Banana peels do your plants good
Dear Heloise: Take a banana peel, cut it up into small chunks and place the pieces around the roots of a plant. The phosphorus and potassium will help feed the roots of the plant. Roses in particular will benefit from the nutrients.— Jackie A., Herndon, Va.
NO GREEN THUMB
Dear Heloise: I seem to kill nearly everything I plant. It’s not intentional; I just overwater or don’t water enough. The grass is fine, but my planting beds are patheticGot any hints on how to revive my planting beds?—Mary H., Austin, Texas
Mary, you might want to consider succulents, which store water, in your planting beds. They can go for a long time before needing to be watered.
Set up a watering schedule, mark it on your calendar and water your plants at least once a week if planting something other than succulents.
Your plants will thrive, and your water bill probably will go down.—Heloise
SEND A GREAT HINT TO: Heloise
P.O. Box 795000
San Antonio, TX 78279-5000 Fax: 1-210-HELOISE Email: Heloise@Heloise.com
HOSTESS GIFT
Dear Heloise: I play cards once a month with a group of friends. We gather at each other’s homes—each of us takes a turn as the hostess. I’d like to take a small gift when I go to someone else’s home, but I’m running out of ideas.
What do you recommend?—Janet L., Park City, Utah
Janet, when I take a hostess gift, I usually like to select one of the following:
A bouquet of flowers A scented candle
A bottle of wine Something personal, such as body lotion or fancy soaps.
—Heloise
THE LATEST SCAMS
Dear Heloise: You’ve saved a lot of people from making a serious mistake by exposing scams that usually target the elderly, but anyone can become a victim of a scammer. Here are some of the most recent scams:
Fake prizes, sweepstakes or fake gifts: You get a phone call or an email saying you won something wonderful, but there is a small fee to pay for shipment or administration fees.
Fake bills: This is prevalent especially for people who have just been released from the hospital. The scammers ask for too much information. It’s a way to scam financial information from you so they can drain your bank account.
Jury duty: You get a call from someone saying he or she needs to get information for possible future jury duty.
Arrest warrant: Someone calls and says you were caught on a road cam speeding, or on some other violation. They don’t take credit cards, but you can send the fine in through another source.—Samuel D., Washington, D.C.