Daily Calendar for Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Question of the Day
I’m putting up an eight-foot cedar fence to shelter a brick patio area from the north winds. What can I grow on its shady side?
We assume you’re looking for a climbing vine, as opposed to a ground cover or shrub, although you could certainly use all three. To climb the cedar poles, your best bet might be winter creeper (Euonymus fortunei radicans), which can extend up to 12 feet and is a hardy evergreen vine for Zone 5 (and even somewhat north of that). It shows a glossy, variegated leaf and thrives in partial or full shade and ordinary soil. It’s a member of the bittersweet family, but it displays a pale pink fruit and greenish white flowers. If you want something more fragrant, you might try a shade-loving clematis vine. Unlike the large-flowered clematis plants that love sun, ‘Sweet Autumn’ clematis is well adapted for shade and known for its autumn fragrance and small white flowers. It likes rich, well-drained soil. Prune it back for winter; you’ll want new growth in the spring. As for shrubs and ground covers, there’s no end to the shade-loving varieties.
Advice of the Day
Reputation is a large bubble that bursts when you try to blow it up yourself.
Home Hint of the Day
Put a coat of boiled linseed oil on window sash and sills before puttying. Putty on dry wood will lose its strength because the oil will be sucked out of the putty and into the wood.
Word of the Day
Crumpet
A kind of large, thin muffin or cake, light and spongy, and cooked on a griddle or spider.
Puzzle of the Day
What part of a fish is heaviest?
Its scales.
Born
- Sir Ronald Ross (bacteriologist) –
- Joe Louis (boxer) –
- Ritchie Valens (singer) –
- Stevie Wonder (musician) –
- Darius Rucker (musician) –
- Barry Zito (baseball player) –
- Prince Carl Philip of Sweden –
- Robert Pattinson (actor) –
- Debby Ryan (actress) –
- Morgan Wallen (country singer) –
Died
- Cyrus Hall McCormick (inventor) –
- Gary Cooper (actor) –
- Derek Boogaard (hockey player) –
- Dr. Joyce Brothers (psychologist) –
- Doris Day (singer & actress) –
Events
- Apple trees in bloom, R.I. –
- Velcro trademark was registered in the United States –
- Pope John Paul II was shot –
- A New Brunswick earthquake measured 3.9 on the Richter scale –
Weather
- Sandstorm in New Jersey –
- Grissom Air Force Base near Peru, Indiana, reported wind gusts of 136 miles per hour in a heavy thunderstorm –