DO IT NOW
If you have bulbs starting to come up through the mulch, you can pull the mulch back a bit to allow them to grow up and green up. Don't completely remove the mulch, however. If the temperatures take a dive, you can quickly and easily protect your plants by putting the mulch back in place.
NEXT WEEK
Baseball season's just underway, but a few super fans live their favorite sport year-round, creating shrines in their homes to celebrate the home team.
HOT TICKET
Get your sales shoes on:
• The Blu Dot Annual Warehouse Sale is set for 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at 3236 NE. California St.; the modernist Minneapolis retailer is putting hundreds of its items on discounts of up to 70 percent. Among the deals: "Mosaic" stacking bookcases for $10, a "Modu-licious Hi Fi" in maple for $299 and the "Chicago Roller" side table in cherry veneer for $99.
• Material hounds can scrounge for finds from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the World's Largest Textile Garage Sale. A $1 admission gives you access to tables towering with all things sewing and crafting, as well as vintgage textiles, looms, sewing machines and used books. After 3 p.m., the sale charges $1 for anything you can stuff into a shopping bag; a preview Friday evening costs $25 and benefits the Minneapolis Textile Center's programs. 3000 University Av. SE.; see details at www.textilecentermn.org.
store news
Plan ahead for Earth Day next Wednesday. To celebrate, Casa Verde Design plans demonstrations on green design and materials, as well as a spring tasting and cooking demos using local, organic and sustainable sources. The kitchen and bath showroom, at 911 W. 50th St. in Minneapolis, is requesting reservations to the free event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; call 612-353-4401 to RSVP.
WEB WATCH
Still despondent over the demise of Domino? You're not the only one. St. Paul resident Kate Mulinix founded this site for commiserating about the dearly departed mag. What she misses? "It was great at sourcing! It was this great combination of really great design mixed with real life," Mulinix said. "You don't get that look at Architectural Digest." The "just barely a 30-something" desktop publisher is not new to the blogosphere; she has worked for the Unplugged section of Apartment Therapy. She said she hopes at some point to branch the Domino love-fest -- getting about 550 visitors daily -- into a broader, advertising-based blog.
