Variety

Inside Westminster Abbey, eight 20-foot-tall live trees lined the center aisle during the wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William. The trees transformed the space, doing what even the most elaborate floral arrangement could not — providing a natural, living sense of permanence and an air of drama. The move was unexpected, unpretentious and bold. A potted tree on your patio or deck can have the same effect. While not every tree is well-suited for a container, there are a surprising number of options, ranging from crape myrtles to hollies.

Niko Amato tried his best to downplay the importance of No. 6 Maryland's 8-7 decision against No. 14 Yale at Byrd Stadium in College Park on Saturday. But even the redshirt junior goalkeeper acknowledged that the Terps may have been fortunate to emerge with the victory. “It's just another steppingstone for us,” he began. “Yale's a Top 10 team and a really good opponent, and we haven't really seen much of them before this year. I thought we could've played better and to come out with a win is always good when you didn't play your best game.” Maryland should have plenty of material to review this week as the team prepares to meet No. 19 Virginia in one semifinal of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton recently received a gag gift of protective headgear after she suffered a concussion and blood clot near her brain after a fall. While Clinton can now make light of the injuries, a blood clot can be a serious health risk that can lead to death. Dr. James L. Frazier, III, a neurosurgeon at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, talks about the dangers. What causes a blood clot to form in the brain? A blood clot or thrombus can form in the arteries that supply blood to the brain.

Whoever the wag was that said golf is “a good walk spoiled” no doubt had a 20-plus handicap. Yes, the idea of chasing a ball around a series of fields with a stick to knock it into a hole hundreds of yards away is preposterous. How can that possibly be easy, or fun? But that stick is a custom-fitted weapon of forged steel with tight grooves for scientifically-designed loft and lift; a rubber grip endorsed by the best golfers on the planet; and, sometimes, a very serious price tag. The ball in question is a dual-dimpled wad of high-tech material encased in a thin urethane cover and designed to scream off the tee with a satisfying snick, and continue its flight until it is out of sight.

Question: Do I need to order both male and female blueberry plants? Someone told me you can’t have just one. Answer: Blueberry plants are self-fertile (each flower has the necessary male and female parts), however you still should buy more than one variety. That's because a blueberry plant produces more berries and bigger berries when it cross pollinates with a different blueberry variety. See HGIC's publication, "Getting Started with Small Fruit." Its chart lists blueberry varieties that flourish in Maryland and it includes bloom and ripening times.

Q: When buying fresh oregano I often find the leaves vary in size as if there are different strains of the herb.Also some of the fresh oregano has a flavor that's almost bitter. How do I know what to look for to get sweet, fresh oregano?A: There are actually seven common varieties of fresh oregano that have different appearances and varying flavor characteristics. Cretan oregano has a spicy and somewhat bitter flavor with gray-green woolly foliage. You seem to have found that this variety isn't your favorite.

Baltimore's Variety 104.3 has been granted FCC approval to change its call letters to reflect the format change it made 11 months ago.Thus WBSB-FM this week became WVRT-FM, the better to emphasize its "variety" identity tag. And on-air announcements have also begun calling the sound "continuous soft rock," says promotions manager John Pavlos, "to better describe what we mean by the name 'variety.' "However, he said the station's music remains essentially the same as when the station switched last February from its longtime top 40 sound (as B-104)

Pity the pear. Somehow it has never achieved the popularity in the United States of that other fall fruit, the apple. Maryland agriculture officials know how many acres of apples are grown in the state, but they don't keep track of the pear crop. The orchards that do grow pears have them in quantities far smaller than apples. Yet this fruit that Homer called the "gift of the gods" brings subtle, fresh flavors to a variety of fall dishes. Poached and drizzled with raspberry coulis, pears make a sensuous and elegant dessert.

If you are looking for young male demographics, why not do your casting for prime-time headliners in beer commercials? That's the core audience for those multimillion-dollar 30-second celebrations of sex, suds and hyper-masculinity, isn't it? That has to be part of what Fox was thinking when it came up with the concept for Cedric the Entertainer Presents, a new variety show starring Cedric the Entertainer, the heavyset guy in the Bud Light ads who works so hard to get his lady in a romantic mood and then hands her a bottle of beer that explodes in her face.

"The Kennedy Center Honors" is one of the nation's great TV treasures. And while this year's show is a little uneven, the high points still make it one of my favorite TV viewing experiences of the year. Maybe you have to be a little older to appreciate this annual production on some levels. If you grew up with TV in the 1950s and '60s, the golden age of variety shows hosted by such stars as Judy Garland and Danny Kaye, you can appreciate "Kennedy Center Honors" as the last, great variety show on television.

I want to start a compost pile, but I'm worried that kitchen scraps will attract animals from the woods nearby. Any thoughts? Usually kitchen scraps are a small portion of a pile's ingredients. Most kitchen scraps are small pieces, damaged or bruised. They begin decomposing while still in the pail. Kitchen compost pails made with lids that have a filter are very effective is eliminating odor. By the time you dump the pail, scraps are usually beyond being palatable to animals. Throw other organic matter on top. You can also bury the scraps in garden soil.

Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) - CASA/Prince George's County offers the opportunity to help abused or abandoned children in the community. An information session for volunteers will be held Wednesday, March 6, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., at Local 400 Union Hall, 4301 Garden City Drive, in Landover. CASA recruits and trains volunteers ages 21 and over to advocate for the needs of children living in foster care. Volunteers spend about 12 hours per month visiting with a child and collaborate with other adults who are protecting the child to ensure his or her needs are met and a safe permanent home is found.

On a sunny Saturday afternoon, Kate Williams stood behind the sushi bar at Pabu in Harbor East's Four Seasons Hotel, concentrating as she carefully wrapped a bamboo mat around rice-strewn seaweed. Chef Jonah Kim, the executive chef at Pabu, stood next to Williams, offering her guidance and casually chatting with a dozen would-be sushi chefs sitting on the other side of the sushi bar. When finished, Williams lifted her creation in the air with a smile. Pabu's Sushi 101 class - a combination of lecture, hands-on experimentation and afternoon snack - is one of several that has recently popped up around the Baltimore area.

"The Kennedy Center Honors" is one of the nation's great TV treasures. And while this year's show is a little uneven, the high points still make it one of my favorite TV viewing experiences of the year. Maybe you have to be a little older to appreciate this annual production on some levels. If you grew up with TV in the 1950s and '60s, the golden age of variety shows hosted by such stars as Judy Garland and Danny Kaye, you can appreciate "Kennedy Center Honors" as the last, great variety show on television.

The $113.5 million that Exelon Corp. agreed to make available for innovative projects — a condition of regulatory approval for its purchase of Constellation Energy in Baltimore — was awarded Thursday to groups planning to help low-income customers, small businesses and others lower their energy bills. Exelon's Maryland regulator, the Public Service Commission, decided how to distribute the money after receiving 98 proposals. Baltimore will receive the largest single piece of the fund — nearly $53 million will go to the city government for projects to permanently lower energy bills through energy efficiency work such as weatherization, upgrades and lower-usage education.

For most Canton residents, the unassuming Hudson Street Stackhouse is the ultimate neighborhood bar for beer-loving hockey fans: It proudly supports the Washington Capitals. But the Stackhouse also makes an ideal place to watch a Ravens game. First and foremost, the Stackhouse - located near Safeway and sandwiched between rowhouses - is instantly comfortable. With its concrete floor, exposed brick walls and tin ceiling, the Stackhouse eschews a cheesy theme or flashy design, instead favoring a laid-back atmosphere that feels inviting and low-pressure.

Volunteers are needed for a variety of positions at several locations. Call 410-721-4304 or go to cancer.org for more information.

The L.A. Film Critics Association and the National Society of Film Critics have weighed in on behalf of Daily Variety film critic Joseph McBride in a spat with Paramount Pictures and Variety editor Peter Bart.In a review of the Paramount thriller "Patriot Games," starring Harrison Ford, Mr. McBride chided the movie for trivializing the political situation in Ireland. Paramount protested and pulled all its advertising from Variety. Mr. Bart later wrote an apologetic letter to Paramount, suggesting that Mr. McBride's Irish background had affected his review.

One bite of a cool, crisp and bittersweet apple, and it's apparent why it is so intertwined with autumn. No fruit has had a more schizophrenic symbolic history - from the tantalizing tempter of Eve to the sign of appreciation for favorite teachers (and many meanings in between). At area farmers' markets, you will find the forbidden fruit in more varieties than you could have ever hoped to find at a supermarket. With some orchards selling dozens of varieties, it can get daunting trying to choose.

Paul Newman thought it should be eaten with a spoon. Baltimore restaurant owner Sascha Wolhandler calls it "a fabulous amalgam of flavor in every bite. " It's the chopped salad, and it's having a field day in Baltimore. A chopped salad featured on the summer restaurant week menu at Heavy Seas Alehouse proved so popular that it's been put on the permanent dinner menu. Sergio Vitale, co-owner of Chazz: A Bronx Original, is considering making the lunch menu's steakhouse salad a dinner item, too. "It's definitely the No. 1 most popular lunch item and people ask for at dinner, too," Vitale said about the salad, which he says is an homage to a version served at Ruth's Chris Steak House.