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Turning Compost Bins - Part 3 - September 2026

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Over the past week or so, I've posted the first posts in my compost bin turning process.  In part one, I emptied the tumbler, removed the (mostly) finished compost from the third (finishing) bin and filled the tumbler back up .  In part two , I upgraded the finishing bin with some additional cedar boards to hold in more of that "black gold" near the bottom.   In that part two post, I outlined what was going to happen next :  The next step (which I'll cover in Part 3) is to open up the middle (mixing) bin and the left (holding bin) and pull everything out and build a mixed pile that I can load up into the finishing bin. I'll add a couple of layers of mixed material, slide in the first level of the aeration pipes. Add more material, then add the second level of pipes. Then, pile in the rest of the material to fill the finishing bin. I typically OVERFILL the the finishing bin. Mound up the material HIGHER than the rails of the bin. When the pile decomposes, i...
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Mid-September Rain - Three Inches In a Morning - September 2026

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Just when everything was starting to look a little crispy, we get absolutely SATURATED with three inches of rain that all came down in just a few hours.  What's not to love about seeing the rain gauge filled up to the [3] mark?  I'll tell you:  nothing. One of the things that I'll try to keep in mind as the cooler temperatures arrive is to keep watering.  Keep watering.  Especially those Korean Maples that went in this year.  And, the dahlias, of course.
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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Candela Dinnerplate Dahlia - Short Stems - September 2026

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Am I disappointed that I am NOT growing a Bell's Palermo dahlia ?  Yeah.  Sort of.  But, am I now (sort of) falling in love with whatever this dahlia that is growing in our front yard?  Yeah.  Sort of.  Is it Candela?  Maybe.  Does it have short stems?  Yes.  Certainly.   But, it also has this spectacular bloom:
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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Getting to Know Calamintha Nepeta ‘Montrose White’ - September 2026

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I usually will open up Erin the Impatient Gardener's "Garden Stroll" YouTube videos in one tab, move it to my second screen and let it play while I fiddle around with some other stuff in other tabs.  On a couple of recent videos in her garden, she pauses and talks about a bunch of specific plants.  Many of them, I'm familiar with and some of them I have in my own garden.   But, the past few videos, there's been a plant that she talked about (and has in her garden) that is also something that Nat has recently pointed out on one of our neighborhood walks as 'a nice plant'.   That plant is Calamintha Nepeta ‘Montrose White’. Here at the 14:44 mark in her August Garden Stroll, she talks about Montrose White and how it is starting to bloom .  Late...in August.  And, how she interplants it with Sesleria Autumnalis and Alliums.  Hmmm...I like those other two? Then, in this week's September Garden Stroll video, she once again, talks up Calamintha 'Mo...
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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Crichton Honey Ball Dahlia - A Healthy, Well-Branched Plant - September 2026

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I was supposed to have two Crichton Honey tubers in the garden this year.  I'm certain that I have one.  The one next to the pizza oven.  I labeled it as dahlia #1 in my 42 tuber planting map .  I bought two Crichton Honey tubers from Bonny Blooms.   The other one is at spot #12 along the sideyard .  But, that whole bed has been suffering the past few weeks from a terrible infestation of Spider Mites.  So, I'm not seeing ANY blooms.  And, I'm not sure that it is Crichton Honey.  At least yet. But, the pizza oven version?  Have a look: And, in addition to being real (and spectacular), they're certainly popping off right now with blooms and blooms. Apricot blooms.  Almost orange.    I think they say "pumping out blooms" in the trade.  That checks out. While my time right now is spent with my little snips cutting off flowers for arrangements....I am hoping that all this above-ground plant happiness that I'm seeing means...
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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Small Dahlia Arrangement in Jelly Jar - September 2026

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The Babe was going to a team dinner at the home of one of her teammates and wanted to bring a little dahlia arrangement to give to the host.  This one is small, but packs some punch.  Includes Ivanetti, Rip City 1 , Saint Martin waterlily dahlias and the star of the show:  Crichton Honey.  It also has a group of small Burlesca Pompon Dahlias - which I'm growing more fond of as the season wanes on.   I also clipped a few springs of Silver Dollar eucalytpus.  And, a spray of Lucky Charm anemone for some height.   I'm continuing to believe that I like Ball dahlias as my favorite variety, but these little pompons are growing on me.  The mix here of Waterlily, Ball and Pompon along with a semi-cactus provide some nice textural contrast.   1. I'm calling this Rip City here, but it isn't Rip City . ↩
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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Seeing The Biggest Scoreboard in College Football - Memorial Stadium - Fighting Illini Football - September 2026

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Over the weekend, we went down to see our Fighting Illini take on the Duke Blue Devils from the Atlantic Coast Conference at Gies Memorial Stadium.  Despite the terrible outcome (feels like one of the worst losses in the Bret Bielema era, doesn't it?), this was the first time we were able to see - in person - the largest scoreboard in college sports.   That's how the University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics and scoreboard company Daktronics bill it .   Heading into the game, we knew it was going to be BIG.  But...seeing it in person really *is* something.  It is...genuinely YUGE.  And, the team is doing some neat stuff with it in terms of engaging the fans.  I presumed it was going to be used for ALL ADS.  ALL THE TIME.  But, it really wasn't.  They also added some new boards around the stadium - above the students, along the West side.  And, under the overhang of the east side.  We sit on the east...
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Location: 1402 S 1st St, Champaign, IL 61820, USA
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