Free Italian Ice at Rita's on Wednesday

In celebration of the spring equinox, Rita's is giving away free Italian ice Wednesday.

Wednesday is the first day of spring, which can only mean one thing: free Rita's. Rita's annual Italian ice giveaway in celebration of spring will be held Wednesday from noon to 9 p.m. at all open Rita's locations. According to its website, Rita's has been giving away free Italian ice to mark the first day of spring for 20 years. In 2012, Rita's gave out more than 1.2 million cups of Italian Ice in a ten hour period. Want to indulge in a free, tasty treat? Rita's in Newtown is located at 14 Swamp Road.  Click here to search for a Rita's location.

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March Growls In On Chilly Note

March's weather will not start on a lionish note in all likelihood but it appears a cold cat is probably more likely for an analogy as the calendar page changes.

As the calendar eases out of winter and toward spring, Mother Nature is making the transition more slowly than usual. A year ago at this time, we were in the midst of a stretch of three days out of six of 60 degree or warmer days. But outside of Wednesday's flirtation with the upper 50s, no such luck is in sight for the next two weeks, as the atmospheric pattern after a storm system moves through in the middle of this week is a morass of stale late winter and delayed spring. If you like warmth at this time of the year, feel free to wait a couple of weeks, as the middle of March should bring a fling of warmth our way. How long that fling lasts is still very much to be determined, but it doesn't look like the whole of March will feature the …

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The Brunette Lucy

Spring Planting Part 'Doh!'

Lucy literally mothers her plants to death.

I love unusual flowers, which was evidenced in my column a few weeks ago, "Spring Planting." But that wasn’t the rest of the story. In my best Homer Simpson voice, here’s part “doh.” As a flower freak, I love all flowers, so I buy petunias, begonias, impatiens, you name it. But I also search for unusual plants, or unusual colors. Because I live in the boonies, I usually find them online. And most often, in the form of seeds unless you want to pay a hefty shipping charge. The problem is, I haven’t had much luck growing anything from seeds. But since when has failure stopped me from trying just about anything? My first foray into sowing seeds came in the form of nasturtiums. Nasturtiums are edible flowers that have a mild peppery taste and …

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The Brunette Lucy

Spring Planting

Lucy makes a startling discovery when she plants unknown tropical flowers.

The warm days we’ve been experiencing had me reminiscing about my garden. Since we live above our business, there’s not much room for one. A lot of our land is a parking lot. So my garden is our deck, which I cover with plants in any container I can get my hands on. I’ve planted flowers in wheelbarrows, whiskey kegs, old pitchers, and whatever else I can line with plastic, fill with dirt and plop in a plant. I also like to go in search of rare or unusual flowers. Matt calls it my “spring quest.” Last year, I got my hands on a catalogue that carried nothing but tropical flora. As I turned the pages, I was mesmerized. I came across a plant I’d heard about, but had never seen in person - the plumeria (or frangipani) from Hawaii. The …

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Signs Of Spring Around Town

Today marks the first official day of spring.

  Today is the first official day of spring and there are traces of the new season all over town. Children are out and about, flowers are blooming and color is returning to the landscape. Check out our photos.

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Bucks Beautiful Garden & Home Show Begins

The 21st Annual Bucks Beautiful Home and Garden Show kicked off Friday with its preview night at Del Val College.

Bucks Beautiful is the biggest garden and home and show in Bucks County, and Doylestown Patch captured these photos at its Preview Night, with wine, hors d’oeuvres and desserts being offered by local vendors. This year's theme is "Bloomin' Ideas for Your Home and Garden." The show runs Saturday and Sunday March 17th & 18th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  at Delaware Valley College, 700 E. Butler Avenue, Doylestown, Bucks County.

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Tamara Kells

4:52 pm on Sunday, March 18, 2012

I can't believe I missed this! Beautiful pictures, Elisa!   more ›