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Because it thrives in cool weather and declines in summer heat, get a jump start on the season by planting spinach seeds first thing in spring, even before your area’s last expected frost date. Then maximize your space by succession planting: after harvest, remove your spinach plants and replace them with your favorite heat-loving summer crops. Spinach Care Must-Knows For optimum harvests, plant spinach in a sunny spot that gets half-day or all-day sun, and moist but well-drained soil that’s rich in organic matter....

2 cup all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 8 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces 1 large egg, lightly beaten ¼ cup cold water

Spring Starflower Companion Plants Cyclamineus Daffodil Yellow daffodils are especially striking when paired with violet-blue spring starflowers. Choose a naturalizing variety. Grape Hyacinth Grape hyacinth’s flower spikes are especially striking paired with star-shape spring starflower. Purple Coneflower Continue the color show in summer by planting spring starflower alongside prairie natives, such as purple coneflower.

You can shop this gorgeous peony variety as a cut flower at a handful of retailers. For example, the Fresh Market, a specialty food retailer, occasionally offers three-stem bunches of ‘Command Performance’ peonies, running for as long as supplies last. This limited stock is imported from France, but you can also grow your own plants right in your garden. Retailers such as The Home Depot, Walmart, and Target all offer the ‘Command Performance’ peonies for about $25....

1 ounce unsweetened chocolate 2 tablespoon butter 2 tablespoon milk 1 cup sifted powdered sugar ½ teaspoon vanilla Milk Chocolate Drizzle ½ ounce milk chocolate 1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon milk ½ cup sifted powdered sugar ¼ teaspoon vanilla

‘Hummingbird’ summersweet (Clethra alnifolia ‘Hummingbird’) Sweet is right—in late summer, this shrub will be covered in sweetly fragrant white flowers that attract butterflies. The blossoms look all the more beautiful thanks to a backdrop of glossy, deep green foliage. ‘Hummingbird’ was selected as an award winner because of its compact habit, growing just 2-4 feet tall and a little wider. It is small enough for foundation plantings and looks terrific in groups....

We recommend the Warmly Yours Infinity 10-Bar Towel Warmer as our top overall pick for the best towel warmer because it can be easily installed by a homeowner and plugged into a standard 120-volt outlet. It’s ready to use immediately. Or you can opt to have it hardwire connected by a professional electrician for a built-in look. It’s also moderately priced. We found some inexpensive towel warmers for less than $100 and high-end models that run into the thousands of dollars....

Tips for Growing Hot Peppers Start hot peppers from seed indoors in late winter or buy transplants and plant them directly in the ground after the last frost in the spring. You’ll get to pick from a larger variety of peppers if you grow from seed, because there are online sellers offering a slew of pepper varieties in seed packets. But it’s simpler and requires less planning to buy transplants locally and plant them in the spring after the last frost date in your area....

Due to their nature, all folding chairs can be easily stored and put away, ensuring you always have an extra seat when you need it without cluttering your home. To help you decide which is the best folding chair to suit your needs, we researched the top picks, keeping in mind size, weight, weight capacity, and materials. Overall, the best folding chair for those looking to add a little extra seating to their home is the HDX Black Plastic Folding Chair....

Some of these fun board games are perfect for one player while others are meant for two, while more still are best played with a large family. Whether it’s critical thinking and competition you seek or simple fun and loads of laughter, there’s something on this list for everyone. Classic Board Games There’s a reason these classic board games have been around for ages: They’re fun to play and sure to liven up any setting....

The best steam irons heat up quickly, offer multiple settings to accommodate a variety of materials, and are easy to maneuver. Added features like auto-shutoff settings, anti-drip soleplates, and retractable plugin cords are also helpful. We put some of the best steam irons to the test to determine which ones are actually worth buying. Our expert home testers purchased and used 30 different steam irons in our lab in Des Moines, Iowa, putting each one through its paces on materials like cotton, linen, and satin....

“The two most important features when looking for a vacuum to clean up after your pets are suction power and filtration,” says Ollie Toogood, senior design engineer at Dyson. We put 37 of the best vacuums for pet hair to the test in our lab in Des Moines, Iowa, to see which ones picked up fur from hard floors and carpets alike while remaining maneuverable and easy to operate. Our team of experts spent an entire day running each vacuum on different flooring types covered in pet hair, dust, dirt, and more....

“Carpet can be a great investment and really enhance a space if done right,” says Cameron Johnson, Founder & CEO of Nickson Living. The best carpets are available in an array of styles and materials, such as nylon, polyester, wool, or cotton. You can also get them in a vast selection of colors and patterns too, making it easy to truly personalize your space. However, not all carpet is created equally, and since it fills such a large surface area in your home, it’s important to evaluate which carpet is best for your needs....

Stone Fruit Hybrids Each of these stone fruit hybrids contains different ratios of their parent fruits. Follow the same picking methods for hybrids as you’d use for their parents. Look for fruits that are fragrant and firm but yield under slight pressure from your thumb. Plums should feel heavy for their size when you hold them. Apricots ripen more quickly than peaches and plums, so purchase only what you can eat within a couple of days....