Why I Oughta...

A quick check-in on our small grouping of Hellebores - Lenten Roses - in the backyard here in the garden diary.  These are planted in a small colony of four.  The last time I showed these was early December when all four were still green and leafy .  As I've mentioned in a few other recent posts, we had a VERY cold period of weather right around Christmas where we saw sub-zero temperatures with no snow cover for insulation.  That moved just about everything in the garden along to their final dormancy stage.   When I was out this past weekend looking at the Hellebores (one Sally's Shell, three Ivory Prince ), I noticed that there was a change that you can see in the photo below:  The Sally's Shell Hellebore has taken on mostly brown and dead foliage while the three more-recently-planted Ivory Prince Hellebores are all still winter green: These are some of my EARLIEST bloomers and typically have the first growth that requires protection from late Winter/early Spring kid tram

The last of the new Amaryllis bulbs is in full bloom this season.  A week ago, I showed the Flamenco Queen flowers on a very tall, slight stalk .  Today I'm posting a photo of the red and white striped Sunshine Nymph in full double bloom.  This is the second-straight season that we've grown the Sunshine Nymph and in both situations it bloomed after Christmas.  Here's last year's post from early January (just about a year ago today) when that version of the Sunshine Nymph was in bloom .    I attempted to keep and force last year's Sunshine Nymph this year , but so far, no stalks or buds.  

 The timing of dormancy in the garden continues to be a real source of learning for me in our garden - with different plants moving at different pacing that varies from year-to-year.  One of the plants that I caught in the garden going through a transition this week was the trio of Twinkle Toes Lungwort (Pulmonaria) that is showing a mix of foliage that appears to be green and some that is showing pure garden death.   See below for a photo showing the three Pulmonaria in early January: This Fall, I moved these these three out further to the edge of the bed, so there is likely a bit of transplant shock , but based on what I've seen over the years, these are right on track.    Here's a post with photos from early March 2021 that shows a similar mix of dead foliage with the new growth.

This Fall, I made a pretty big change in my fern thinking.  I've long talked about how shade gardening is where I find my joy and how hostas and ferns have emerged as my favorite plants in the garden.  And, my first love with ferns was the Ostrich Fern.   I inherited some Ostrich Ferns back in Elmhurst and -for the first time - had success with ferns.  They grew, stood up and even multiplied.  I shared them with my mother-in-law and she grew them in her shade garden successfully.  And, I fostered some of them over there, too .  I even brought some to our house in Downers Grove - including collecting some from my sister-in-laws's teardown garden .   Over the years, I've moved them around and have transplanted them in some spots - including under the tree swing tree and on the side of our house .  I've historically tried to use them *AS MUCH AS I COULD*.   But, then...the change I mentioned above happened.  I started noticing that the Ostrich Ferns weren't performing

A couple of days ago, I posted a photo of the Magnolia tree fuzzy flower bud that I spotted on the tree this Winter and talked about how observing tree buds has really shifted my mental gardening model from a Spring start and Winter finish --> Early Winter start and Fall Dormancy finish.  That means, after the trees shed the leaves, they start to set next-year's buds.  And, *that's* when the season starts (for me, now).  On the same day that I took the photo of the Saucer Magnolia tree, I wandered by the pair of early-espalier Sugar Tyme Crabapple trees that are planted on the south wall of our house.   I planted the pair of these trees in September of 2021 , so this was the first FULL growing season.  They bloomed white flowers this Spring - for their first set of flowers .  And set their first fruit (for us) this Fall .   I've begun to train and prune these trees this season into an (eventual) Palmette Verrier espalier shape  with three or four tiers.  As part of that

Thanks to a tip from the Santa Barbara Baker - who runs a great Ooni pizza oven-centric YouTube channel - I've changed the way that I'm using my Ooni Pro 16 outdoor oven.  Historically, I've used the burner FULL-BLAST, but he turned me on to low-and-slow .  I preheat the oven for at least 30 minutes to get the floor temperature up then, right before I slide the pie off the peel, I turn the temp down to like 1/3rd of the flame power.  This allows for a much longer bake and a crispy, flop-free bottom.  I then turn the burner back up to full power and finish the top off for 30 seconds or so.   I haven't quite figured out or solved the final cheese mix on these low-and-slow Ooni bakes - this one above is about 90% fresh mozz with a few little sprinkles of Fontina.   I've also totally abaondoned the Ooni Pro 16 door because it kept extinsuishing the flame from the burner - due to (I think) - the lack of oxygen.  Maybe...if I modify the door in some way - like drilling h

Tree buds are some of the stars of our Winter garden here in Northern Illinois - Zone 5B.  As I've continued to grow as a gardener and observed the natural rhythm of our garden, I've come to really appreciate buds.    I used to think about the garden season cycle as something that starts with Spring and ends with Winter, but as I've watched our garden more, I've now come to the realization the garden growing season actually starts - for many things - in the fall.  That's when trees set their buds before they head into dormancy.   Tree buds are all unique and tell a story.  One of the sets of buds that I've been following for a number of years is the Saucer Magnolia tree that we planted in our front yard in 2017.  I posted some photos of the Saucer Magnolia buds last year - in February .    Here's how it looks right now - in early January. This tree continues to grow up and out.  And, it appears that the aphid and/or scale problem that has been going on the p