants that grow best there.

Authors and plant experts Debra Knapke and Laura Peters give readers the basics for growing herbs, including garden-design considerations, soil preparation tips, information on planting and caring for herbs and pointers on controlling pests and diseases.

“Herb Gardening for the Midwest” comes from Lone Pine Publishing and sells for $19.95 in softcover.

Author sings praises in ‘Hardy Succulents’

Succulents are garden workhorses.

Adaptable and nearly fuss-free, they add exotic interest without demanding much in return.

Rock gardening expert Gwen Moore Kelaidis thinks they deserve credit for that, so she’s evangelizing on their behalf in her new book, “Hardy Succulents.”

The book might be a revelation to people who associate succulents with the desert. They’re so much more, Kelaidis argues, offering plump foliage, curious forms and fall color to the landscape.

“Hardy Succulents” introduces readers to a variety of plants for different situations and hardiness zones and provides tips for propagating, planting and maintaining them.

The book comes from Storey Publishing and sells for $19.95 in paperback or $29.95 in hardcover.

Disneyland Dream Home shows off innovations

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Disneyland has seen the future, and the future is now-ish.

For its “Innoventions Dream Home” that opened recently, the Happiest Place on Earth combined today’s cutting edge technology with a few Jetsons-like flourishes.

Many of the 5,000-square-foot home’s technologies are practical, such as a virtual bulletin board for the kids’ schedules and a flat-screen outdoor monitor that gives barbecue instructions.

Others are more futuristic: the push of a button changes the outside appearance of the home and a virtual mirror projects accessories, hairstyles and clothes from your closet onto your reflection.

The idea of a futuristic home dates back to the Monsanto House of the Future, which stood near the entrance of Disneyland Park’s Tomorrowland from 1957 to 1967.

Combined dispatches