We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn More ›
Do you find yourself visiting the Home Depot garden center time and time again? Is there always a new and exciting plant or flower that catches your eye? Well, it’s not your imagination or your mind playing tricks on you. The Home Depot doesn’t just want its garden center customers to come back—it has a plan to get them back year after year, if not more frequently. We tell you more about the secret reason you can’t stop shopping the Home Depot’s garden section in today’s news digest. Also in today’s edition: homebuilders prepare for a rough year ahead; a cicada brood prepares to emerge; and scientists discover why bed bugs are getting harder and harder to kill.
Bigger, Better, and More Beautiful Blooms Beckon Buyers to The Home Depot
If you’ve shopped at The Home Depot’s garden center recently, you’ve maybe noticed the inventory of plants and flowers with many promises: maybe they’re more drought-resistant; some thrive in difficult light conditions better than other varieties of the same plant; maybe some flowers come in uncommon or rare colors that you can buy—that’s right—right there at The Home Depot. This collection of bigger, better, and more beautiful varieties of your favorite plants and flowers is there by design, and is part of The Home Depot’s tactic to get the average homeowner—perhaps someone with more of a brown thumb than a green thumb—to not just spend money at the garden center, but to come back time and time again. But how does the home improvement retail giant find these one-of-a-kind blooms? According to the Wall Street Journal, The Home Depot runs trials in the spring, during which it monitors about 400 genetic enhancements for key criteria: disease resistance, drought tolerance, and “flower power” (in other words, color vibrancy and bloom size). Of the 400, 40 to 50 plants are selected for a showcase; ultimately, a handful are selected for sale for the season. So all those plants that promise to be more resilient, more colorful, and easier to care for? They’re there by design.
Homebuilders Warn of a Rough Year Ahead; A Cicada Brood Prepares to Emerge; Scientists Discover Why Bed Bugs Are Hard to Kill
The real estate market isn’t doing too well, with economic uncertainty forcing potential home buyers to stay put; and now, that uncertainty is extending to home builders. While sales of new homes rose from February to March, homebuilders and contractors are seeing the writing on the wall: material costs have been rising, supply chain disruptions have been more frequent, and builders cannot plan projects based on current estimated costs knowing that those can rise after committing to a project. And as steep prices and mortgage rates continue to spook buyers, home builders are warning that this year may be a slow and costly one.
Cicada Brood XIV is set to emerge in 13 states on the east coast. Brood XIV is one of the biggest broods, and hasn’t been seen (or heard) since 2008. The bugs are expected to appear in parts of Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia in early May. Don’t worry—these bugs don’t bite and are actually good for the garden.
Scientists have discovered a genetic mutation that makes bed bugs that much harder to kill. And yes—this is the worst possible news when it comes down to getting rid of them. Entomologists from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University analyzed the genes of bed bugs and found that they had a resistance to dieldrin. Dieldrin is an insecticide developed in the 1940s as an alternative to DDT, which was banned due to its negative effects on human health and the environment. Dieldrin has a very similar chemical composition to fipronil, the insecticide we currently use against fleas and roaches. Though we don’t use this chemical against bed bugs, it has been proven effective in reducing and eliminating bed bugs. What does this mean for the war against the tiny critters? For now, not much—but scientists’ next step is uncovering when this mutation took place, so we can stay ahead of the next possible gene mutation that makes them nearly impossible to kill.
Deals Worth Your Dime
Now’s a great time to restock essentials, especially after all that spring cleaning: get this pack of washing machine cleaner tablets for 42 percent off; airtight food containers, also for 42 percent off; Clorox disinfecting wipes for 23 percent off; and Swiffer mopping cloths for nearly half off.
Recommended Reads
- Dandelions in the yard? Here’s how to get rid of them. (Want to know how to get rid of all weeds once and for all? Check out our webinar, where we give you the tips and tricks you need to banish weeds from your lawn.)
- How your kitchen remodel can satisfy your needs and have a high ROI.
- It’s probably been a while since you last needed to buy a water heater. Here’s what has changed since then.
