Why I Oughta...

Now things are starting to get good.  With the dahlias.  Different varieties and types make for an interesting grouping.  Here is what I cut on a recent morning from the front and side yard beds:

I included a Fall garden project on my 2026 to-do list that I haven't done in a few seasons: plant Fall bulbs. It was #13 on my list . Earlier this Spring, I found a naturlized crocus growing in the lawn and talked about how 2026 should be the year of planting my bulb lawn. After all, one of my favorite garden follows on the Web (Erin the Impatient Gardener) called the bulb lawn that she put in " "the best garden project she's ever done ". Well...imagine my delight when I came across this rack at Menards. Full of Fall planting bulbs. I grabbed this photo and said to myself:  "You don't know enough about these to buy anything.  Yet." Yet.   How do I get past "Yet".   One of the things that I picked up from Erin's videos about her bulb lawn is the sheer volume of bulbs she's using (thousands.  Yes...thousands of bulbs.), but also that she's focusing on short-height varieties.  Things that aren't super tall and work w...

I just applied the final feeding/treatment of the five Disneyland Roses and the 42 dahlias that are scattered around the garden.  I sprinkled the first application of the 3-in-1 systemic (and synthetic) granules at the beginning of May this year.   From there, I did a monthly application:  Early April, Early May, Early June, Early July, Early August and now....right as the calendar turns to September.  That's 7 applications.   This is the final feeding of the season.  And, that's the schedule that I've kept the past few years:  final application of fertilizer right around Labor Day.    Here's the post from 2025.   Here's the final feeding from 2024 (also in September ).  With all the plants that I need to treat, it seems that I'm using almost one full container of this BioAdvanced all-in-one Rose & Flower Care product with each feeding.   At about $22 per container, that's $150 of fertilizer, insecticide and fungu...