Give them a pinch Pinch back soft growth from annuals to promote bushier plants. Zinnias, cosmos, petunias and salvias all will look better if given this treatment now as you are planting them.     Summering houseplants

Q. Two years ago, we planted 12 Knockout roses along our fence where they received sunlight most of the day. These plants flourished for two years. Earlier this spring we trimmed the plants and they started to show new growth. Then I noticed the new growth was nearly dead.

  Michele Cleland's son Ryan alerted her to an unusual flower growing in the woods behind their house five years ago. When Cleland walked back to look, she discovered a wonderful surprise - pink lady- slippers growing all around. "I said, 'Wow! What is that?' " Cleland said, still re calling the experience vividly.

Cacti lovers love the plants' prickly spines and weird growth patterns. They'll also love the Virginia Beach Master Gardener Spring Plant Sale Saturday at the Virginia Beach Farmers Market.

Think about the fish As goldfish and koi become active again, make sure to feed them. If visiting herons decimate your fish, place clay drainage tiles in your pond. Fish can escape attack by swimming into the pipes. It also gives them a place to escape from the heat during the summer.   Cool it with white

Q. We recently moved to Chesapeake from Connecticut. Our backyard is heavily wooded and borders on wetlands. The previous owners put hardware cloth and bark mulch down the side and back foundation beds. Every morning there are large areas of these beds that have been dug up by a nocturnal animal. Neighbors say raccoons do it.

Kill weeds now

Q. I have lovely beds of ivy that have been here for years. About two years ago, a small section of it began to die back. I cannot see any disease that might cause this. We did remove a tree so the ivy gets a bit more sun than it used to. The sick area is expanding and I do not want to lose the ivy. How do I save these ivy beds? - Carol Landversicht, Chesapeake

Swan Terrace, home of the “Presidential Sunday Brunch,” is the first of the three big buffets on our all-mom panel’s dance card.

By Shirley Brinkley
Correspondent
As a boy, Mickey Boyette developed an appreciation for the Darden mansion on Suffolk's South Broad Street.
When Boyette's father took his family on Sunday afternoon rides in Suffolk, the car would always stop for a few moments in front of the elegant home at 104 S. Broad St.