In late summer or early fall the large, yellow seed heads of sunflowers will be ripening. If gardeners can keep off the birds and other wildlife trying to eat the seeds, they can have a large harvest. The bright yellow blooms will make a rainbow garden, brightening up any space.

However, planting the sunflower seeds is a skilled job. Plant seeds no deeper than the full length of itself. Smaller sized sunflowers can be spaced a foot apart. Larger varieties will need to be spaced as far apart as three feet. This allows ripe plants enough space for the seed heads to ripen without knocking the ripe seeds off before gardeners have a chance to harvest them.

Most sunflower seeds, especially those with eatable seeds, are large enough to handle without the need for seed sorters. This is why sunflowers make an excellent choice for a children's garden as well. Gardeners will want to mix plenty of soil fertilizers into the ground as sunflowers tend to be heavy feeders.

Sunflowers can be slow starters and the tiny new plants don't seem to grow very rapidly. Gardeners should protect the new plants as they begin to grow. Once they get going, sunflowers are able to out-grow many weeds, making them easier to grow in the home vegetable garden than many other plants.

Most pests and diseases are not a bother to the sunflower, however, more than one gardener has said that their lovely looking plants were destroyed overnight by hungry squirrels, mice or birds. To preserve their harvest, gardeners can cover the ripening seed head with stockings or net cloth to help keep the destroyers off the seeds.

Planting sunflower seeds is easy and can help even the smallest gardener feel successful in their gardening attempts.

It’s school time again! You’re probably feeling excited and maybe a little sad that the summer vacation is over. Some kids feel nervous or a little scared on the first day of school because of all the new things: new teachers, new friends, and even a new school. 【小题1】 Let’s find out more about going to a new school.

Most teachers begin the new school year by introducing themselves and talking about all the things you’ll be doing that year. 【小题2】 When teachers do the talking on the first day, they often go over classroom rules and school rules so you’ll know what’s allowed and what’s not. Please pay close attention.

【小题3】 However, it’s a great day to make a new friend, so try to say hello to students you know and new ones that you don’t. Make the first move and you’ll be glad about what you did, and so will your new friends!

【小题4】 You can make the day feel special by wearing clothes that you really like. Maybe you got a great T-shirt in one of your vacations, or a pair of shoes. It also can make you feel good to be prepared and have all the things you need, such as pencils, folders, and whatever else you’ll be needing. 【小题5】

The history of vacuum cleaners(真空吸尘器) in the UK dates back to the early 1900s.Hubert Cecil Booth started the first vacuum cleaner company in the UK, known as the British Vacuum Cleaner Company. It wasn’t long, however, before William Henry Hoover, who had already experienced success with his vacuum cleaners in America, made headway in the vacuum cleaner market in the UK and became more successful than Booth.

Hoover’s vacuum cleaners in the UK became such a success that ‘to hoover’ quickly became equal to vacuuming. Some of the earliest domestic vacuum cleaners in the UK used simple reusable cloth bag designs whereby the vacuum cleaner simply collected dust in the bag. Once the bag was full, you could empty and re-attach it to the vacuum cleaner.

For decades after their introduction, vacuum cleaners in the UK were a luxury item that only the upper class could afford. After World War II，however, they became common among the middle class.

This was especially true for vacuum cleaners in the UK, because the popularity of carpets means sweeping is not an easy or effective means of carpet cleaning.

In 1952, Hoover made the Constellation available to the public for the first time. Hoover designed it so that people could place the vacuum cleaner in the centre of the room and then work around it. After about 20 years of selling these vacuum cleaners in the UK, Hoover stopped the Constellation in 1975.

Advances to upright and cylinder(气缸) vacuum cleaners in the UK continued, enabling vacuum cleaners to become more efficient and effective. The 1990s saw the introduction of the first bagless domestic vacuum cleaners in the UK. Despite many industry fears consumers would not be prepared to pay the high price, bagless vacuum cleaners became a big success in the UK.

As for the future, vacuum cleaners in the UK are expected to become even more energy-efficient.