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Dahlia Tuber Order for 2025 - December 2024

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2024 was the year of the dahlia around here.  I went A LOT further with dahlia tubers in 2024 than I've done in the past - including pre-ordering them, starting the tubers indoors, planting them in the ground, trying to prune them/cut the flowers at the right time/place and....most recently....attempting to overwinter some of the tubers - both in Saran Wrap as well as in the ground. Since the pre-ordering thing went so well this past season, I figured while Longfield Gardens was having a sale on their Dahlia tubers, why not order a bunch to arrive in Spring. Last year, I ordered Melina Fleur and Cornell Bronze .   This year, I ordered three varieties:  Maarn Ball Dahlias Sweet Nathalie Decorative Dalias Pablo Decorative Border Dahlias. Below is a screenshot from my order: They arrive in April, but I'm already thinking about where to grow these Dahlias.  The Pablo tubers were a 'bulk order', so I will have a good-sized colony of these (if they're successful...eek...
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Another Winter Evergreen Mixed Arrangement - December 2024

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'Tis the season for winter, evergreen mixed arrangements around here.  I've made a couple of 'big' ones that ended up at each of our folks houses and some that ended up at neighbor's houses.  A few day ago, I posted a pair that went to my sister's houses .  And, back close to Thanksgiving, I posted a photo of the first one that I put together for our own kitchen counter .   A couple weeks later, that initial one needed a refresh, so I pulled it apart.  And, Nat found this little vintage planter with a wreath on the front that I filled with some floral foam and stuck various evergreen branches to make this arrangement you see below: This has Thuja, pine, fir, boxwood, Alder and painted Birch branches.  
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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Green Giant Thujas - Winter Interest - December 2024

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I planted some Green Giant Thujas back in the Spring of 2022 and....now...coming up on three years later...they are starting to have 'presence' in the garden.   Perhaps it is because everything else is in dormancy.  Or...more likely...because these have put on size - height and width.   See below for the three along the southside of the property.    I'm now thinking of putting a few more of these in the backyard - come Spring 2025.  Screening trees along the back sides of the garden - including adding even more along this same fenceline.
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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Top Branching Growth - Espalier Trees - Greenspire Lindens - December 2024

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Each late Winter, I prune up the pair of Greenspire Lindens that are formal in shape via espalier.  They need a bunch of pruning along the top level of the horizontal cordon.  There are waterspouts EVERYWHERE.  And, this year is no different.  With these trees recently dropping their leaves, the structure has been exposed and I can see all the top-growth from that top level.  See below for the pair of trees: Come February, I'll dormant prune ALL of those off and bring it back into shape.  
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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Oakleaf Hydrangeas Holding Leaves Into Mid-December - December 2024

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The Alice Oakleaf Hydrangeas on the southside of our backyard in the 'kitchen curved bed' are holding on to their greenish/purple-ish leaves this late into the year.  Below in the photo you can see a number of them lined up along the back/middle-back of the border that are droop'ing, but...holding their large leaves: Also note...the leaf litter in the photo all across the beds.  I've cleaned these out a handful of times, each time trying to cut up the leaves with my mower and blowing the scraps back onto the beds.  
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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Back Stoop Spring Grove Ginkgo Trees - Winter Structure - December 2024

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Once I posted the structure of the front-yard Spring Grove Ginkgo tree , I figured I should include the back stoop versions (there is one on each side) in the [garden diary], too.   Both of these have a one-year head start, but are showing a bunch more height than the front-yard tree.
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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Two More Winter Arrangements - December 2024

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I put together a pair of evergreen arrangements for my Sisters that include a bunch of foraged materials - including Thuja, Spruce, Boxwood and Yew clippings as well as a little bit of euclalptus and some branches from both Magnolia and Alder trees.  The vases are, of course, thrifted.
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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