Why I Oughta...

Earlier last week, I posted a close-up of the fall colors on the Arctic Jade Korean Maple and talked about how I'm (already) thinking about another Korean Maple tree from the Jack Frost collection.   I bought the Arctic Jade from The Growing Place and when I was there earlier this year, I saw another Korean Maple from the Jack Frost Collection:  North Wind Korean Maple.  Here, below, is a photo of the sign from The Growing Place.  Here's the description from Iseli Nursery's website : The North Wind® maple is our flagship of the hardy Jack Frost® maple collection. It has been unscathed in Midwest field testing, surviving temperatures of -30°F. The palmate leaves emerge red in spring and change to green by midsummer. Showy pink samaras standout against the green summer foliage. When other fall color has faded in northern landscapes, North Wind® continues the show with dramatic tones of orange and scarlet. Negative thirty degrees is great.  It emerges red and...

I planted a native Black Tupelo (Blackgum) tree in our parkway earlier this growing season as a replacement for the London Planetree that didn't make it down there.  They both were small caliper trees, but I paid *a little bit more* attention to the Black Tupelo in terms of watering this season.  Despite some die-back, the tree seems to have made it through the growing season with foliage on the limbs.   And that foliage is what is starting to 'show off' with its Fall colors.  Turning a bright red.  Here, below, is a look at the fall show from the leaves turning red: Back in the 'Getting to Know' post on the Black Tupelo , I included this description:   "One of the most spectacular and reliable fall coloring trees, turning brilliant shades of red and orange..."   Seems that characteristic of the tree (reliably turning fall colors) is turning out to be true - even in this small, young (< 1" caliper) tree.   Late this Winter,...

A couple weeks back, I posted an update on the pizza oven that showed the treated lumber framing that I attached to the front of the block stand (I used Tapcon concrete anchors) as part of the prep work for the installation of the final counter that serves as the 'landing' of the oven.   In that post, I showed *most* of the framing installed, but since then, the countertop installer came by to measure the space.  When he was here, we talked about extending the front of the framing to provide a bit more support.  And, he suggested that I put down a layer of tile-backer board across the top.  The countertop installer suggested that he would use thinset mortar to affix the countertop in-place and the tile-backer board would provide the right base. As I was looking at the framing that I had already installed, I noticed that the left 'leg' was slightly off (in terms of the correct position), so before I finished up the horizontal surface prep, I moved that leg over....

Yesterday, I posted a photo of the 'fall colors' that the dwarf Spring Grove Ginkgo tree (planted in our front yard island bed) and talked about how it was one-of-two anchors in that bed.  The other one being a Northern Glow Korean Maple tree.  The photo at the top of this post shows the current state of that Northern Glow hybrid Maple tree.  Like the Arctic Jade Korean Maple tree in our backyard, this deeply-cut Maple tree has darker centers on the Fall foliage.  This one is further 'behind' the Arctic Jade in terms of changing colors.   This Northern Glow Korean Maple went in the ground in Summer 2024, so this is the second Fall.  

In the Summer of 2024, I planted a small, dwarf Spring Grove Ginkgo tree in the island bed in our front yard .  This tree was one of two anchors (other being the Northern Glow Korean Maple tree) in that (then) small bed.  This year, I planted a large drift of coleus that (somewhat) obscured the Ginkgo, but now that the frost has killed the coleus, the Spring Grove Ginkgo is showing off.   Ginkgos do a good job of turning bright yellow followed by a VERY RAPID (almost 'all at once') leaf drop.   Here, below, is a look at the Spring Grove Ginkgo with its curled foliage showing yellow/gold tips and green centers.   Something to think about this Fall:  Expand this island bed and think about how to best plant-up the bed next year.  There were some wins here (Coleus and hopefully the Ajuga) and some losers (Medusa Allium) and some misses (Didn't plant Autumn Moor Grasses).  

Red centers with orange tips on the deeply cut leaves on our Arctic Jade Korean Maple tree continue to be the star of the "Fall Show" in our backyard.  I posted a photo of this tree showing its colors a few days ago and the tree continues to color-up.  Here, below, is a look at some of the colors on the leaves right now: Previously, I posted about this tree and included a description that compared the Arctic Jade Korean Maple to the Full Moon Autumn Maple - which is a Japanese Maple.  Acer shirasawnum.  One that I've long admired and a big part of why I bought the Arctic Jade.  Not to mention the fact that it is a Korean Maple that is a more cold tolerant than the Acer shirasawnum .   I planted this tree in the front of a curved bed in our backyard as a (sort-of) replacement for the Flowering Japanese Cherry Tree that died last year.  It went in the ground in June , so this is our first Fall with the tree.   Previously, I planted a sm...

No Big Noon Kickoff or Barstool show , so we didn't leave as early as we have in the past for the 11 am kickoff.  And, with Dad's Day being celebrated on campus this weekend, we hit a bunch of traffic on I-57 heading down.  That came as a surprise, but we still arrived in time to get to the Legacy Lounge for some drinks and food and into our seats to see some of the warmup.   For the early-season games, we've sat in the full sun and wished we were sitting further back under the canopy of the upper deck to get some relief in the shade.  This week, it was cold and we were sitting on the east side under the canopy and wishing we were out there in the full sun.   Having an 'easy win' over the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers (the Birthplace of College Football, they'll have you know) was exactly what this Illini fan's heart needed.    Here's our pre-game view at Gies Memorial Stadium: With this sixth win, the Illini are 'bowl eligible'.  Funny how...