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How to Make Sourdough Bread Starter To make a sourdough starter, you need only two ingredients (and time): flour and water. Sourdough starter uses natural yeasts and lactobacilli from the air to grow; they settle into the flour-water mixture and feed on the sugars in the flour. The “sour” flavor is from fermentation by the lactobacilli, which produces sour-tasting lactic acid. Here’s how to make a sourdough bread starter: Feeding Sourdough Starter If you’re not using your starter immediately, keep it at room temperature and feed it by stirring in one cup of flour and ½ cup of water....

First, there was the possibility of Provençal country with humble characteristics including rustic textures, distressed finishes, and a stone fireplace. A second option was Louis XV rococo, which would have embraced lavishly carved frames and heavy gilding. But the French style that triggered excitement from the homeowners, like a robust Cabernet served with a steaming pot of beef Bourguignon, was the idea of modernized Parisian. The chateau-style house would be filled with moldings, geometric-pattern floors, a light and bright palette, and a modern interpretation of French style’s chicest charm....

This house had everything. Designed by Hal Thomson in the 1920s, it showed the prolific Dallas architect’s grand and graceful style. Yet its limestone exterior offered a color and material departure from the period’s ubiquitous red brick. A sprawling yard could be landscaped into natural glory. Inside, architectural details abounded: paneling, dentil molding, and intricate ironwork. “Initially, this house was just a dream because it wasn’t available, so we bought a different house two streets away,” Jean says....

Best Fertilizer for Endless Summer Hydrangea Feeding your reblooming hydrangea begins with finding the right product. Your local garden center’s fertilizer section likely has an overwhelming number of options, so it’s important to know exactly what to seek out. “You’re looking for a slow-release granular fertilizer that is labeled ‘bloom boost,’” says Endless Summer expert Ryan McEnaney from Bailey Nurseries. Bloom boost fertilizers, such as Flower-tone ($12, Ace Hardware), have a higher level of phosphorus, which is the nutrient that promotes flower formation....

Plants for Creating a Low-Water Garden Plan: 4 Crested iris (Iris cristata): Zones 4-10 3 Sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima): Zones 9-11, annual 3 Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’: Zones 3-10 2 Feather reed grass (Calamagrostis × acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’): Zones 4-9 1 Variegated redtwig dogwood (Cornus alba ‘Elegantissima’): Zones 2-8 3 New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae ‘Alma Pötschke’): Zones 4-8 1 Spurge (Euphorbia characias): Zones 3-10 1 Money plant (Lunaria annua): Zones 5-9; biennial* 3 Lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis): Zones 3-7 1 Spotted deadnettle (Lamium maculatum ‘White Nancy’): Zones 4-8 2 Shrubby dusty miller (Brachyglottis compacta): Zones 7-10 3 Stonecrop (Sedum cauticola ‘Ruby Glow’): Zones 5-9 1 Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii ‘Rose Glow’): Zones 3-9 3 Michaelmas daisy (Aster novae-belgii ‘Lassie’): Zones 3-9 1 Silver Carpet lamb’s-ears (Stachys byzantina ‘Silver Carpet’): Zones 4-9...

“When we move into new military housing, it’s always very plain—think brown rugs and white walls with zero personality,” Chelsea says. “I was a new mom when my husband was deployed on a ship and was staring at our boring rental in San Diego thinking, I can’t live here like this. I need to make this feel like a true home, like an expression of us.” With a limited budget, Chelsea researched DIY projects online, but all of them felt too permanent....

Choose the Right Pot Tomatoes will grow in traditional hanging baskets and upside-down tomato pots. Although novel, upside-down hanging pots present many practical challenges for growing tomatoes. Plants naturally want to grow up toward the sun. When planted upside down in a special container, the tomato stems bend and form a U shape as they attempt to grow toward the light. The bent stems are weak and easily snap under the weight of fruit or during high wind....

A. Pentas ‘Butterfly Red’ — 3 A. Zinnia angustifolia ‘Crystal White’ — 3 B. Heliotrope (Heliotropium ‘Marine’) — 2 C. Coleus (Solenostemon ‘Brilliancy’) — 1 A. Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender’ — 4 B. Salvia guarantica ‘Black and Blue’ — 2 C. Fan flower (Scaevola ‘New Wonder’) — 4 A. Bronze fennel (Foeniculum vulgare ‘Rubrum’) — 2 B. Nasturtium (Tropaeoleum ‘Scarlet Gleam’) — 4 C. Sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas ‘Tricolor’) — 1 D....

Toasted Coconut Vegan Ice Cream: Stir 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (also labeled as dessicated coconut), toasted, into ice cream after churning. Choose-Your-Fruit Vegan Ice Cram Stir 1 cup chopped fruit (i.e. strawberries, pineapple), into ice cream after churning.

Water Lily Care Must-Knows Whether you have a natural or artificial pond, plant water lilies in containers to limit their size. (They will grow to fit the container they are in.) A container prevents the plant from growing through the pond liner or from growing too large and taking over your pond. Any type of container will work. Plant your lily tubers so that a bit sticks out from the heavy clay-loam soil amended with a slow-release fertilizer formulated for pond plants....

Cover Crop Benefits Cover cropping can benefit any garden, says horticulture educator Chris Enroth with Illinois Extension. In addition to crowding out weeds, it puts down roots that feed the soil’s community of living organisms—including fungi, bacteria, and earthworms—that provide nutrients to future plantings. A cover crop’s roots and organic materials also loosen compacted soil and produce binding agents. These help soil filter water to plant roots and hold some of it there for later rather than pooling it on the surface or letting it run off, taking soil with it....

1. Spider Crickets: They’re Not Actually Spiders…or Crickets Good news for anyone with arachnophobia—despite their name, these pests aren’t actually spiders. They’re part of the insect order Orthoptera, which means they’re related to grasshoppers, locusts, and other crickets (like the black crickets you may have seen around your house and garden). The “spider” part of their name comes from the way their long legs make them look, but they’ve only got six of them, not eight....