Why I Oughta...

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...

We went to see Zootopia 2 last week at the Tivoli Theater in Downers Grove.  While I was on my way back to the concession stand to refill the pair of "kiddie combos", I noticed this plaque in the lobby that claims The Tivoli Theater (opened in 1928) was the "Second theater in America designed and built for talking movies".  That's wild.   When I went home, I found this page from the Downers Grove Historical Society (the same folks who put the plaque up) and it has a few more details.  And, it included this photo (below) of the original marquee on opening day (Christmas Day, 1928).  The family behind Classic Cinemas have done a great job with not just the Tivoli in Downers, but with historic, mainstreet theaters across the suburbs.  We previous lived in Elmhurst and the York Theater was one of our favorite spots in town.  I wrote about the York a number of times when we lived in Elmhurst.  Here are those [York Theater] archives .   ...

Posting this about a month later than I took the photo, but documenting here in my pizza oven building journal that I did start the final exterior of the oven this year - in 2025.  Below you can see the first few test brick veneer pieces (do we call them 'tiles'?  bricks?) that I attached to the far back corner of the oven.  I figured that it was best to start where NOBODY WILL EVER SEE THEM.  Also, since NOBODY WILL EVER SEE THEM, I opted to NOT use 'corner' pieces of veneer.  They sell these L-shaped pieces that provide the 'look' of brick depth at the corners, but they're more expensive than the normal pieces.  I'm using the L-shaped corners in all visible spots.  But, not back here.  The last time I posted about the oven was when the soapstone landing was installed three weeks ago .  I started at the top and am working down using a veneer-specific mortar.  I set the first seven courses from the top and went two bricks-in on the top a...

A little bit over three weeks ago, we planted three Blossom Peacock Amaryllis bulbs in a single container proceeded to tuck them in with a little bit of moss to cover the soil.  These were slightly smaller bulbs than the ones we get at the local garden center and they weren't showing any signs of life, so I wasn't sure what we'd get from them.   After arranging them, we brought them over to my Mom's house where she proceeded to tend to them and put them in a bright spot.   Fast forward three weeks, and these have taken off: All three bulbs have straps of foliage that have arrived and two of the bulbs have a bud that is gaining height.   When they're this tall is when I typically shift to the 'poison phase' of watering.  Instead of pure tap water, these will now get about 10% alcohol mixed with the water.  To (hopefully) stunt the height a little bit (without burning the roots).  Here's a post about how I did this Paperwhite bulbs ....

As it appears the thing to do at this time of year, I'm sharing my 2025 musical recap.  But, of course, I don't post on social media, so I can't post it there.  It's here on my blog.  And, we're YouTube music users, so my recap is a little different than the Spotify ones you see everywhere.   As for the results, I'd describe this as "not surprising".  Would have thought that maybe Pearl Jam would have edged out John Prine in the top five, but otherwise the other four (The Band, Wilco, Bob Dylan and Radiohead) all check out. Top song being "Jawbone" seems odd, but I *did* write an entire blog post about the song all the way back in January this year .  The day after I posted about Garth Hudson's death.  He was the last one .  Thanks to Big Pink, they'll live forever.   Also, "On a Night Like This" seems strange as #2, as well.  But, I will say that I fell into that record this year in a big way.  It has become one of my fav...

We had our large front porch galvanized 'trough' container done by Churchill Garden Design of Downers Grove this week and Elise delivered a nature-inspired, festive arrangement that feels right for our house and our family.  If you look closely, you'll see a variety of evergreens, some dyed eculyptus, pinecones and branches in greens, browns, reds and even white.  What jumps out to me is not just the variety in terms of palate she chose (the analogous greens and browns), but more importantly:  the texture(s).  There's short, fine needles mixed with broader foliage.  Cascading habit/form mixed with upright, rigid shapes.  Arching tips and draping edges.  Harder shapes and structure backgrounded with softer, organic flows.  Have a look below: Here's a link to Churchill Garden Designs Instagram page where she features the porches she's been doing around the suburbs.   And,  here's her post (embedded below) showing our container: ...

This post is going-up in December, but the photo is from mid/late November (before Thanksgiving).  We had a good storm come through with a couple of days of wind that blew all the needles off of this tree and most of the rest of the trees in our yard.  But, before the needles fell... the Bald Cypress that is planted IB2DWs put on a nice 'fall show' this year.  Below is a photo showing the shape and color of the tree.   8-Year Old Bald Cypress Tree With Fall Color in Zone 6a Earlier this year, I pruned this tree (dormant pruning) for the first time and took some of the lower limbs off the trunk to lift up the canopy .    I'll probably get out there again late this Winter and take a branch of two off in order to raise the canopy up even more.  Hard to remember planting this tree as a tiny whip back in Fall of 2018 when we had different neighbors.  Seven years later, this is (probably) the most-successful small tree planting that we've had on o...

About three weeks ago, we planted a pair of large amaryllis bulbs in some terra cotta containers (that we had on hand for this very purpose) and had dreams of Christmas blooms.   The first one (without moss) is a Flamed Amadeus Amaryllis that had good roots, but was showing no growth.  Not even foliage tips.  Now, three weeks (or so) later along with a little bit of water, a lot of light and even some warm conditions (these are on a stone table that sits on top of a heat vent in a full southern-exposure window in our dining room), we're seeing the first bud tips emerge from the bulb.  Below is a look at the Flamed Amadeus Amaryllis just starting to show the first bud tip. Shine Dream Amaryllis is the name of the other bulb we planted.  This one has moss around the top of the soil, but was treated the same (water, light, heat).   This one (below) is showing two flower bud tips coming out of the top of the bulb and is a little big further along....