Why I Oughta...

Just about every morning...if I wanted to...I could go out and cut an armful of dahlia blooms and bring them into put in a jar on the counter.  Here, below, is a look at what I sniped off the dahlia plants around the garden on a recent morning.  Includes (of course) Saint Martin waterlily dahlias, a Tsuki Yori No Shisha (Semi-Cactus) Dahlia white blooms (which...I'll have you know are "fimbriated" dahlias ), Ivanetti balls, Milena Fleur (formal) decorative, a few (what I think are) Mirella ball dahlias , Blue Wish dahlias, Great Silence (decorative) and the standout:  a single Peaches-n-cream dahlia bloom.  Here are a few photos of the flowers as cut off the stems: And, here, below, are those same flowers tucked into a recycled pickle jar on the counter.    I'm now close to 25 arrangements that I posted about this growing season .   Dahlia arrangement with Peaches-n-cream, Ivanetti, Saint Martin, Blue Wish, Milena Fleur, Mirella and more.... While...

The wood-burning fireplace season is rapidly approaching.  Don't tell the dahlias that, but it is a reality that I'm actively preparing for around here.  And, that starts and ends with our annual firewood delivery.  This year, we once again had three face cords of kiln-dried firewood delivered:  One each of Birch, Cherry and Oak hardwoods. Since 2021 , I've been buying our firewood from The Grove in Sugar Grove.  Their prices are fair and their wood has been clean, dry and nicely split.   They dumped the load on our driveway and we got busy moving it back to the racks.  Filling the racks on the screened porch (one of each wood), the sideyard racks and the little side stoop that is under cover on the side of our house.   Here are a few photos of the delivery and the full racks (for consumption check-in purposes, of course).  The racks on the side of the house are full.  Left is Oak.  Right is Cherry.  I need to get the...

I'm a postcard guy.  Sending postcards to people is something that I find joy in doing when we are traveling.  I send them to my Mom, Nat's Grampy, my friend Matt and others.  They're harder and harder to come by these days as people just don't send postcards like they used to - from travel destinations or ordinary places.   I've been thinking about creating my OWN postcards to send.  I try to send hand-written notes to people from time-to-time, but those are on my own personalized correspondence cards.  A post card, from a place, is different.  I've long wanted to send postcards from Twin Lakes, Wisconsin.  But, alas, they don't exist.  I've also thought about Downers Grove ones.  And, University of Illinois ones.   That lead me to Ebay.  Where, you can find vintage postcards from all of those places:  Twin Lakes, Downers Grove and the University of Illinois.   Fumbling around on Ebay recently, I came ...

The dahlias are going wild.  Warmer days and cooler nights right now.  Before...the inevitable frost that is on the horizon.  (Hopefully not too soon, though).   This week, I documented my 20-something arrangement of the season .  This post shows another one.   Including: Great Silence, Milena Fleur, Ivanetti, Blue Wish, Saint Martin, Crichton Honey, Wizard of Oz dahlias.  And, a single spray of Silver Dollar Eucalyptus peeking out the top.  Here it is on a couple of sides of the jar on our counter: Here, below, is how they looked as I cut them.  The lighting in the mornings makes the colors pop. Wizard of Oz (the pale pink one on the bottom right) changes a bit as the season goes on in terms of petal-holding.  Earlier in the Summer, every Wizard of Oz that I'd cut would drop petals almost immediately.  Now? They stay on much longer.  Wonder what is driving that behavior?  I really like Wizard of Oz, but if it is...

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...