Gardening time.

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[check] With spring firmly entrenched and green sprouting around the flower beds, it would be wonderful to just sit back and enjoy nature's bounty. No such luck, because beauty requires upkeep to stay beautiful and not revert to an uncontrolled jungle-like appearance.

Among the ingenious items to keep your garden eye-pleasing are the rough-hewn cedar accessories from the Maine Bucket Co., Lewiston, Me. Resembling old-fashioned barrels, they take many forms, depending on function. Our favorite is the four-level Garden Ladder ($119), with half barrels instead of rungs. Fill the barrels with soil and plant your choice of seeds, and you'll soon have a vertical flower display that will brighten up a front porch, corner of the backyard, or any other area where space is limited, but cries out for color. Equally useful is the Half Barrel Storage Container ($66.99) with a flat back for placing against walls, fences, etc., and a divider to form two bins, each with a hinged lid over it. Utility is the key word, whether you want to store seed, fertilizer, topsoil, or even pet food or birdseed. As these barrels are exposed to the elements, they age and weather beautifully, so within a couple of years, they'll look like they have been there forever--and they just may do so as time goes by

Tying in with the 25th anniversary of Walt Disney World, the Yancy Co., North Charleston, S.C., has come out with a line of Mickey & Co. garden accessories that will lend a whimsical touch to the yard. Statues, planters, stepping stones, sprinklers, birdbaths, and feeders are adorned with Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto, and are functional as well as decorative. Particularly endearing are a couple of items that set a tone of conviviality and...