No snow since the .50" we got Saturday night. It's 27 here with a high of 30 today. Lows for Wednesday night through Friday night are 17-20. I've been spoiled by the mild winter we've had so far and always expect the temp to rebound every time there's a cold snap. Judging by the long range forecast, that ain't happening in the near future! January is here in all it's glory!!

Are there any "ice heads" out on the lakes up there, yet?

There were out half a week after our derecho weather. I wouldn't think the ice would be back so soon, but they didn't sink. Who knows, I've seen shanties here and there but not too heavily. Unsure if it's because there are people like warmth more or that it's too much for the young ones? I'd say that the ice isn't thick enough just yet it's been to mild up until this weekend. And this cold cold can go.

My tree is making me feel lousy. So hopefully tonight I can begin the process of getting it out the door.

One item of cleaning 1/2way done. Woot!

Our lakes are frozen solid, Dan. We've already got some ice fishermen out there right now.

Do you ice fish, Johannian? Winters here have been so mild lately that I probably haven't gone more than 3 times in the past 4-5 years. I won't go until the ice is 6" thick. I bought a floatation jacket years ago and have only worn it twice.

An older guy at work used to say we ice fishermen were a bunch of "ice holes". At least, I think he was saying "ice". LOL

Happy New Year, everyone! No new orders placed here...yet. Doing pretty good holding myself to the no overbuying rule. Waiting to see when a vendor that only really sells on FB posts his list, which was in mid January last year. Might have a better chance of getting what I want that way instead of the website tuber wars. It was stupid cold this weekend (-20 wind chills) with a couple inches of snow. You can keep that weather up there, Scarlet!

Went down and checked on the tubers in vermiculite and plastic shoeboxes. Most look pretty good so far. Hope to get the saran wrapped tubers organized alphabetically here in the next week or two. I usually don't unwrap them unless I see gooey messes forming.

Ice holes...hahaha. Might be a witty play on words!

Melissa: well I'm glad you've resisted purchasing. Interested to know what you'll be looking for!

And no - why not share in the winter love?! Good gravy this cold is lousy! I got accustomed to 30° days instead of -20°. I'd prefer the 30 but if it kills any further JBs I'm all for it and will stay in the house bundled up.

AM: I decided to finally take some time to clean. I've about this area done. I've got things to wipe down and all but once done, it's hopefully done until we ooze again. Which inevitably happens at this house. But I've made a good dent in it and I'm that makes me happy. Once that's out of the way I can get going on my quilt project and get it done and out of here.

I finalized my list of what I think I want to get finally, and now if these are available that would be great. Turns out the one I have been ogling was not named correctly and it is one that is out of my budget. So with time maybe that cost will come down. Or maybe I'll have one similar out of my seeds. Will see. I have to remind myself I do have my seeds.

Dan:
Having just come from San Jose CA, I'd never really gone fishing in my life. Then I came here, and now I'm really good at catching trout. But I haven't gone ice fishing yet. An experienced ice fisherman from church wants to take me and my brother and show us how to do it, so we should be going soon.

Good luck and never go alone (though I sometimes do). It's a good idea to get a set of ice picks, connected with a cord, and wear them around your neck. If you ever fall through, it's hard to pull yourself out on slick ice. I've been lucky and haven't taken a dip.... yet! Knock on wood!!!

Or fish on shallower water! I always get freaked out w the shanties on the middle of the deepest part of the lake. Ditto those driving their loaded suburban w onto the ice. And inevitably at least one goes through the ice yearly. Crazy stuff. Be careful, dress warm and have fun!

AM: yay! Another clean space. I feel I'm slowly regaining control at least of my main work space in the house. Too many people have been home and it's just been overrun by us all.

Plant wise - I think my tunies are madder than a hornet at me. I think they are too cold. But what do I know maybe all their growth has been in their roots. Makes me wonder what my soon to be growing dahlias may choose to do.

Hey dahlia seed savers - when did you start leaving some of those seed heads alone to do their job? If I leave one bloom on maybe early august do you think my plant will quit blooming as it makes seed or will it keep busy if it's only one or two flowers? I'm trying to update my calendar so I don't wait until the last minute like I did last year. I guess I'd rather be milking then fretting whether or not I'm too late to grow seeds and frost.

Johannian- what made you move from California to South Dakota? Wait...is your mom Kim? She used to post on this forum a little while back, if I remember correctly.

Well, I put in a small order with a newer vendor. Looks like their zone is colder than mine, so tubers probably won't get shipped until May, from what their website says, but I'm willing to gamble. Scored a couple of Wyoming Wedding tubers!

Scarlet, which variety was out of your budget? Sorry I can't offer any insight into seed saving, didn't even bother getting any seeds from my annuals this year. Too many proverbial fires to put out, I guess.

Various things; more property; politics; safer; etc. I can honestly say I like SD better than the busy life of CA. No traffic here, either, which is a big plus.

And yes, @KFredenburg is my mother. She was the one who showed me the site two years back.

I've got some seeds for annuals: peony poppies. Supposedly, I'm to sow them in February. We'll see how true that is...

Mornin all!

So I sat last night and started to lay out my dahlia bed. I know crazy as I'm not guaranteed anything I ordered from any vendor - kind of like a weather forecast and we know how correct those are - but I'm tired of winter already. I've got all the tall ones marked and now will I back through and mix them up - again looking at what a bee may help with. I've got a list of my seed producers from last year and I plan to work w/the new ones as well as one of the ones I didn't maintain well for seed last year. Not early enough in the fall season did I realize it would take forever to go through that process.

I work today so I need to make sure I've got some extra things to noodle when it's slow slow. Because I'm sure that will happen.

My phone just chimed at me - fab. Bad weather on way. 3" snow and 45 mph winds. Woot. Why all the wind of late? 3" of snow is nothing so don't freak out the weather alerts.

Menards has their 15% off bag sale so last year I went and filled it w/seeds and pots. I think I may run tomorrow morn (well wicked weather is until 6pm wed ) and fill a bag plus I need to find a few home fixit items like toilet flappers.

That mean a I need to do my pot count and see what I can do.

Melissa: I hope things are going well. You've been quiet of late so maybe work is bogging you down. Have you and the man friend any travel plans or hunkering low w the world? Are you getting out? I know you work from home but I also know seeing others still is limited.

Dan: I've got a shiloh on my list. Unsure if that will come my way but I can try. I'm still struggling to find all my answers at one time. I'm glad vendors can tell us the height but I would also love to know an approximate bloom time. I know it's dependent on each garden location. But hey give me an approximation.

Good luck getting out on the ice! Could you tell me what trout taste like? I need to increase kid2s fish consumption. I loathe salmon (more the smell) but I need to be mindful of the DHA/EPA and mackeral and sardines are high too. But I really don't like fish and tend to only grab cod. Any ideas? My nephews fish so maybe I can ask for help from them too when it comes to supply.

Arlene: keep working those muscles! Spring is coming. and you usually have a large amount of plantings to do and surround yourself with.

Mary: how's the wedding planning? The illness? And your business plans? Did you have that bug meteor explode over your head on Jan 1? I think it was Pittsburgh.

Gary: not to disappoint, I can't sleep yet again! How did the chili turn out?


Hello all. - happy day to you!

Chili is good. Nothing much going on indoors or out. Watching the amaryllis develop. Once they kick it into gear, they mean business!

My amaryllis have leaves.

But my papers it's are now up at about 6".

Tomorrow is my day to spend with them all and take a look. I also need to do my tuber check. I asked the hubs to help me as a just in case there is a long tail variety hanging about. Dang things. Haven't seen any evidence but I'd rather be prepared.

We have sunshine! But the down side of that is it's only 26 degrees with a wind chill of 15. High of 40 today and tomorrow, then who knows when we'll see 40 again. At least there's very little snow in the 10 day forecast, just 1-3" possible Thursday night.

I got a catalog in the mail yesterday from K. Van Bourgondien. They have a ton of dahlias but my experience with them tells me to "stay away, far away"! Most are $18-19 per 5. I love their description of Santa Claus. It says "Massive"! and "reaches 8" across". Yeah, right!

Scarlet, I don't really care for trout. I'll stick with walleyes and crappie. I've caught a ton of trout and salmon but it's strictly "catch and release". I tried salmon years ago and once was enough! Reminded me of a recipe for carp that said, place carp on a board, add butter, lemon juice, dill, etc and bake for an hour. Then throw away the carp and eat the board! The salmon sold in stores are a different type(s) but I don't care for those either.

Years ago, I read an entry in "Ripley's Believe it or Not" about a place where the fish (carp) were so thick that ducks walked on their backs. I said "BS"!!! until I actually saw it for myself. Unbelievable! It's a big tourist attraction where people come to feed them bread. I have videos of ducks desperately trying to get to the bread and the fish lifting them up out of the water. Too bad it isn't something besides slimy carp.

Happy New Year everyone! (I forget if I said this already... lots going on)

Lol Dan I got that catalog too! I always look but know not to buy! I hope the lilies I bought from them last year look good this summer. They did seem to have a large selection of dahlias. I feel like someone recently asked me if I grew Santa Claus. I feel like I remember comments on here about it not being so great in addition to how small it actually is? I feel like a dahlia named for Santa Claus should be very large since no one likes a skinny Santa gross carp. I think that is what makes up most of our fish population in the Pittsburgh rivers.

I of course got nothing I wanted to do done AGAIN. Busy weekend and still feeling crappy. Push is going to come to shove this week though because I was firm with my indoor tulip planting date. If I'm buying dirt for that I'm bound to plant at least one of the other items on my list!

I also was gifted with several boxes of vases from a few relatives over the weekend at our holiday gathering.... and I need to get them out of my car before something breaks! Here is the thing. I have no where to put them unless I clean the basement and garage and if I am going to do that I might as well get my tuber tasks underway as well.

I decided I want to unwrap everything and mist with my antifungal spray then allow to dry and then re-store them. Not sure if I'll be rewrapping them all or just getting containers for each variety. I have Teddy in a plastic shoe box with plastic wrap over the top and they look fine and unshriveled even though they don't have any vermiculite or peat moss to cover them. I've been wondering if that would work for others or at least the ones I have 30 plus tubers in storage of. That is about the level of protection they were stored in my garage last year until I divided them in January and I only had a few things not make it. Perks of having a damp garage?

I feel like I need an accountability support group for all of this! Someone check in with me Friday. I am reserving that day for all of this!!! Tulips & dahlia spraying/garage cleanup! Of course Friday is the coldest day this week! I suppose my punishment for procrastination. I'll try to buy a temp gauge for the garage this week too.

I'll update my spread with any losses as I get my tubers resorted. Hopefully there are not many if any. Let me know if anyone is interested in seeing my list. I have Melissa marked for a Summer Rain (is that right? or was it Bubbling Over?) and I think Scarlett you said you needed some new CAL? I will definitely have those! I also want to experiment with shipping cuttings if I am successful propagating them. I'll need volunteers! I started to save some clamshells in the width Stonehouse uses.

Hopefully by the end of the month I'll also get to inspecting my friends tubers and dividing anything further or tossing any bad ones etc so I can get a better inventory list of those for trade and sale. But I have that list in my spreadsheet too.

No new purchases for me. Not even any new seeds since my purchase I told you all about last. I guess I need to start checking Cowlitz and Crazy 4 Dahlias. I am also considering buying some mums from Kings this year. That'll be this month. .

Maybe I am breaking down and need a day planner. I never liked using my "assignment notebook" in school, but maybe things have changed! I have basically 4 different jobs (5 if you include babysitting) + a wedding to plan. Gah. Feeling like I just want to hide from it all and nap the whole year!

Scarlet:
Trout tastes really good, it's my favorite fish by far. When fresh off the oven or grill, it never is dry. That's one of the reason why I don't really like sea fish, because it's so dry. Freshwater trout (although steelhead is good as well) is always juicy. And if you put some garlic on 'em with some pepper...I'm drooling just thinking about it.

My trout motto: "Catch 'em with garlic, cook 'em with garlic."

Did everyone get that K Van catalog? Dan, are you sure you've sworn them off? I flipped through it and tossed it in the trash can. Those pics of the carp are crazy, and I can see why it's a tourist attraction. Probably only need to see it once, though.

Johannian- that makes total sense about why your family relocated. A few years back I was talking to a lady who lived there on the phone at work, and she was telling me about the cost of living and all of the other negatives associated with CA.The political scene there would make me flee, too. Good luck with your seeds, February will be here soon.

Scarlet, I'm still here, just decompressing after the holidays. Lots of binge TV watching and the usual Winter dread. I do go out and about on my days off, and have been trying to stay away from the news as I'm over the fear mongering and division that they endlessly sow. Plus, every time I do pay attention, all they talk about is Covid and the prices of everything continuing to rise, which really ticks me off. I love how you mentioned that you only really like cod! That's the only fish I genuinely like too, but for everything else, well I recommend smothering it with tartar sauce and swallowing very quickly.

Gary- sounds like you are enjoying retirement and the slower pace it brings!

Mary, an accountability support group sounds spot on! So does napping the whole year away. Sounds like you are busier now than when you had your full time job. Summer Rain is the one I wanted, almost sprung for it when Honken opened on Friday, but something weird was going on with his website, and it disappeared, then showed back up as sold out. Oh well. Count me in for volunteering to grow your cuttings. Now I wish I wouldn't have tossed the clamshells from last years SH cuttings, they would have come in handy for you. Not sure if you're still trying to up your 'pastel' dahlias, but just an FYI that my friend has TONS of Fluffles that she will be trying to get rid of, much like your Wyn's Neon Dream.

I feel like I tried saving mine from them, but who knows where they would have ended up, but that is smart. I'll look for them. I have hoarding tendencies when it comes to garden supplies hahaha. Does she just not like the colors of Fluffles or is it a plant habit? or just too many? I've noticed that one before but never pulled the trigger on it. I do like the name. It looks like a more pigmented version of Daddy's Girl which I wanted and lucked into getting because my friend ordered it from SI before her plans changed. Now I'm getting her tuber along with the 30 others she ordered. But anyway I'd be down to try some Fluffles unless they are a problem dahlia for her It also reminds me of Chilson's Pride which was not overly productive for me last year (nor with its tubers!) and could use a replacement.

Garden supply hoarder here, too! My clamshells were in the shed all season, but I tossed them when I was trying to shove all my stakes and hoses in there after digging and dividing was done. My bf mentioned that if I organized the shed, then I wouldn't have to throw things away, but had no time for that when it was rather chilly out. If I leave it messy for long enough, I know he'll straighten it up for me.

Fluffles is cute and pretty floriferous, and I'll also be taking a couple tubers off of her hands. It made like 25+ tubers for her, and then she chose it as her bonus from SI, and had a wtf moment a little later. It does look very similar to Daddy's Girl. She'll be glad to get rid of the surplus!