Cindy that was one of granny's from the Arbor Day foundation a few years ago .
The Dogwood , Cornus Florida) too much Sun where it is small for a decade old


A Lidendron Tulipfera (YellowPoplar ) That I did grow from seed I was going to show more than the trunk , but the Battery went dead ,, Digital camera thing ,,



I forgot , 54 degrees now and falling , light mist falling , feels cold .

it's 22 hours from me, to Dyersville - not going to be driving there any time soon
Not sure if it was directed at me, for driving time, but there is is, anyway!

What a great 2 days! We have a father & son that are helping Bob build the addition, etc. Yesterday Jessie, the son worked, and today Ken, the dad worked. Both very capable and willing carpenters, Ken's coming back tomorrow, as Jessie is only available on Saturdays.

45°/67°/58°
Partly sunny. South wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Dave,
I am sorry you can't get out in the garden. Weather has sucked all year.

Cindy,
I thought only the little dahlias would grow from seed.
Yes, they were big tubers when she gave them to me. I mean huge! I gradually lost one a year over winter. I only have a small space under a closet cool enough to keep a few things. It's the only place to store my Zephyr lilies.

Jim,
At least the grumpies go, lol!
Cute kitty pic! LOL over the help to guard the cans! Too funny!
LOVE zinnias!
Impressive to grow a tree from a seed!

Ginny,
Love the anemone. My neighbor gave me a pink one and it has spread well.

Susan,
You will beat winter yet! How nice to have some help.

It was nice yesterday late in the afternoon so I finished cutting back flowers.

Just wondering if anyone cuts back their Daylily foliage before winter. I have a few that are still sending up flowers but was thinking about cutting back the leaves on the others. Let me know your thoughts. I have already cut back the Iris so that my spring chores will be somewhat easier. Thanks.

Good morning. 53F now with hazy sun, heading to 61F. Odd that 70F is the forecasted high for Chicago, 30 miles away. Might be the silly lake thing. It was damp and chilly here yesterday - cloudy most of the day - so I was ok with staying indoors. But I already have some outdoor things lined up for today.
Jim - how cool to have started that yellow poplar! I've done the Arbor Day trees as well and have a few that have survived. I felt bad that more hadn't survived but I was an almost complete gardening novice then.
Sally - I doubt that I would end up with a huge dahlia tuber by starting from seed the first year but I don't have cool places to store over winter.
Jeanne - I probably will trim the foliage on my day lilies as it sprawls everywhere in my small bed. Maybe the long strappy iris leaves as well. I only modestly trim shrubs in fall if they're really out of control and then only after our first frost and things are shutting down for the winter. Most shrub pruning gets done in early spring.

You're going to love this one. I still had 3 peony BARE ROOTS to plant in my daughter's yard. In order to speed things up, since I have to drive 45 min to her house, I asked her to dig 3 holes where we previously marked and told her to dig down maybe six inches down and about 8 to 10 inches across to get a good start. She had not had time to do the digging so her significant other was over yesterday morning and offered to do it for her. Of course she said yes When I got there she forewarned me (he was gone by then) that the holes were a LITTLE larger than I requested. I should have taken a picture because there were 3 perfectly dug holes, perfectly round, and you could have easily sunk a complete 5 gallon bucket into each one We spent most of our time filling in all 3 holes before I could even plant the peony roots We got a good laugh on that one but she wasn't going to complain to him because she didn't want to have him tell her fine do it yourself next time

I've never trimmed back my day lilies, but it does sound like a good idea. When I get some lilies planted here, I may just do that. Boy it looks "naked" without any perennials here AT ALL!

We have an ice fog today, but I can see a bit more of the sky than I could yesterday, so that's good. Bob's off to Olds, to pick up parts of the order for skirting that was missing from the original order. Our helper has a truck, so it's easy enough for us to get it without paying the delivery charge! Mind you, as it's missing, he shouldn't Have a delivery charge.......

Ginny - nice to have done it, but wow - that big, eh? He spent more time than he needed to He needed a ruler, obviously, cuz he can't tell size "by eye"

Jeanne - I usually wait until Spring to clean up the daylilies, partially because I think the foliage insulates them some against our winter, and partially because I get lazy in the Fall! That way I don't need to cut them, I just go around and grab all of the dead foliage at one time and do a major clean up for Spring. Saves me doing it twice. I do the same thing with my other perennials that die back. So far this has worked well for me and since I live in the country I really don't worry about how it looks. Some of the perennials also have winter interest and have seeds for the birds, coneflowers, etc. Have a great day everyone

oh yes, the Spring - I do a major cleanup then. Ours is a dry climate, and we need to hold onto the moisture as much as possible. Never thought of it before, but leaving stuff in will hold it more than bare ground will.

I've adapted a chop and drop method of cleanup so my soils are never completely bare through winter. Garden cuttings are then covered with leaves when the trees finally shed them. By spring, a lot of the plant debris has broken down and hopefully improved the soil. I don't prune shrubs or roses "hard" until spring and some perennials like grasses or herbs don't get trimmed until spring. It does help create a screen that helps the snow collect on the beds rather than blowing right across with the wind drying the soil.

In our area, it's known as The Badlands (true name) and we're only about 3 days from a drought at any point in time.

Thanks for all your advice everyone. I think I will wait until spring. I like how the dead Daylily leaves pull away easily. So it should be easy in the spring to pull them away. Irises are another story. I have actually gotten slivers trying to pull them without gloves on. I learned my lesson quickly with them.

Enjoy this great fall although it is a windy here today, cloudy and only 50 degrees at 1:00 PM.

Near 60 here warming up to low 60's today , suppose to be 80 tomorrow

Jeanne , I cut mine back after their done blooming , foliage and all ,This time of year they are grown back the foliage

Sally Trees grow like weeds here , a little place a few seeds and grow their self the trees do obviously , Because of wires , small trees mostly

Cindy mostly the same here about the Arbor day trees , the Lavender the dogwood I have,), a few given away redbuds I have a couple Apple trees from there ,

Susan years ago I lived in some dry places , Makes plant growing different ,

Trying to make wild weeds look good is where I am

We've put our garden away for the season, well, except for a small patch of swiss chard that is still hanging in there. We're going "no-till" next year and we've put down 8 to 12 inches of wood chips. Hopefully it will be pretty much broken down by Spring. I'm tired of trying to grow stuff in clay that turns into concrete over the Summer. You'll have to click on the pic to get the whole shot. Planks on the bottom-right will go into building a couple additional planter boxes.

Mac, that garden spot looks great. I hope no-till works well for you next year.

Thanks Jeanne. We've been planting there for several years, starting with a much smaller plot and enlarging it over time. We've had a pretty good yield but our clay soil requires a lot of prep work every year, including multiple passes with the tiller. We're anxious to see how the no-till works out.

Mac - saw a similar application in a podcast from Back to Eden. Will be interested to hear how it does.

Mac, it wasn't long ago I read something somewhere on your issue with the clay. I want to say they added worm casings and compost. Along with worms to aid in aerating the soil.

Jim - our place is not only dry, but the soil is mainly clay, which means rain runs off. Oh, and did I mention it's hilly? Our current property is level, but our last place had a huge slope in the backyard, and all the water ran away from our place, to the space inbetween ours and the neighbours below the slope (we could look over onto their roof, they were that far down the hill!).