Why I Oughta...

Late July is the beginning of (at least around here) dahlia season.  We're seeing our first few blooms on the various dahlias around the garden.  We also are seeing our second flush of blooms from the Disneyland Roses on the side of our house.  But, this year it is also something else.  Something that is surprising:  peony season.   Yep.  This is what the flowers on our countertop look like right now:  Sarah Berhardt peonies are opening up in a vase . How is this happening?  Peony season around here in late May to Early June.  We cut peonies as fast as we can and they put on a great show for about ten days.  But, this year, I tried something new:  Storing cut peony stems in the fridge when they were at the 'marshmallow stage' before they opened .  Here's a post showing the full process .   Here, below, is a look at the unwrapping process.   We started with a big collection of wrapped stems in Saran...

Peonies are Nat's favorite flower.  But, in our garden, peonies have a very short window.  They all bloom at the same time and the blooms don't last long.  Like a flash of petals, only to fade-away quickly.  That's why I was excited to come across the advice of how to cut and store peonies at the "marshmallow stage" by cutting them, wrapping them in paper and plastic wrap and tucking them in to a long Summer's nap in the cold climate of our fridge.   I wrote this post showing my process back in mid-June .  I cut-up-and-preserved two big bunches of peonies.   This week, I took one of the packages out of the fridge.  I cleaned up the leaves, cut the stems and put them in water.  They perked up and looked like the perfect peonies that we see a month-ago when they are fresh cut from the garden.   Below are a couple photos showing this peony arrangement on our counter - IN JULY.  Yes...July.  That's pretty great....

Peonies are here.  And they don't last long.  With four-or-five peony plants coupled with some travel, the timing of bloom season isn't great this year.  We're getting more peony blooms than ever, but they're all going to waste.  Or...at least they *were* going to be going to waste.  That was...until I came across this person who "Flower Farms" on Tiktok - her handle is Hidden Springs Flowers .  She's a good follow on TikTok, but one video - in particular - taught me something I didn't know:  You can 'extends' peony season by cutting them at the 'marshmallow stage' and sticking them in the fridge.    Here, below are some of the cut peonies where I removed their bottom leaves: Below is the TikTok that she posted that details the process: @hiddenspringsflowers Replying to @user1379406190063 how to store peonies for weeks in a cooler. Make sure to grab them at marshmallow stage before they’ve opened or this won’t work. 🌸 #flowerfarm #...

I just noticed these two plaques on the Fairview Avenue Metra Station in Downers Grove.  The bottom one says 2016, so it has been there for some time.  But, perhaps the top one is newish?  At least, I've never really noticed it despite walking by it a few times a week. They both mark the same thing:  the station as a 'landmark'. I found t his set of minutes from the Village of Downers Grove Village Board that recommended a resolution making the station a "Landmark Designation" . Here below is a closer look at the story in the bottom plaque: If you read closely, you'll see that this isn't the original station, but was built in 1916. I'm a little bit 'get off my lawn' on this landmark status.  Have you seen the Fairview Station?  Go look at it here in all of it's stucco glory . I love me some old, vintage buildings.  But it isn't the original station.  And now we've effectively handcuff our government into NOT changi...

Back at the beginning of the month, I posted a photo of a relic from a long-gone Burny Brothers Bakery on York Street in Elmhurst that had recently been unearthed by the construction crew and owners of the soon-to-open Beerheads bar right in the heart of the Elmhurst City Centre.  You can see all the posts about the Beerhead Bar & Eatery construction here .    In that post, I expressed my hope that between the owners of the building, the contractor and the folks behind Beerheads , there would emerge a sense of history and conclude that retaining this cool relic would only add to the flavor of their new place. Well...guess what?  They're all over it!  Seriously.  I heard heard from the owner of Global Builders, Carmen Gratace, who said that they've confirmed with the owners that the 'welcome mat' from Burney Brothers is indeed staying.  Kudos to Global Builders.   You can find their site here .  We should applaud both Carmen and his en...

If you walk by the construction site of the new Beerheads Bar on the Northeast corner of First and York in the Elmhurst City Centre, you'll see a bit of progress on the building.   I last posted about the status of the project here on the blog in February .  You can go down the whole rabbit hole of posts related to the site here on the blog . But, in addition to seeing the exterior construction progress, if you look inside one of the new doorways, you'll also see this - the photo above. It is a relic from the past. And was a stonework 'welcome mat' for Burny Brothers.  I had never heard of Burny Brothers, but 'teh Googles' quickly educated me. From this Burny Brothers archive site : Burny Brothers Bakery was founded in 1910 in Chicago, Illinois by a working-class immigrant family, and grew to become a successful, uniquely American enterprise. The founding family sold its interest in 1963 to Beatrice Foods Co., which in turn sold the wholesale divisi...