Hellman’s Real Mayonaise
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You can take pictures with Santa, and that can be your gift to a favorite gardener, or even a non-gardener for that matter. If you feel the need to still actually buy something for that special person, Bertholds will have their Christmas decor and giftware on sale for the event.
Can’t make it Saturday? Berthold’s is open Monday thru Friday from 8:30 – 6:00, and Saturdays from 9:00 – 5:00. On Sunday, they are at the North Pole helping Santa. Bertholds is at 434 E. Devon Ave, Elk Grove Village, IL, 847-439-2650. The garden center website was under construction at the time of this posting, but it may be up by the time you try to go there. If Bertholds is too far for your sleigh to travel, check out your local garden center for great gift ideas for the gardener in your life.
My garden isn’t just decorative. It is also a place that reminds me of others. I like going out in my garden and being surrounded by those memories. Bob and Joann gave us the heart shaped plant hanger, and the sign that reads ‘The best is yet to come’. Susan from Keno Kozie gave me the concrete birds. I left Keno 3 1/2 years ago and I still think of Susan when I see the birds.
We bring the stepping stones in the for winter. I don’t know that we really need to, but we do.
This project can be messy. If you are looking for other Christmas decorations, handmade gifts, cards and wraps — check out HGTV.
The month of December, per Edith Holden’s “Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady”…
And a wishful thinking motto from Ms. Holden for December…
I think I’ll try this tonight by having Mike start the first fire of the season in our fireplace. I do love falling asleep to the sights and sounds of a crackling fire. Whereforth cometh the inspiration to wax poetic? Garden Bloggers’ Muse Day, where Carolyn Choi of Sweet Home and Garden Chicago has invited bloggers to share our favorite poems, songs, verses and quotes about gardening on the first of the month. Carolyn has left Chicagoland and her blog to follow her heart to North Carolina. Thanks to Carolyn for her inspiration.
I like to give credit where credit is due. Today, credit is due to Susan Holland of Bismarck, North Dakota. Susan’s and my friendship is a testament to the new world we live in – one connected over many miles thanks to modern technology. Susan took one more big technology step recently, as her credits now include an entry into the blogosphere. Her blog, cleverly named Digging Dakota, debuted in October. Susan and I met at the Garden Writers Association symposium in Indianapolis this summer. How perfect. I got to talk to other Gardeners, who write, and associate with them. (Gosh – I wonder how they came up with the name for this group?) Susan and I were roomies, and with it being so easy to communicate electronically these days, we have kept in touch.
So why are these pictures all on her gardening blog? I suggest you check out Digging Dakota to see. One thing that this is – my heartfelt congratulations to Susan for taking the leap. I’ve added Susan’s blog to my blogroll so you can stop in to visit her early and often, just like we vote here in Chicago. I’m even sure she’ll add me to her blogroll now that I have blatantly publicized hers. No pressure here – ok maybe just a little pressure. Heck, what are friends for? Way to go Susan! Did I make a mistake? This picture looks like kids having fun. Nothing to do with Christmas. Nothing to do with gardening. But wait!!! Might not this same wagon be so perfectly sized that you can put a gardening basket it, as well as a bucket or plants, and still put a shovel or two on the side? Why yes, that does seem to be the case.
Note that the Radio Flyer Town & Country has nice big wheels for rounding corners without turning over and dumping your precious cargo (whether that cargo is children or gardening items). It also has removable sides to keep your options open for something that is too heavy and/or large to fit when the sides are in. Radio Flyer had their humble beginning right here in Chicago, and their home office is still here in Chicago. Antonio Pasin’s story is a story of American innovation.
Here is the wagon Antonio Pasin introduced in 1923: Radio Flyer has grown during their 95 year history, making bikes and trikes, scooters, ride-ons, horses, as well as a wide variety of wagons. Yes, Antonio’s wagon has become iconic for children. Maybe its time for his wagon to be iconic for gardeners too.
I’m afraid that my hutch is all vased up with nothing to show. Soon, the vases will all move down to the basement till spring, replaced, sadly, by hats and gloves. Even the lone dahlia pictured here is really a thing of the past. The picture was taken a few weeks ago and that last dahlia of the season has gone from treasure to trash. Ah, but when my flowers bloom, it’s vases of flowers to friends. Vases of flowers to family. Vases of flowers to co-workers. Return the vase and someone else will get flowers. That is until I run out of vases while more find their way back home. If you know a gardener like that, or even a gardener who brings flowers inside for themselves, they might really enjoy the right vase. You see, most of us gardeners have vases, but they are not the vases we want. We’ve got the bud vases that come with a single rose. We’ve got the basic big clunky ones that come from the florist. But neither is right for everyday. So what makes a vase not too big and not too small, but just right? This is my idea of a perfect vase:
The red vase you see to the right is perfect for me. Certainly, there are exceptions to every rule. For example, small mouthed vases may work well if a gardener has several of the same or complimentary vases. You may have noticed the collection of green glass vases in the picture of my hutch, above. I can make a nice arrangement with those.
Take it a step further and repurpose. Look at this favorite vase of mine. Ok, it’s not really a vase, its a watering can. Get creative, because a beautiful waterproof container by any other name is still a vase.
Not much else going on in the bloom department today. And anyway, I want to move on to Christmas gifts for the gardener. So let’s go to Christmas Gifts for the Gardener – The Right Vase, Defined. What else is blooming in the November garden? To see what other bloggers have blooming on the 15th of every month, visit “May Dreams Gardens – Bloom Day” for our Garden Bloggers’ Bloom day entries. It’s time to pack up the gardening gloves, gardening shoes, gardening tools, gardening decorations. Well, you get the idea. And speaking of decorations (note the clever segue) its time to think about Christmas. I can help you find a great Christmas gift for your favorite gardener. This posting will be the first in a series, so come back to see what else this little elf has to suggest. My number one gardening gift choice would be Foxgloves. When I bought a pair in spring, I was pessimistic. Of course the salesperson said they would last. Of course she said they were washable. Of course I doubted those claims. I’m a serious gardener, and NONE of my previous gloves came anywhere close to lasting a season. I took a chance because they were thin enough for my fingertips to work well, and I was not likely to lose a pair of hot pink gloves in the garden. I must admit she was right. The gloves looked like this in April: I did have a separate pair of gloves that I used for really heavy duty tasks, but for the most part I wore the Foxgloves. Then I threw them in the washer and dryer. Impress your gardening friend. Get them a pair of these. Well worth the $18.00 – $35.00 price. My gloves will be ready for duty again next spring. My gardening shoes, on the other hand, just might not make it to another season. Days like today remind me that gardening, like so many ventures, is more about the ride than the results. Don’t get me wrong, I do love having a table full of dahlias to share, like these from a few weeks ago. And I love having this view as just one part of the vista we see out our back windows at summer’s end.
Next, I discovered there was a fungus among us – black spot on a rose. Black spotted leaves on a rose must go, and go they did. Not just off the plant, not just in the compost pile. The infected leaves must be gone gone gone to avoid a reinfectation of the plant.
The bulbs (unlike me) are now clean. They have joined the minions of dahlia tubers that Mike is prepping in the garage for winter storage. I counted 22 (yes 22) boxes of dahlia tubers that he extracted and cleaned yesterday. More on that process in a posting yet-to-come. One thing that I did to make sure my time was enjoyable; I stopped when I was ready to stop. I could have stopped when the work was done, but that would have detracted from the experience. Now its time to relax, as we watch the autumn leaves blowing and glowing, from the comfort of the couch.
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