Why I Oughta...

After a few years of lackluster peony growth, last Spring I finally saw some positive improvement in the flower output of the two colonies that are dotted around our garden.  I've moved the peonies into those two colonies based on sun conditions.  The first one is in the IB2DWs bed where I have a couple of plants.  And the second is in the "kitchen curved bed" in the back where I have three more.   Below are some photos showing the red tips emerging from the mulch.  These photos are from April 6th.   I've done similar "Peonies are Back" posts over the years.  Here is that post from April 2025 - one year ago .   Last year, I cut and preserved the blooms at the "marshmallow stage" and had peony flowers for Nat's birthday in July .  I'll do that again this year.  

The small colony of the lovely Spring ephemeral Sanguinaria canadensis - or commonly called Bloodroot is in bloom in early April.  This post is going up on April 14th, but I took this photo on April 6th.    My neighbor to the south dug-up and gave me a clump of this pretty cool perennial in Spring of 2023 and it has come back and bloomed every Spring since.  Here's the post from last year showing both this Bloodroot and the neighboring Virginia Bluebells .  You can see the Bluebells in the photo below on the left.   These are seemingly slow to expand, but I'm happy this initial colony is thriving with even more blooms this year than in the past.  

The pizza oven beds that I created last year are sitting on top of one of our large drywells.  The natural soil in this area was dug up, a huge pit of gravel was installed and then the builder backfilled the top with what appears to be a lot of clay soil.  That means that the area isn't great for gardening.  Starting last year, I have begun to amend the soil in an attempt to grow more things in this area.  Last week, I posted about how I was burning some leaf litter in-place in this bed .  My thinking was that adding this ash to the bed can amend the clay as it works its way down through the layers.   This year, ahead of planting this bed up, I went and grabbed some municipal biosolids and dumped about 20 gallons on both sides of the pizza oven bed.  Below are some photos showing the biosolids on top of the existing mulch.  You can see the darker color in contrast to what was there in-place.  My plan is to use the west-side to plant pere...

Last Spring, I planted two new Disneyland Roses, bringing the total number of these Floribunda roses in the sideyard to five .    The two new ones outperformed the established ones and were highly productive all the way up to Thanksgiving last Fall.   One of the decisions I made last Fall was to take a relaxed approach to overwintering these roses - which is different than what I've done in the past.  In some years, I've created rings of Chicken Wire and stuffed them with leaf litter to create an insulation layer on top of the canes.  Other years, I've used municipal biosolids + leaf litter to mound up around the crowns.   This year, I let nature take its course and have whatever leaf litter that collected around the canes to provide that insulation layer.   And....either due to a not-so-bad Winter...or....the reality that these appear to living in a small microclimate on the southside of our house, tucked in against the foundation...ha...

A box of dahlia tubers just arrived via UPS from Longfield Gardens a few days ago.   In this box are Great Silence, Jowey Winnie, Burlesca, Creme de Cognac, Kelsey Annie Joy .  I ordered from a few other dahlia farms, but those tubers haven't arrived just yet.  But, I'm expecting them soon.   That box showing up has now FORCED me to start thinking about the timing and process for the tubers this year.  When? What? How? Where?   Eeek.  The time has come to sort things out.  And, there's no better way I know how to sort out the order-of-operations for something like this than just writing out my musings.  What is rattling around in my head on this project.  By going thru the when/what/how/wheres.   Let's start with: "When?"  When do I bring them in from the garage?  Does that help 'wake them up'?  Do I plant them directly from the saran wrap packages in the garage into nursery pots?  When do I p...

The flowering tree in our front yard - a Saucer Magnolia that was planted in Summer 2017 - is in bloom this week.  It is always a nice treat to see the pink blooms that are ephemeral, show up this time of year.  The form of the tree continues to grow (mostly) upright with some branching out of the tips which is creating a ball-shape standing on top of the multi-trunk base.  I haven't pruned this tree much, but it might be time to think about a 'limb'ing up' of some of the edges after it finishes this year's bloom cycle.   Below is a photo showing the tree (and the Chamber of Commerce day) in Downers:  Last year, the tree appears to have had MORE blooms than this year.  Here's the post (and photo) from a week later in the year that shows a more vibrant tree (at least to my eye).   This tree has now had nine growing seasons ('17, '18, '19, '20, '21, '22, '23, '24, '25) and sure has grown quite a bit from what it looked like whe...

This post is going up in mid-April, but I laid down this bed extension at the end of March.   This is the third bed that I've put down extensions this Spring - the most-recent one is the small Saratoga Ginkgo bed by the driveway .   Over the years, I've extended this bed out from right in front of the boxwoods to where it stands now.  In Fall of 2024, I added to the edge the first time using this same (lazy) method .  Last year, I planted 64 annual vinca as bedding plants and I'll do much the same this year .  But, with this newly extended area, that total will have to go up. Below is a photo showing the new extensions on each edge of the bed.  The southside bump-out is the largest part, where I added about a foot.  In the middle, I didn't add anything.  But, on the northside, down near the front steps, I've now connected this bed to the Saratoga Ginkgo bed.   Here are some in-process photos where I used a mix of cardboards and...

Two days ago, I posted the first part of a bed extension (lazy method) project in the front yard around the tiny Saratoga Ginkgo tree that is in an island between our driveway and front walk.  I started with the rough shape I wanted and mentioned that I usually expand these beds over multiple days due to having just enough material (Cardboard + municipal biosolids + composted manure) on hand to do a section-at-a-time.   Today, I'm sharing a few more updated photos showing the final shape of this newly, expanded bed.  With proper curves.  I wanted to add some true 'swooping' curves (curvilinear shape) and expanded out the bed by twelve inches in most of the bed and closer to two-feet at the main curve.   Note:  This post is going up in early April, but I laid these out on March 20th.  So, when it comes to that crucial component (time!), these will have 10 days in March, all of April and if I get to the first week of May (prior to planting), t...

I took this photo of a volunteer Crocus that has appeared in the middle of our backyard lawn a few weeks back.  This was from late March.  And, it is such a delight to see.  This lone Crocus is a volunteer as I've never planted a single Crocus bulb (or...corm if you'd prefer) in the garden.  See below for the short, purple flower: Just because I haven't planted a single Crocus, doesn't mean that I haven't thought about it.  And, for me....that's a real sign of growth as a gardener.  There was a time when I fell into the 'lawn care' world.  I was treating feeding my lawn, treating it with iron, cutting it in a specific way and I even had a "Domination Line" up front.  But, my feelings on turf grass have evolved over time and I'm even actively removing more of it from our front yard with bed extensions this Spring.   On my recently published 2026 to-do list, I included as #13:  Plant Fall Bulbs .  In the past, that has mostly bee...

Lazy bed extensions were listed as a "Fall Project" in my 2026 to-do list .  And, I need to do that.  But, I also wanted to use the time I had this Spring by knocking some of the bed extensions off my list while I could in March and April.  I've posted a few times already when I first extended and reshaped the front yard island bed .  Then, I did an initial expansion on the southside of the house in the cut flower foundation beds .   Today, I'm doing an initial expansion of the small corner bed that I call the "Saratoga Bed" because it features the tiny Saratoga Ginkgo tree along with some Little Henry Sweetspire Spirea shrubs .   By now, I've laid out the elements of my lazy bed extensions: 1.  Cardboard to smother the existing turf grass. 2.  A mix of (municipal) biosolids, leaf litter and composted manure + topsoil. 3.  Time. Here, below, is the 'before' photo.  The bed needs more breathing room by extending things outward....

I came across this garden inspiration photo of a wattle fence on Instagram and I immediately bookmarked it.  They don't call it a wattle fence, but rather a "River of Sticks" and the commenters call it a 'dead hedge'.  Whatever you call it, you surely find it interesting and appealing.  And, full of personality .    The original idea (not this post below) comes from A.Zen.Gardener.    View this post on Instagram A post shared by Emily Chua (@optimisticgardener) I've tried a tiny pilot wattle fence in the stumpery a few Winters ago , but it never took off.  Mostly...because I never followed-through.  But, there are some lessons to learn from observing these photos that I can apply to a 2026 wattle fence: 1.  Layers of wattle vs one layer.  See the pegs in the ground creating that "thick" portion?   2.  Curves and shapes.  The curves follow the border and some of them are 'triangle' shaped at...

I don't know why I found this pretty shocking:  Martha Stewart keeps her dahlia tubers in the ground all year long.  Through the cold, harsh winter.  How?  She tarps them.   That is genius.  I shouldn't be surprised that Martha innovates in the garden.   I can't embed her Instagram post, but you can see it all here .  I've pasted a screenshot below showing how she tarps her dahlia beds and surrounds the perimeter with bales of hay.   In her post, she talks about how she has found a way to eliminate the worst part of growing dahlias:  yanking them out of the ground and storing them for the Winter. She points out that their enemy isn't just cold, but wetness.  And, getting soggy will rot the tubers.   After cutting down the stalks, she applies a fresh layer of compost.  Then, yanks a tarp over the top and weighs it down.  Remember what Martha said:  If you want to be happy for a year, get marrie...

Yesterday, I posted about salt in pizza dough and talked about how I am always collecting tips and tricks and ideas when it comes to pizza making.  So, whenever I get a peek behind-the-curtain of a pizza place, I usually sit up in my chair and try to learn something.  But, when that place is the home of my childhood pizza (and...the source of my own Pizza Cognition Theory basis of pizza), then, I look over the video like I'm watching the Zapruder film.  Here, below, is a TikTok from Aurelio's that shows off their Homewood location .  There, you'll usually hear about the 'old ovens' as a source of the best pizzas.  But, it appears that in addition to older ovens, they also have some other, pretty great, old equipment.   @aureliospizza Simple ingredients perfected by 67 years of practice. #ItsTheDough ♬ original sound - Aurelio’s Pizza There' so much to see in this video. From the mixer (the mixer!) to the dough trough.  The liquids.  ...

I took this photo below back on March 21st, the first day of Spring 2026 and it shows a flock of Sandhill Cranes flying over Downers Grove, Illinois (60515) in DuPage County.  We are fortunate that twice-a-year in both Spring and Fall, we can hear that familiar croak of these big birds flying in clusters overhead. Over the years, I've posted photos and videos documenting their migration pattern over Downers Grove, Illinois. Here is a video from late November 2025 showing them flying south .   Here is a video from March 2025 showing them flying back north for the warm weather .  Here is a video from March 2024 with these large birds over Downers Grove, Illinois in Spring .  And a photo from March 2020 showing them flying in a v-shape over Downers Grove, Illinois (60515).

Top point-zero-two-percent of listeners for The Band?  I'll take it.  This is one of the badges that YouTube Music gave me at the wrap of last year.  Either there aren't too many people listening to The Band or I'm over-indexing on their music.  I'm good with both options.

Don't tell the Parrillos that you shouldn't compost citrus peels.  Our kitchen compost stands out against the remaining winter snow of the season.  With all the deciduous leaves in the storage bin, the weekly dose of coffee grounds are a welcome balancer that increase the greens (nitrogen) and hopefully get the mix a little bit closer to where it needs to be.   The vibrant colors from the top of the bins always contrast with the drab surroundings before Spring arrives in the far back of our garden.

Part of my DIY Spring clean-up is doing some small, controlled burns in place with the left-behind leaf litter in the beds.  I rake up some small piles that have defined edges (so the burn can't run everywhere) and use my little weed-burning torch to set the piles on fire.  They burn up the leaves, leave behind some ash and eventually exhaust themselves when they run out of material.   Here's one of the small piles I am burning under the Hornbeam trees in back:

 More Spring is emerging in the backyard, in particular the Kitchen Curved bed.  The colony (or drift) of Summer Beauty Alliums that have been planted in our garden since the very first year are emerging from the leaf litter and showing green tips in their usual clusters.  Below are a few photos showing these early-season foliage stars in between the Thujas and a little cluster of boxwoods in the Kitchen Curved bed.  These are planted a bit further back from the Amsonia that is mid-bed.   The leaf litter is going to be cleaned-up in the next few weeks - between a combination of efforts (I hope):  some by me, some by professionals.  

One of my 2026 to-do items is to 'expand the beds in Fall'.  I say 'Fall' because of how I utilize what I call the "lazy method" of smothering out the turf with cardboard.  That means that in addition to materials like cardboard and municipal biosolids, I need time.  Time for the grass to die.  Time for the cardboard to breakdown.  And time for the biosolids to MELLOW OUT.   Last year, I missed the Fall window to do some bed extensions, so I started to do them this Spring.  The first one was a few weeks ago with the Island Bed taking on new edges .  I used cardboard, municipal biosolids and composted manure to create a blend that I'll plant up (and mulch) later this Spring.  In the sideyard, I want to do the same thing:  expand the beds along the foundation to be more proud of the house.  Last year, I planted out the Dahlias in late May/early June.  I like to have about six weeks of time between laying down these bed exten...

The signs of Spring are everywhere right now.  Including the green and purple-tipped foliage of Allium bulbs that have broken through the leaf litter layer that is currently *still* covering our garden beds. Below is a look that these crown-like tips bursting proud of their mulch layer.     Leave the leaves, indeed.  Probably too many this year.  But, the time to clean-up is fast arriving and these leaves will be a distant memory soon.  Hopefully...they'll stick around, but as tiny fragments of organic material.  Not these giant leaf-shaped forms of Oak leaves.  

Yesterday, I posted the first "Getting to Know" posts about the set of plugs that I bought from Garden Club this year: Lisianthus Celeb 2 Metallic Blue .  Next up is another blue bloom: Didiscus Lacy Blue .  This one is a direct recommendation from Erin the Impatient Gardener.  She mentioned that she grows these.  So...that's why I added to my cart.  So, what are they? Here is the listing from Floret : There is nothing like this super-productive, dome-shaped beauty. Each graceful disk is made of hundreds of tiny, forget-me-not-blue flowers, and the branching stems are smothered in buds. ‘Lacy Blue’ will flower for months, is slightly scented, and is the perfect size for bouquet work. Well...that sounds perfect, no?  They get 2-3 tall and need just 9" of spacing. Here is a photo from Farmer Bailey showing these growing in tunnels: Source via Farmer Bailey The Farmer Bailey growing guide mentions that they want some afternoon shade, so I think that mea...

Yesterday, I posted my Garden Club plug order and talked about how all six varieties are new (to me).   Lisianthus Celeb 2 Metallic Blue is the first one up.  I bought eight plugs and this is my first Lisianthus.  If you follow any flower farmer on Instagram, you can't go a week without hearing about Lisianthus.  They're rose-like and from what I've come to understand have good 'vase life'.  These "Celeb 2" Metallic blue are described by Garden Club as: The 'Celeb' series features large to extremely large, fully double, fringed flowers. This series dominates the Japanese Lisianthus market, and many of the cut flowers we see imported from Japan are Celeb types. Those Japanese gardeners.  They're so prolific .  Anything BLUE is of immediate interest to me, so the name made these an easy-add.  The photos show a more purple color, but we'll see what happens when/if they bloom: Source via Garden Club Ball Seed says : Huge blooms with strong, w...

This past weekend, I published the 25 items on my 2026 yard and garden to-do task list and included a number of cut-flower-related items.  Growing dahlias.  Supporting dahlias.  Growing more accent plants in the vertical garden.  All were on there.  But, so was another one - number 8: 8. Experiment with other cut flowers.  Plant them in the ground (in the garden beds) and add some variety to my arrangements. New varieties.  That means new (to me).   I'm a foliage gardener.  But, I have had so much fun becoming a flower gardener, too.  I've learned so much about dahlias the past few seasons and have found some flowering perennials that I can use in some cut flower arrangements, too.   But, this year, I wanted to try some new flowers that I can use in my arrangements.  Why?  Because, if you look at them, they're VERY dahlia-heavy .  That's not a bad thing.  But, if you're not changing and learning, you'r...

Yesterday I posted my annual to-do list of 25 items I'm aiming to tackle this growing season .  I'm starting off with an early win by taking-on Priority item #2 on the list one-day-in.  I've talked about how I've adopted what I call the 'lazy bed extension method' of using three factors:  1.  Cardboard to smother the existing turf grass. 2.  A mix of (municipal) biosolids, leaf litter and composted manure + topsoil. 3.  Time. That 3rd factor (time) is why I'm going at this garden upgrade in March.   Here's what I wrote for #2: 2. Priority Project 2:  Expand and fix the edges of the front yard island bed .  But, use a ‘fewer curves’ approach to making a curvilinear shape . Last year, I planted Coleus (which was great) and Supertunias (which weren’t), so strike the right balance between colorful annuals (maybe mirror what I put in the front porch bed) along with some coleus for foliage. I also included further down the list at #12 a "Fall ...