Why I Oughta...

One of the highlights of my gardening calendar is the annual Morton Arboretum Arbor Day Plant Sale that takes place at the end of every April.   I've attended each year for a number of years since 2020 and am planning on trying to get tickets again this Spring.  Last year, I posted this "Plant Sale Highlights" post that featured a number of plants/shrubs/trees that I didn't buy, but caught my eye .  As I begin to think about the 2026 gardening season, I came across that post and wanted to revisit a few of the plants that I saw and do a bit of an exploration as to whether they could fit this year.   The first one is Soft Serve Gold Chamaecyparis False Cypress.  The sign from the sale is below showing a $24.99 cost per evergreen shrub.   Proven Winners has this product page up with a description: Soft Serve® false cypress has long been one of our most popular evergreens, thanks to its neat, appealing shape and deer resistance - and now, i...

It may be February on the calendar, but it is still Amaryllis season in our kitchen.  The Flamed Amadeus Amaryllis is back in bloom in late February with two big blooms standing tall and proud.  You can see it below.  The last time I posted was in early February when the second stem was emerging from the bulb. It bloomed in early January after being planted in early November.   This is a nice treat for late February, but it makes me think about Christmas bloom-time.  I've often bought these with the idea of "Christmas Flowers", but increasingly these past years, they're mostly blooming *AFTER* Christmas each year.  That means...the dark reds are probably not worth focusing-on.  Instead...picking things like the Shine Dream that add a tropical feeling to the blooms is a better path.

I ran a test bar pie in the June Oven over the weekend.  I greased the BOTTOM of the pan (something I've begun to do) and the results were great.  500 degrees for 9 minutes.  A crispy, blistery-y bottom.  See below for a peek at the undercarriage of this 12" pan-baked bar pizza (aka Roller Rink pizza).   The 12" pan fit perfectly in the June Oven.  So, that's great news.   The one issue with greasing the bottom is that it leads to shrinkage.  I've been using a bead of Crisco around the bottom of the pan walls as a sort-of 'paste' to keep the dough pinned against the edges.  When I don't grease the bottom, the pizza doesn't shrink at all.  But, when I grease the bottom, the whole thing comes free from the walls and shrinks down a bit in all directions.  

Yesterday, I posted a photo showing some of the whips from one of our hydrangeas that I clipped-off and tossed on top of my compost bins.  I mentioned it was far too early to begin Spring clean-up in the yard, but I went ahead with the hydrangea cutting anyway.  It didn't take but a day for me to get back there and chop up the hydrangea stems into little segments (and the pannicle heads lop'd off) so they can begin the decomposition process.   Below is a photo showing the late-winter status of the three-bin compost setup.  The hydrangeas are now (mostly) in the left (storage) bin with some stems hanging around on the top of the middle (mixing) bin.   I last looked at these bins in early January and there's been VERY.LITTLE decomposition going on with the cold temperatures.  

Its too early.  Its too early.  Its too early.  For 'Spring cleanup'.  I know that.  You know that.  Everyone knows that.  Doesn't mean that the recent run of warmer weather didn't give me the itch to get out and do something.  I started by pruning a couple of trees.  Then, I started to get bothered by the dried out mopheads of the Vanilla Strawberry Panicle Hydrangea that is on the corner of our garage.  It needed to be cleaned up.   Here, below, is the result.  Tons of long whips with dried flower heads.  Currently stashed on the top of the middle compost bin.  Why there?  Because, I need to clip them down to little pieces and toss them into the left bin so they'll decompose a little bit better/faster/easier. Will this be the only thing I do before it is 'due'?  Not likely.  

Last year, I planted a pair of Pink Beauty Viburnum shrubs in the backyard.  One on each side of the garden, in the rear of the beds, pretty close to the fence line.  The first one went in on the northside behind the Dawn Redwood .  The second one went in on the southside closer to the wine barrel water feature.   They seemed to do fine in their first year and even showed some berries come late Summer .  This being their first Winter, I'm observing how it is overwintering for the first time.  And, I've come to realize that I 'missed' on protecting these from rabbits this Winter.  I forgot the lesson I learned with my Chicago Lustre Arrowwood Viburnum their first season:  These need rabbit cages until they get to a certain height and size that rabbits (dang rabbits!) can't affect them too much.   These didn't have cages, and in the photo below, you can see the rabbit pressure: gnawed-off lower limbs.  The good news, it appears...