Why I Oughta...

A few days ago, I posted a couple of photos showing how I was using some frost covers to try to extend the dahlia-growing season just a little bit after the first 'hard frost' had arrived in our Zone.   I only have a couple of frost covers, so I wasn't covering *everything* in the garden, which lead to some things suffering from the cold.  The most-prominent plants that took the biggest hit from the frost is the coleus that I've planted as bedding plants.  In front and back.  Below are a few photos showing the 'morning after' - where the frost worked FAST to kill the Sun King coleus in the front yard island bed.   And, the large colony of Inferno Coleus in the backyard, near the patio died back, too: I'll leave this stand for a while and I assume the next time the frost arrives will be permanent for the Winter.  And, this will decline even more without the need to cut-back.  Most of the rest of the perennials weren't affected as significantl...

The last few nights, we were getting freeze and frost warnings from the National Weather Service.  That means that the gardening season is coming to a hard close.  All of our dahlias, however, still have flowers and tons of buds on them.  Before the frost arrived, I cut everything that I could (more on that later), but for most of them, I opted to leave on some of the smaller buds and took action:  covered most of them with frost blankets.  And...crossed my fingers.   Here, below, is one of the Wizard of Oz Dahlias that I wrapped in a frost blanket.  Will the plant make it?  We'll know tomorrow.   The forecast calls for temperature moderation over the next week or more.  So, all I'm looking to do is to simply try to 'extend' part of the growing season with some of the dahlias for another few days.  

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...