Why I Oughta...

Yesterday, I posted a photo of the first evergreen arrangement that we put together and talked about how it was the first of a bunch that were on their way.  That first one was small and tightly pulled together.  This second one below is a bit more wild.  It has sprays that open up and cast their tips broadly.  This includes blue spruce, thuja, a couple kinds of eucalyptus, some Magnolia, a short-needled fir with tiny (and pretty cute) pinecones and a couple branches of curly willow.  Foraged, mostly.  Eucalyptus is from TJ's.  This one is also in a mason jar for easy transportation - as this one is destined for across town.  Winter arrangement with eucalyptus, boxwood, fir and blue spruce

With the season hitting Thanksgiving this week, it is time to start making some indoor winter arrangements.  I mean...at least it is in our house.  I've done these the past few years with foraged evergreens and some Trader Joe's foliage plants.  Last year, I went *BIG* with branches and such.  I've learned that smaller can be just as impactful.  Also...mason jars fit into cup holders, so they're super easy to transport.   Here, below is the first one.  This has some faux Winterberries along with a variety of evergreens like Thuja, boxwood, Yew and some sort of short-needled tree like fir.  I also stuck a pinecone in there that I picked up on the sidewalk a few houses up the block. Here, below is a Google search preview widget.  

Welp, dahlia tuber FOMO has struck again.  A few days ago, I showed off my Bonny Blooms tuber order and talked about some of the new (to me) dahlias .  And, earlier this month, I posted about how the marketing emails and TikToks and Instagram posts about tubers were getting me antsy about dahlia tuber ordering .  In that post , I showed a number of dahlias that I thought I'd like to try to grow from various growers.  Those growers included Bonny Blooms.  And, Triple Wren Farms.  And...the place that I've bought my dahlia tubers in the past:  Longfield Gardens .   I've had pretty good luck with their tubers - with one (Maarn) being a dud.  They stood by their warranty and sent another set of Maarn Tubers (after the first ones refused to sprout), but the second set were duds, too. In my first dahlia tuber FOMO post , I included a list of some dahlias that others had recommended.  And, in the Longfield Gardens section, I listed a handf...

Just a few days ago, I posted about how FOMO was arriving when it comes to Dahlia tubers around here.    In the course of doing the research from tuber sellers, I found a sale that was on-going.  That had...some dahlias that I couldn't resist clicking the 'add to cart' button.  Here's what I bought from Bonny Blooms: Some of these were 'planned'.  Others were....impulse buys. Bells Palermo Dahlia Via  Bonny Blooms Bells Palermo .  This one was more expensive than I'm used to, so I bought just one (a mistake, I know).  It is also taller than I prefer.  But, I bought it anway.  Here's what Bonny Blooms has to say about it: A stunning coral to dusty rose gold formal decorative that gradually unfurls around a beautiful green eye. The colors remind me of hazy summer evenings in the Sicilian city of Palermo. Breathtaking at dusk and during late summer sunsets. The plant is strong and productive while the blooms are angled perfectly for design...

Just yesterday, I posted my first Dahlia Tuber Ordering FOMO post about the initial tuber sale s that are about to start online.  This is coming off my second successful season 1 of growing dahlias in the ground for cut flowers.  But, before I can get busy ordering for next year, I have to dig-up and process the tubers that I have on-hand.  This season, we grew A LOT of dahlias.  Here at my house, I grew dahlias in the backyard, sideyard, front yard and IB2DWs.  I also gave away a few tubers - to my mom and sister.  We had something like 20-or-so tubers to start the year.  And, that means...the time has come to try to keep them over the winter.  Last year (my first year), I used the "Saran Wrap Method" to keep my tubers.  And, that seemed to work.  (Or, I just got lucky?).  I only lost a couple to rot with most of the rest coming thru the Winter and sprouting.   Here's a post from early December last year showing the Sara...

Something strange has happened on a one of our large Disneyland Rose bushes on the side of our house:  they are blooming.  At least...a couple of blooms.  And this is after some hard frosts.  This 'large' one is one of the newly planted Disneyland Roses from earlier this Spring.  Here's a post from October that tries to show off the size of these .  They're MUCH bigger than the other ones I've had in the past.    The photos below show a couple of blooms and if you look *behind* the blooms, you'll see some additional Floribunda Rose buds that are hanging around.  What the heck??  I'm attributing this to the little microclimate that exists along the side of our house.  These are tucked in against the house, with southern exposure and about fifteen-feet-away is our neighbor's house.   Disneyland Rose in Bloom After A Frost I didn't cut these off and I stopped pruning back anything on these roses since mid-October.  (I w...

Ten days ago, I posted a pizza oven construction update where I talked about the framing that I attached (with concrete anchors) to the block stand and poured hearth .  I used treated lumber to create a ledge and added tile-backer board to support the countertop.  That was in-preparation of the counter being installed.  Recently, the new soapstone counter (or landing) was installed.  A few photos showing the finished stone slab are below.  The soapstone extends beyond the edge of the oven enclosure and will still be 'proud' when the brick is attached.