WTHBA Announces 2018 Home and Garden Show

The event will take place at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center, Friday, March 2 (4-8 pm), Saturday, March 3 (9 am - 6 pm ), concluding Sunday, March 4 (12-6 pm.) Tickets are available at the door - $5 for adults and $2 for children ages 12 and under. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Lubbock Homes for Heroes.

This year's show will feature over 100 various vendors with booths on display showcasing the latest trends in the home and garden industries.

While there, event goers can register to win one of these fantastic prizes with a total value exceeding $7,000: RO system sponsored by Kinetico of West Texas, solar shades from Budget Blinds, $1,000 paint job from CertaPro Painters, insulated garage door from Overhead Door, two seasonal ceramic planters from Lubbock Designscapes, and a custom patio shade from Beat the Heat shading systems.

Be sure and sign the kids up for the always fun LegoTM Home Building Contest sponsored by Betenbough Homes. And making its debut this year is a coloring table for the kids with themed opportunities for them to feel right at home. Encouraging fun for the whole family, we invite children ages 6-10 to sign up to compete for prizes Saturday 11 am - 12 pm and 3-4 pm, as well as Sunday from 2-3pm.

"We are thrilled to host this event, having the opportunity to feature some of Lubbock's finest home and landscaping experts," commented West Texas Home Builders Association Executive Director, Gena Godinez. "We can't wait to unveil new ideas for your home that you'll flip for! Our members and vendors have prepared year round to showcase valuable talents and products that can help you achieve the home of your dreams. We look forward to seeing you there!"

Attract Wealth and Prosperity with a Money Plant

If you'd like to attract more wealth and prosperity into your home or office, adding a money plant can be a great solution. These beautiful plants are actually quite easy to grow, requiring only an average amount of light and water. Although commonly referred to as a money plant or money tree, the botanical name of this plant is actually Pachira. You'll often find small Pachira plants for offered for sale in nurseries and through online sources. However, with care and time these plants can become quite large, often reaching a size of three feet wide and seven feet tall.

The shape of the Pachira leaves is one of the reasons why it is referred to as a "money plant" or "money tree." When placed around your home or yard, it can help balance any of the missing feng shui elements, thus creating a more harmonious environment. Since this plant is symbolic of wealth and prosperity, it is a popular addition to both homes and offices.

Although you could certainly enjoy the beauty of one of these plants anywhere in your home, strategic placement is important if you want to attract wealth and prosperity. When choosing a location, look for areas that are symbolic of money. For example, if you wanted to attract more wealth to your business, you might want to display one of these plants close to your cash register, sales department or accounting department. In your home, you could use a money plant to attract more wealth to your home business by placing it in your office. If you work in an office or cubicle, place one near your desk to symbolize the wealth-producing possibilities of your work.

Although you might not have ever heard of a Pachira plant before, they are actually an easy plant to find and grow. If you aren't able to locate one at your local plant nursery, an online search should make it easy to find stores that sell them. Pachira plants require only average soil, and should be watered the same as most house plants. They do best with an average amount of sunlight. Although these plants probably would not thrive in corners of your home that do not receive much light, they are perfectly suitable for most other areas. Because they eventually grow quite large, they work well as part of a floor plant display or as a single specimen planting.

Hotel Flower Garden

This property is 2 minutes walk from the beach. Hotel Flower Garden houses an outdoor pool, a spa and a gym. Offering free Wi-Fi access, it features chalet-style cabanas set in a tropical garden.

The property is about 3.7 miles from central Galle and an hour’s drive from Colombo.

Fitted with a private balcony and a four-poster bed, Flower Garden’s accommodation is air-conditioned, and features a flat-screen TV and an en suite bathroom with hot/cold water supply, toiletries and a hairdryer. Tea/coffee making facilities and a minibar are included.

The restaurant serves a variety of local and international delights, and specialises in seafood dishes. Room service is provided.

Guests can make travel arrangements at the tour desk, or head to the 24-hour front desk for assistance with airport shuttle, laundry and ironing services. Safety deposit boxes are also available.

New disease on apple trees

Spots and discoloration on the leaves of apple trees and premature leaf fall are caused by various pathogens. Most of these are apple scab or leaf spot diseases caused by fungi of the genus Phyllosticta . In recent years, home gardening and organic farming has more often seen a premature leaf fall in which the leaves had similar symptoms. According to investigations by the Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture, however, the causative agent in these cases was not one of the known domestic pathogens, but the fungus Marssonina coronaria.

After a summer of frequent rainfall, the first spots may form on the leaves as early as July. They later converge and larger leaf areas turn chlorotically yellow. Also striking is an early onset of leaf fall, often in the summer. The fruits remain basically free from attack, but the leaf fall leads to a reduced fruit size and quality. The shelf life of apples is limited. In addition, next year is expected to lower flowering and fruiting.

The symptoms of fungal disease vary from species to variety. The leaves of 'Golden Delicious' show distinct necrotic grains, in 'Boskoop' the leaves are yellow in color and speckled with green dots. Idared, on the other hand, shows few symptoms. Interestingly, the strain 'Topaz' is particularly vulnerable, although it is quite resistant to apple scab, for example.

The home of Marssonina coronaria is Southeast Asia. The fungus can, like the well-known apple scab, overwinter on a fall foliage and the fungal spores infect the fully developed leaves after the apple blossom. Temperatures over 20 degrees and permanently damp leaves favor the infection - therefore the infestation pressure is particularly high in rainy years. Due to the possible climate change with increasingly humid summers, a further spread is likely, especially in home gardens, organic apple orchards and orchards.


Because the mushroom (Marssonina) overwinters during fall foliage, you should carefully collect it and promote a loose crown structure through regular fruit tree trimming, so that the leaves can dry well during the growing season. Fighting in the home garden with fungicides does not make sense, since the starting point for the hobby gardener is difficult to recognize and repeated spraying would be necessary for a sufficient effect. In conventional fruit growing, the disease is usually combated by the preventive scab treatments.