Dear Heloise: I just changed the flowers in my family’s headstone vases for the winter. I noticed in multiple cemeteries that so many vases have just a few sprigs of flowers haphazardly leaning out of the vases. Please remind readers that inexpensive outdoor floral foam, which can be easily cut, will anchor flowers in headstone vases.

The flowers will more likely survive during high winds, and cemetery workers will not need to clean up lost flowers. The flowers are easier to arrange, too. — Lorraine H., Greenville, Ohio

COFFEE GROUNDS

Dear Heloise: I dropped my coffee container and spilled grounds all over the floor. Is there something useful I can do with the grounds that spilled? — Phyllis, A Faithful Reader, via email

Phyllis, you can place them in your garden. Acid-loving plants will be enhanced with coffee grounds in their soil. However, it’s best to mix the coffee grounds with some organic material such as soil or compost material. The coffee grounds release nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and small amounts of boron, calcium, copper and iron.

If you have azaleas, blueberries, camellias, hydrangeas, rhododendrons or roses, you’ll help them flourish with coffee grounds. — Heloise

WATERING THE TREE

Dear Heloise: I never had any trouble with water running out in our real Christmas tree. Several cats that we had at the time liked to drink the water so I made sure the container was filled.

I put some decorated cookies near the bottom of the tree because I didn’t want the cats climbing up onto the tree and tipping it over. They licked the frosting off the cookies but did not eat them. Birds got the cookies when I tossed the tree out. — Carolyn M., Canaan, Connecticut

Carolyn, I like your ideas, especially the one about placing cookies under the tree. And in the cold of winter, it’s hard for birds to find food. These are great hints for the next Christmas season. — Heloise

STABLIZING CANDLES

Dear Heloise: Many fresh vegetables come in a bunch with a quarter-inch rubber band wrapped around them (asparagus, for example). I have found that those rubber bands, when cut to the appropriate length and wound around the base of a candle, are wonderful as stabilizers when the candle base is smaller than the holder I wish to use. — Nancy T., Colorado Springs, Colorado

SUNFLOWER SEEDS

Dear Heloise: I just read your warning about not giving squirrels sunflower seeds. I feed birds, and the bird mix contains sunflower seeds. I can’t keep squirrels out of my feeders. Almost every one of my birds love sunflower seeds, so I put more into the mix.

From my experience, sunflower seeds don’t hurt squirrels but will definitely make pests of them as they destroy the bird feeders to get to the seed. — Robert B., Bethalto, Illinois

Robert, I think that one of the problems with sunflower seeds happens to be the high fat content of the seeds. Squirrels love to sneak into my bird feeder and have a snack, and in the winter, I always have food that’s good for them and will put a little weight on them.

I stay away from salty or sugary items, but I put out sunflower seeds because it has a high fat content. — Heloise

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Hints from Heloise run occasionally in Lifestyles. Readers may send a hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000, fax it to 210-HELOISE, or email: Heloise@Heloise.com. Letters won’t be answered personally.