Why I Oughta...

2025 has come to a close here on the blog with this non-gardening post being the 366th post.  I seem to have over-posted in June (31 posts), but otherwise have hit my annual goal of posting everyday for the year.  Never-the-less, That means that 2025 is not a Gold Star blogging year, but still got the job done. Last year, I put up 367 posts (Leap Year)  - another non-Gold-star year due to duplicate date posts. This is the 11th straight year of 365+ posts and the 21st year of blogging on my own domain.    I broke the streak in 2013, but there were 3 other years (2010, 2011, 2012) that I went the distance before taking off to write on a political blog for that year.   At 11 (2014 --> 2025) years, that makes it 4000+ straight days of flexing this writing muscle.  Pretty, pretty, pretty good.   Of course, the bulk of the posts were focused in my [garden diary] and I once-again failed at trying to distribute the content beyond being indexe...

I've mentioned that Winter snow came early this year and that cut-short some of my typical garden cleanup. It also dropped most of the leaves on the Frans Fontaine Hornbeams that normally hang around all Winter.   And, those two things - snow packing down and leaves falling - has created a full bed of leaf litter at the feet of the Hornbeams.  Below is a photo showing the fallen leaves that have been matted-down by the heavy snow (that has since melted).   Just in FRONT of these trees is the newly-expanded Pizza Oven bed.  That bed is full of clay soil. One of the things I've been talking about doing this Winter is amending the clay soil to make it a little bit more hospitable to gardening next year - especially with more dahlias on their way.   My first thought was to utilize municipal biosolids and just pile it ON TOP OF THE CURRENT MULCH.  But, now, seeing this leave litter, I'm thinking that I should try to rake it up on top of the clay b...

In May, I added three upright Wichita Blue Junipers to the (newly expanded) pizza oven bed .  They were small - in two-gallon nursery containers and from the big box nursery.  But, they were priced right and I've been eyeing them for a while , so I took the chance.  I planted them in a staggered pattern forming a triangle. Four months later (early September), I p osted an update with new photos and talked about how they seemed to have handled the heat of Summer with minor browning-out.   Now, as we head into our first Winter, below is a photo showing them as of late December.   Here is the original inspiration photo showing Wichita Blue Junipers with some Stachys Hummelo planted in mass .    I didn't get around to planting anything around these, but that will be on my 2026 to-do list.  But, if I'm grading myself as a gardener, I'd say that I lived up to the statement that:  " Conifers Should Come First ".   Have these gro...

The season is over.  The post-Christmas darkness is here.  So, let's do a full recap of the gardening year that was 2025.   I initially posted my 2025 to-do list in early April this year with 25 items .  In Mid-August, I did a check-in post that showed: 11 Done 7 In Process 7 Incomplete Let's do the final report. Here is the 2024 final report where I went 18/25 .   1. Gravel Path Improvement. Done.  I did the biggest part of this, but still have the 'gate-back' portion left to do.  But, I'm calling this done.  2. Make the Pizza Oven operational.  Done.    I closed in the enclosure, put the roof layer on and no longer have to deal with a tarp.  We also had a soapstone landing installed out front and started on the veneer - the very first "finishes".   3. Expand and plant the Island bed in front.  Done.   I've done A LOT up here, but haven't planted everything I was planning-to.  I'd li...

Earlier this year, I posted a couple of pieces on the notion of 'legibility' in the garden .  It was new (to me) and as part of learning about it, I wrote out my thoughts, researched what other people were saying and then followed-up with a post that outlined what Dr. Jared Barnes has created in his list of 'elements' that create garden legibility . Here are the seven elements (or components) of Garden Legibility ( via Dr. Jared Barnes ): 1. Clean edges 2. Desire lines and paths 3. Primary and secondary axes 4. Sightlines 5. Focal points 6. Entrances 7. Seeing over plantings Clean edges includes cut-edging, but also installed edges.  I've written about garden edges a number of times over the years.  Here , here , here and here .  Most recently, I was drawn to this timber-edging from a YouTube gardener and thought about using it as a retaining-wall(ish) under the Greenspire Lindens .  I still think that's a good idea (note for 2026 projects), but I was pointed...

They are back.  The (dang) rabbits.  And, they're eating the tips of our Oakleaf Hydrangeas.  This photo below has all the tells of them being around - and I'm NOT TALKING ABOUT THE GNAWED-OFF TIPS.  I'm talking about the rabbit turds.  EVERYWHERE.   That means that this will be the second year-in-a-row where we won't have Oakleaf Hydrangea blooms. I need to spend some time researching shade shrubs that flower and are rabbit-proof.

I planted a small one-gallon Green Mountain Boxwood shrub in October of 2021 in the bed behind the Tree Swing Oak Tree.  Two Winters later (2023), I posted this photo about how this shrub had totally bronzed-out .  When I planted it, I noted that this is pyramidal in form and that's what I was drawn-to when buying it.  Now, four years later, we're starting to see that upright, pyramidal shape.   Below is a photo showing the current shape of this Green Mountain Boxwood: Thinking about this being in the ground for four-full-growing-seasons, it sure feels like this has been slow-growing.  Looking back at the original post with the description , that checks out.  I planted two more Green Mountain Boxwoods in 2023 back by the Firepit , but like this one (above), they have been pretty slow-growing, too.   The bed where this solo Green Mountain Boxwood is set for changes this coming year.  It sits in the back of the (new) Pizza Oven bed, while...

"...Which you might find in a bacon and lettuce and tomato sandwich." 'Tis the season for watching one of Nat's favorites Trading Places in our house.  

Is there a tree?   No, instead there's a pole. Repost (kinda) from 2018 it seems .  What's old is new again with Festivus.  Happy Festivus to all those who celebrate.   Here are the archives to Festivus posts on the blog .  

 I'd say that's worth braggin' about:

Yesterday, I posted a photo and backstory on my first Christmas Pomander in over thirty years as I revisited a Christmas-season craft project that I did with my mom when I was younger.  Today, as promised, I'm showing the handiwork of my kids as they made five more orange-and-clove Pomanders.  Below are the latest designs including a star and other patterns:  What is a Pomander?  Here is a Google Search widget that *should* get you where you are looking to go: As I mentioned yesterday, I am doing an A/B test with seeing if drying one of these out in a brown paper bag is going to produce any different result than these that are clustered together in a bowl.  

A Christmas-craft memory from my childhood is making pomanders with oranges and whole cloves.  Almost every Christmas, my Mom would sit us down in front of the tv with a couple of toothpicks, a bowl of large oranges and a tin of whole cloves.  Then, there were no rules...other than just jam in the cloves in a pattern of your choice. After coming across Pomander-Tok recently, I looked in our spice rack and discovered that he had a tin of whole cloves.  And, we also had an orange in the fridge.  So, off I went...making my first orange and clove pomander in at least 30 years.   Here's a link to a Google SERP for Pomanders that includes this description: I started simple design-wise - with a plain criss-cross of cloves at both equators up-and-down and side-to-side.  Here's my first pomander with this simple design: When I was a kid, my Mom just took all of our oranges that had been studded with cloves and put them in a bowl on the coffee table (or...as sh...

Just about a month after planting three Blossom Peacock Amaryllis bulbs in a container, we have a number of blooms that have arrived and opened up.  With my middle child, we put this together for my Mom and brought it over to her house.   Here's the post from mid-November showing the three (then dormant) bulbs with moss covering the soil.  And then two weeks ago, I posted a photo showing how they had progressed with some flower stalks shooting upwards with bulging buds , but no flowers.  Once the foliage and flower buds emerged from the bulb, my Mom moved the container closer to the window to give it some bright light.   After the stalks shot up, she moved it back away from the window and has watched the flowers open up.  Below is a photo showing the current state of these three bulbs - one of which appears further ahead than the others (but you can see some soon-to-open buds in the photo): Blossom Peacock Amaryllis in Bloom Back in my original ...

Yesterday, I posted a photo of the large Flamed Amadeus Amaryllis bulb and talked about how it was moving faster than the second Christmas bulb we planted in November.  Below, you can see a photo of the current state of the "other one" - named Shine Dream Amaryllis .  The container for this one has moss covering the soil which makes this a little bit more festive/decorated.  They were both bought and planted in early/mid-November , so they're at about five weeks since planted.  Shine Dream *also* has large blooms with the description saying that they can be up-to-eight-inches and take eight-to-ten weeks to 'unfurl'.   This Shine Dream is a little bit behind the Flamed Amaryllis , but the tip of the flower bud has begun to emerge from the bulb, too.  Each stem will get multiple flowers, so here's hoping we get 3-4 stems and the first few flowers in time for Christmas in a week.  

Five weeks ago, we planted a pair of large, single amaryllis bulbs in small clay containers.  I covered both of them again two weeks ago  when they were showing their first signs of growth.  The first one was a Flamed Amadeus and the other one is named Shine Dream Amadeus .  I have watered both of them a few times since (soaking them, but with the loose soil, they drain very rapidly) and put them in a bright, warm spot (on a stone table that has a heat register underneath it).   Of the two, the Flamed Amadeus is moving more quickly.  Below is a photo showing the current state with an elongated flower bud tip (strangely) hasn't fully-emerged from the bulb.  It seems like the bud is super long: Looking back at the original post when we bought these bulbs , I just re-read the description of the Flamed Amadeus which reminded me why this flower bud is strangely large and long:  Flamed Amadeus "produces some of the largest blossoms in the Amaryll...

When I made the evergreen wreath for our front door this weekend, I ended up with a few extra 'piles' or 'bunches' of material that I didn't need to complete the circle.  I layered (from the back) Cypress, Fraser Fir, Magnolia, Boxwood and Eucalyptus in each stack.  A number of them went unused in the wreath, so to start...one of those stacks (or piles or bunches) went into a small-mouthed vase on our counter. You can see it below in the photo.  I cut all the stems for the wreath short, so displaying this in a traditional vase is hard because there's not much base to stick into the water.   Nevertheless, I jammed them in there.  The magnolia leaf is standing upright and proud, but otherwise, it seems to work visually.  Not to mention...the smell...which works just fine.  Here's the most-recent arrangement (Number 5 for 2025).    I have a few more in me before the season ends, I think.  

Yesterday, I posted the first of two Christmas trees that we've put up for 2025.  Here's the Family Room Tree .  Below is the smaller tree (still a Fraser Fir) that lives in the front window in the Green Room.  Nat lights and decorates this one herself and it has a different vibe with all vintage ornaments and white lights.   I hate to admit it (and under cross-examination, I'll deny ever saying this), but I like this tree in this room.   I've been tracking these trees on the blog over the years. This is the 21st tree that I've documented. Here's our 2025 Family Room Tree from Evergreen Acres .  Not shaken/baled.  Here's our 2022 Green Room tree .  Here's our 2022 Family room tree . Here's our 2021 Green Room tree  - about 6' tall.  Here's our 2021 Family Room Tree  - between 8' and 9' tall and picture-perfect shape. Here's our 2020 Green Room tree  - about 6' tall in total and perfectly shaped. Here's our 2020 Family...

A Fraser Fir is usually the answer.  The question?  Which tree to buy.  That is...unless you are able to buy a " High Altitude Noble Fir ".  Then...that's THE ANSWER.  Here, in the Chicago suburbs, we don't see many "High Altitude Noble Firs" around here, so off we went to Evergreen Acres tree farm up in East Troy, Wisconsin. I've posted our trees over the years, but I don't think I posted them recently.  At least, I can't find them in the archives here.  The last post I can find is our 2022 tree .   That is the "Family Room Tree".  Here's the companion post showing the "Green Room Tree" for 2022 .   This year, we bought two trees.  For $176.00.  That included a shake and bale for each tree.  But...we didn't use them.  More on that in the "Green Room Tree" post.   I've been tracking these trees on the blog over the years. This is the 20th tree that I've documented. Here's our 2022 Green Room tree ...

I put together my first (ever) evergreen wreath this weekend.  Using a mix of Fraser Fir limbs from our tree and some Cypress branches and boxwoods from our yard, I created a few dozen 'bunches' of materials.  I watched one wreath-making video (Thanks, Garden Answer) and sort-of figured out how to make the wreath using those 'piles' or 'bunches'.   Nat brought home Silver Dollar Eucalytus and Magnolia leaves from Trader Joes (one bunch of each) and I cut those up and stacked them on each pile.   From there, it was just winding floral wire around the grapevine frame to attach the pile/bunch to the frame.  I moved around the frame, eventually closing-in the whole thing.   Below is a photo of the (my first) wreath hanging on our front door. I'm already thinking about what to do next time and what I like about this first effort. I like the layering and the contrast from the cypress and fir and eucalyptus.  I also like the contrasting colors...

Last year, it seemed like I made way more winter, evergreen arrangements than I've done this year.  But, unlike this year, I didn't *count* them last year.  So, I'm just going off 'feel'.   This season, the arrangement-making started off strong, but I haven't had the occassion to make them (hostess gifts, mostly) yet, so it has tapered-off. I last posted #3 and #4 in November when we put together two small ones that went to Naperville and across town in Downers.   Today, I'm showing #5 in a vintage (Made in Japan) Christmas planter/mug with a wreath on the front of what looks like a 'faux chimney' along with a cute Santa Claus hanging out on the handle.  See below for a couple of photos showing this latest arrangement featuring evergreens (spruce, fir, juniper, boxwoods) and two kinds of eucalyptus and a pinecone-on-a-stick.  I filled this same container last year (post and photo) and I used more branching .  I think I like last year's bette...

The past few days, we've had some melting of the snow around here.  We've already experienced 17" of snowfall thus far and Winter hasn't even started.  The snow came fast and heavy.  That created a couple of issues for me:  the piles next to the driveway were getting pretty tall.  And...the plants were covered.   That's actually a good thing.  And, potentially a bad thing.  Snowcover is a good thing in terms of insulation.  We're headed into a period of very cold temperatures soon and having the snow down for insulation is a positive thing for plant health.   But, on the negative side, the heavy snow weighs down limbs.  And, for boxwoods, that's potentially a problem.  With enough weight, the evergreen shrubs will splay open.  And, if held there long enough, creates the potential for wreaking havoc on the shape of these shrub balls.   The two sets of boxwoods that are the most mature (ones out front of ...

Earlier this year, I wrote this post calling early 2025 the "Salad Days" for my Fighting Illini 1 .  That was coming off the Citrus Bowl victory over the SEC (and betting favorite) South Carolina Gamecocks on New Year's Day while the men's hoops team was ranked #22 and beat #9 Oregon on the road the next day.   Those Salad Days are still here.  And, that's a new feeling for this Illini fan.   The football team is heading to the Music City Bowl to play the *other orange* team (a worse orange, to be sure) while the hoops team is in the AP Top 15 after beating the SAME TENNESSEE team and are set up to continue winning as they head into conference play. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Illinois Men's Basketball (@illinimbb) After a number of tough years, it feels different.   We've swapped spots with Wisconsin in football. And, being ranked #13 feels right.  Why?  Because when you look at the list of "Blue...

Up on the seventh floor of the Marshall Fields on State Street building sits the recently renamed "Marshall Fields Walnut Room".  Someone at Macy's finally figured out they were sitting on a goldmine of nostalgia and local equity that they were wasting.  That has changed this year with an increased investment in the 7th floor, a renewed Walnut room experience and a whole investment in telling the history of Marshall Field's over in the area with the bathrooms. On one of the walls sits this sign that explains "The Marshall Field and Company Idea". Here's what the sign says: To do the right thing, at the right time, in the right way; to do some things better than they were ever done before' to eliminate errors; to know both sides of the question; to be courteous; to be an example; to love our work; to anticipate requirements; to develop resources; to recognize no impediments; to master circumstances; to act from reason rather than rule; to be satisfied...