Why I Oughta...

Frost is how the gardening season ends.  It brings with it death.  And dormancy.  Another season in the books.  In some ways, it also brings relief.  Things slow down.  Stop growing.  And, I can shift into a 'closing up' mindset.   But, I can't do that until we get a frost.  The furthest that the forecast looks out on Weather dot com is between now and Thursday, November 5th. That's two weeks out.  And, here, below is what it looks like: What is notable?   The lows.   Look at them.  The lowest LOW listed between now and November 5th is 43 degrees.  That's 11 degrees ABOVE freezing.   Now, I recognize that weather forecasts aren't set in stone, but let's (for now) operate under the assumption that this is close to accurate.  We won't see a frost for at least two weeks. Note:  Parts of Northern Illinois had some frost earlier in October.  Here's a Tweet from the National Weather S...

2024 has been the season for dahlias in my garden.  This isn't the first time that I've grown Dahlias from tubers, but it is the first season that I worked at getting them right.  From pre-ordering tubers to starting them indoors to moving them out after the last frost to mulching them in and keeping them watered and fed, I've worked at the dahlias this year and the results - in terms of countertop arrangements - have really paid off .   Like a lot of things in the garden, the first frost will bring most dahlia seasons to their end.   Last week, the National Weather Service was tweeting (or X'ing) about how our area was set to receive a couple of nights of 'hard frosts'.    There were a bunch of tweets said that very thing: "...resulting in an end to the growing season for much of the area."  Like this one: Widespread frost and near to sub-freezing temperatures are expected again tonight away from Chicago and the lakeshore, resulting in an e...