How does an industrial engineer do research for his garden? By inventing a planting slide rule, or as it is more properly called, Clyde's Vegetable Planting Slide Chart. If you are old enough to remember slide rules in math class, you might think of them as hard to use, but this sliding chart is very easy to use and the information is great to have all in one place.

As Clyde tried to make sense of the right time to plant vegetable, matching the last spring frost and the first fall frost with the proper time to plant indoors or outdoors, he had to create a new chart for each crop. Instead, he created a sliding chart that slides the spring planting dates, frost date and harvest times on the front calendar and the same sliding information for fall on the back calendar. If you don't know your local frost dates, there is a list of 190 cities spread across the country that comes with the chart.

The chart provides information on 21 common vegetable types. It also has how many seeds or plants are needed for a 10-foot row, how deep to plant, how far apart the plants are in the row and how far apart the rows are. With just one look you can see the whole garden's planting and harvesting schedule.

It only costs five dollars on Clyde's website. If you want to buy bulk for your garden club or Master Gardener group you can get substantial discounts. Find out more at http://www.cdmplanning.hypermart.net/

Lenten Rose

Everyone knows that spring bulbs like crocus, daffodil and snowdrops are early spring bloomers. A perennial plant that many people don't know that blooms early is the Lenten rose or it may also be known by its genus of Helleborus. There are a couple dozen species of hellebores, but most gardeners grow one of the many hundreds of hybrids.

The 18-inch tall plants traditionally had flower colors that ranged from green to dark maroon on flowers bent over to protect them from accumulating late snows. New hybrids have brighter more visible flowers with white, pinks and many have spots and stripes. The newest hybrids have flowers that face to the side, not down, making them much prettier. There are also hybrids with double and triple the number of petals. The sepals are often brightly colored and can last on the plant for more than two months giving the appearance that the plant is still in bloom.

The leaves are often evergreen in hardiness zones 6 thru 8 and can be evergreen if not smashed down by snow in zones four and five. This shade-loving plant will grow equally well under pine trees or oak trees. It can withstand dry soil and maybe most important of all, it is very deer resistant. It can be a good substitute for hostas in dry shade areas that have lots of deer.

Watch a time-lapse video of a flower opening that I created of a pink and white hellebore named Peppermint Ruffles Winter Thriller on my website at www.greenerview.com. On my revised website, I have been adding a new video each week in addition to links to old articles. You can quickly find out when new information is added to the website at the Greener View Garden Column Facebook page.

Email questions to Jeff Rugg at [email protected]. To find out more about Jeff Rugg and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.