Why I Oughta...

If you head to Menards these days, you'll see some Halloween stuff up (inflatables, their Spooky Village buildings and the other Halloween house decor), but you'll also see a big section of the Menards Enchanted Forest Christmas set-up out and ready to be shopped. Before I get into the post, let me credential-ize myself.   I've covered Menards Christmas setup (Enchanted Forest) and when it shows up over the years.  Via, what people call "Christmas Creep" - when a store sets up Christmas early.  Here is my post from 2025 when it was up in September . Here is early October 2015 , when the Menards Christmas Enchanted Forest (and blowmolds) were up. Here is September 2016 , when the Menards Christmas Enchanted Forest was up. Here is September 2017 , when the Menards Christmas Enchanted Forest was up. Here is October 1, 2019 , when the Menards Christmas Enchanted Forest was up. I've also p osted about the various Christmas Village buildings that Menards sells, incl...

One of the new (to me) dahlias that I grew this year was Great Silence Decorative Dahlia.  I grew them from tubers that I bought from Longfield Gardens.  After starting them indoors in nursery pots, I planted them out in two different spots :  IB2DWs (down closer to the sidewalk) and in the back of the Island Bed in the front yard.   Those locations seem to have determined the success of the plants.  With the Great Silence in the Island Bed doing much better, being more productive and all-around happier.  But, before I show the photos of the plants, let's look at the blooms.   Here, below, is a photo of a Great Silence Decorative Dahlia (on the left) next to my first dahlia love:  Milena Fleur (on the right).   They're similar.  But, different. Great Silence Decorative Dahlia on the left.  Milena Fleur Formal Decorative Dahlia on the right. Great Silence has a loose-r, less-focused center and more broadly-exposed pet...

#13 on my 2026 to-do list was to do something that I used to do regularly:  plant some Fall bulbs. Here's how I described it when I drafted my list : 13. Plant fall bulbs. For my first few gardening seasons, I was pretty good about planting fall bulbs. Alliums and tulips, mostly. But, I got away from it. Get back to it this Fall. And…Try a bulb lawn in front. Yes…a bulb lawn. Or, at least a patch of bulb lawn as an experiment. When I posted my mid-Summer check-in on my list , I marked this   Incomplete. Since then, I planted 95 crocus corms .  And 14 dwarf daffodil bulbs .  And six bulbs of (gifted) hardneck garlic .   One of the plants that I took note of this season and told myself (self...you should plant more of these) were the Sicilian Honey Garlic (alliums) that I have in a few places in the backyard.  It looks like I planted 15 of these bulbs in 2021 .  And, mostly forgot about them.  Here it is in bloom  in 2023.  I found a...

Below are photos of two arrangements that I made this week after snipping off some dahlia blooms from around the garden beds.  These two mark the 20th and 21st cut flower arrangement of the growing season (that I've documented 1 ).   These feature Ivanetti, Milena Fleur, Messenger To the Moon, Wizard of Oz, Blue Wish, that unknown orange ball one, a couple (Not) Rip City and....(of course) Saint Martin Waterlily dahlias: The one on the left is in a blue glass Ball mason jar.  On the right is in a thrifted vase. The first one of the season was all the way back in July .  (Not) Rip City, Blue Wish, Saint Martin, that bubblegum cactus/semi-cactus one.  The most recent one was from last week that featured Crichton Honey, Brown Sugar, Milena Fleur and...Saint Martin.   You can see the other 20 from this year here at my [ Dahlia arrangement ] tag.   Going "big" with dahlias in 2026 was one of my priorities .  Seems like 20+ arrangements h...

The Disneyland Roses (Floribunda roses) always take a back seat to the dahlias later in the growing season.  The roses come out of the gate strong, but they end of being sort-of forgotten starting in August and everything after.  But, that doesn't mean they don't stop producing blooms.  Here are a couple of photos showing what is probably the last flush of blooms on the thorny stems.   These blooms continue to be really enchanting.  Almost peony-like at times.  They look best when they're a little bit more OPEN like this one below: I fed these throughout the season with a 3-1 systemic granular.  The last time I fed them was in early September.   They'll go to sleep in the next few weeks.   Here, below, is another one that is just opening.  The colors in the Fall are bright.   And, here below, is one that is fully-open.  The yellow center is showing.  This will hold its petals for another week, then drop them...

Two days ago, I described the Saint Martin Waterlily Dahlia plants as my most productive dahlias of the season .  Today, I'm showing an update on my LEAST productive dahlia:  Cafe au Lait.   I didn't intend to grow Cafe au Lait this year.  Some of the tubers that I ordered from Longfield Gardens weren't viable, so they send a pair of Cafe au Lait tubers as a replacement.   They arrived three weeks after every other dahlia tuber was started (and had produced new growth), so these started behind from the beginning. I planted two.  One in the Pizza Oven West bed.  And one in the sideyard.  The Pizza Oven West dahlia died.  Suddenly.  One of those things. The one in the sideyard started slow.  And, kept growing slowly.  All Summer.   I was knee-high in August.   Now, a the beginning of October, it still hasn't bloomed.  But, it has put on a bunch of foliage in the past few weeks.   Cafe...