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Mid-Summer Dahlia Arrangements - A Roundup - Late August 2026

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The last time I shared photos of some cut flower arrangements here on the garden diary was back in early August .  Since then, I've cut and put together a number of countertop arrangements.  For our kitchen.  For friends.  For neighbors.  Here are a few below.   In this jade-colored hobnail vase that I've used a number of times this year is a mixed ALL dahlia cut flower arrangement featuring:  Rip City semi-cactus dahlia, Blue Wish dahlia, Milena Fleur decorative dahlia, Wizard of Oz dahlia, Jowey Winnie, and a bunch of Saint Martin dahlias. In this smaller milkglass vase is a similar selection of dahlias:  Blue Wish, Jowey Winnie, Milena Fleur.  But also some Brown Sugar and some Silver Dollar Eucalyptus that I snipped off one of the plants: Here, below is that same jade-colored hobnail vase with a different set of dahlias.  Some that I cut longer/taller like the Pooh collarette ones.  And those Saint Martins on long stems....
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Mid-Summer 2026 Garden To-Do List Check-In - August 2026

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As Walt Disney has (famously) said:  Everbody needs deadlines.   That includes me; an amateur suburban gardener.   I also need a way to focus and prioritize.  That's why I began to make myself an annual to-do list.   Here is my 2026 to-do list.    Over the past few years, I've also 'graded' myself against the list.  Tracking how much I accomplished.  Last Year, I also did a mid-Summer check-in post and it helped me close out the season strong.  At this time, I had 11 done, and 7 items both in-process and incomplete .  I ended the year at 17 (done) and 8 (incomplete ), so I closed out 6 additional items.   What about 2026?  Here's where we stand at the end of August: 1. Priority Project 1: Stop fighting nature (Or…as they say: nature finds a way): Begin the replacement process for the backyard the Oakleaf Hydrangeas . Status: Well...I didn't replace the Oakleaf Hydrangeas. But, I did install a full per...
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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Top Dressing With House-Made Compost (Black Gold) - Late August 2026

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To be a compost gardener , you have to do multiple things.  Not all at the same time.  But, over time.  Those include:   Adding material.  Carbons and Nitrogens. Blending the material in the right (or close to the right) ratios. Turning the material.  So it 'cooks' and actually turns into, well...compost. And....Using the material (a.k.a "Black Gold").  Spreading it back into the garden I'm quite good at the first item:  adding material to the pile.  We're pretty good about collecting and hauling out our kitchen compost material throughout the year .  That also includes Nat's coffee grounds.  I also collect and store a full bin-full of fall leaf material.  And, Spring clean-up material.  And, other, various garden debris that I collect/pull-out/yank/cut-down/remove from the various beds and trees over the growing season .   I've written about our compost setup over the years:  We have a three bin system...
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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Peaches-N-Cream Dahlia Bi-Color Bloom - Late August 2026

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The overnights are cooler.  And, as I've posted about recently, that seems to mean that the dahlias are happy.  Warm, sunny days.  And cool(er) nights = blooms popping off.  And, it also means that the dahlias begin to change colors.   That's one of the things that I've been learning over the years is that dahlias don't stay the same color over the full season from start-to-finish.  They shift and change how the colors appear.  Some get darker.  Some get lighter.  And, they change as they mature on the stems over time, too. One of the new (to me) dahlias this year is Peaches 'N Cream.  I bought two tubers from Bonny Blooms of this variety after seeing them show up on so many cut flower creators/influencers 'must grow' lists at the end of last year.  Here's my post from November 2025 where I showed a small roundup of what I was seeing in those kind of lists .   When my tubers arrived from Bonny Blooms, a few things we...
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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DIY Alpine Stone Trough Prototype Build - August 2026

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Just a few days ago, I posted some inspiration and details of a DIY Alpine trough project that I found on Instagram where someone used a *real* stone trough as a water feature ( wasserspiel ).  I talked about buying a styrofoam cooler to use as the chassis and building out the 'stone look' with concrete.   As luck would have it, I came across a free (to me) styrofoam cooler this past week.  It is small.  At least....smaller than I want for a wasserspiel or...ahem.... Alpine stone trough.   But, for a prototype?  I think it will work perfectly.   The outside dimensions of the prototype are 15" long x 11" wide x 9" deep.   It has 1" thick walls.   Based on what I picked up from watching various YouTube shorts, Instagram reels and reddit posts, there are a number of ways to go about DIY'ing your own stone trough.  You can apply burlap and concrete.  You can apply something like an acrylic fortifier to try to g...
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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Harry Lauder Walking Stick Tree Full of Foliage - Contorted Tree - August 2026

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In the Summer of 2020, I bought and planted a small Harry Lauder Walkingstick tree .  A contorted tree that was inspired by our visit to Disneyland Paris and their Phantom Manor ride that has an outdoor queue with contorted , weeping and other very interesting trees/horticulture.  When we bought it, it was small.    And, it has stayed *mostly* small.  Hasn't changed VERY MUCH .  But, the bed the tree is planted in certainly *has changed* very much.   This tree is planted in the back, sort-of tucked in behind some things.  This is the sixth growing season and the tree is still somewhere between waist-and-chest high.  Like every tree that I've planted since the first few seasons, I haven't touched this tree.  No pruning.  No cleaning up.  Just an annual deep-root feeding from the professionals.   Here, below, is what it looks like in mid-Summer:  It really shines during the Winter when you can see the skeleton...
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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Ferns Having A Good Year In The Stumpery - August 2026

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We have had a wet couple of weeks here in August.  I haven't watered anything in the garden since early August.  Not even the containers.  That's because we've had deep rains that have come every few days.  That's good for most things.  It has also made it easy on me in terms of lugging around the hose.   And, before that,  according to the Illinois State Climatologist blog post, we also had a wet July .  So, add those things up and it seems that some parts of the garden are loving it right now.  And, one of those is the Stumpery.   This year, I added 15 (yes...fifteen!) Autumn Ferns to the Stumpery.  These were planted amongst some existing Autumn Ferns.  And, three Godzilla Japanese Painted Ferns that went in the garden in Summer 2025 .  I picked these up at the Morton Arboretum Plant Sale last year.  I looked for them again this year, but they didn't have any.  Based on how well they're doing, thes...
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Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA
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