Ahh. Spring arrives with beautiful twittering of birds preparing their nests for unborn. What - can't hear them? The low rumble of lawn mowers not only drowns out natures' symphony, but also disturbs skittish wildlife and sleepy neighbors.

According to Environmental Protection Agency, some older gas-powered lawn mowers produce in one hour as much air pollution as a new car does in 11 hours. Lawn mowers newer than 1996 have to comply to new exhaust emission standards, which is a fantastic place to begin. However, these standards are not yet satisfying for health of world.

Gasoline-powered mowers produce a cut that results in greater water loss and increased disease problems in lawns. Although many are now made with 4-stroke engines (much less polluting than 2-stroke engines), they still produce emissions.

There is a returned interest in push mowers due to environmental awareness of gas engine pollution and electricity use. Typically, crowded cities are resulting in smaller lawns, reducing need for large, heavy mowers. Push mowers are light and easy to operate and, being much smaller, take up less storage room and do not pollute. These mowers are actually quite cheap and many stores are rising to meet increased consumer interest. We have read that 7-blade models are considered better than 5-blade models.

Chocolate cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguinea) is both nose and eye candy for your garden. When it’s in full bloom, mature blossoms on long, slender stems look like candy kisses on a stick and fill late afternoon with sweet scent of vanilla tinged chocolate. New blossoms hug foliage of plant, nearly concealing it with their numbers! Add to that sweet chocolate fragrance and you end up with something very special.

Although chocolate cosmos is endangered in wild, transplants are easily found at most nurseries and garden centers in spring. However, gardeners who are inexperienced in how to grow chocolate cosmos may overlook what seem to be small, messy tangles of miniature dahlia leaves, unaware that once established, prolific blossoms nearly conceal foliage. Once in bloom, chocolate cosmos blossoms continuously throughout summer into first frosts of autumn.