Some practical and fanciful ideas

Worn-out car tires make good containers for growing vegetables or annual flowers. Stack them up, fill with a soil mix or compost, and plant your favorite vegetable or annual. For best results place in a sunny spot, suggests Dr. Edwin D. Carpenter of the University of Connecticut's Cooperative Extension Service.

Now gardeners can enjoy growing handsome double-flowered sunflowers in the flower garden. The dwarf double-flowered varieties grow no taller than cleone, cosmos, or giant zinnias -- and can be used in the same way.

It's easy to candy rose petals for use as edible decorations on cakes or cookies. Choose very fragrant, colorful petals that have not been treated with chemicals. Wash them briefly under tepid spray, and air dry. Then dip them in egg white beaten stiff, and coat in super-fine, granulated, white sugar.