By Carol Cichorski, on November 22nd, 2011 
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.
- Founder Antonio Pasin was 16 when his family sold their mule to help pay for passage from Venice to America.
- In 1927 he wanted to make wagons affordable — “for every boy and for every girl”. He switched to steel for much of the construction and adapted mass production techniques from the auto industry. He named the new model the Radio Flyer after two major advances of the time, radio and manned flight.
- His company was already the world’s largest producer of toy coaster wagons during the great depression of the 30’s.
- In the 1940’s, America was at war. All wagon production from 1942 – 1945 was replaced with the manufacturing of five-gallon steel “Blitz Cans” for the war.
- Oh there’s more. Radio Flyer is proud of their heritage, and it’s fun to read about this slice of Americana on the Radio Flyer Timeline page.
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.
Want more ideas for Christmas gifts for gardeners? See Christmas Gifts For The Gardener – Foxgloves and Christmas Gifts For The Gardener – Vases, Defined. Or come back next week and we’ll see if I can come up with an idea that hits home for you.
By Carol Cichorski, on November 14th, 2011  Two postings in one day; amazing. I just finished writing about a lovely rose. Now let’s move on to Christmas Gifts for Gardeners and talk about vases.
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 opening is bigger than the bud vase, and smaller than the florist’s vase
It complements my flowers; does not overwhelm them
It is well enough weighted to not topple over when a heavy flower is placed in it
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.
 There is even an exception at our house to the big and clunky rule. If I have a large grouping to display, I have this vase that John and Heather made. They wrote ‘Mom’s love bugs’ on the back. So cute. You could personalize a vase!
 You can buy vases in any price range. This one could be for the shopper with the urge to splurge.
 Many of mine are a bit more modest, having been acquired at garage sales and resale stores. You can take the kids on a trip to Goodwill and they can very carefully pick a vase to buy with their piggy bank money. You are even helping to save our planet by reusing and recycling.
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.
Want more ideas for Christmas gifts for gardeners? See Christmas Gifts For The Gardener – Foxgloves. Or come back next week and we’ll see if I can come up with an idea that hits home for you.
By Carol Cichorski, on November 14th, 2011  It’s lovely. It’s lonely. One beautiful rose.
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.
By Carol Cichorski, on November 10th, 2011 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:
They look like this now, as I sadly pack by gardening basket away.
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.
By Carol Cichorski, on November 5th, 2011 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.
Still, as Mae West would say, ‘you’re really doing it for the experience.’ Today was all about the experience. Yes, November tasks were accomplished. More importantly though, they were accomplished outside on a beautiful day. The air was crisp, the sun was shining, the ground was clothed in colorful leaves, and I was lovin’ it.
 I started with a pre-emptive strike on the Rose of Sharon. Given the opportunity, the seed pods would have dropped and taken root. I would have had many tiny Rose Of Sharon plants to remove next spring. Not really a hard job, but one I prefer to avoid. Removing the seed pods should probably have been done in October to be fully effective, but there were enough seed pods left on the trees to make the task worthwhile.
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.
 Then it was time to kiss the cannas goodbye. If you’ve ever wondered if cannas multiply, the answer is a resounding ‘yes’. Here is the largest clump that came out today. As I hosed them down, watering myself along the way, I decided to add a waterproof watch to the items I’ll be suggesting in the soon to come blogs on ‘Christmas gifts for gardeners.
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.
This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24
By Carol Cichorski, on November 1st, 2011 The month of November, per Edith Holden’s “Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady”…
The ninth month of the old Roman year, which began with March. The 11th of November was held to mark the beginning of Winder. The Anglo-Saxon name for November was ‘Blot-monath’, (Blood-month the latter name probably alluding to the custom of slaughtering cattle about Martinmas for winter consumption.
And from the collection of poetry Ms. Holden has been kind enough to share with us…
If there’s ice in November that will bear a duck,
There’ll be nothing after, but sludge & muck.’
Ok, so maybe that doesn’t count as fancy-schmancy muse poetry, but its fun!
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.
By Carol Cichorski, on October 28th, 2011  We are getting down to the wire – 3 days till Halloween. If you haven’t made your Halloween pumpkin yet, let me help. Well, let me clarify that. I’m not really going to come over and ‘help’. I am going to make it easy for you to get through this though. The pumpkin we made this year took all of 5 minutes. All you need is the picture. You don’t even need instructions.
Feeling more ambitious? Then search this site for pumpkin or scarecrow. You’ll find a lot of ideas, as I posted a picture a day in September and October of 2010. Now, go and create!
When you get back, go on the internet to check out this weekend’s Sycamore (Illinois) Pumpkin Festival. This is the 50th anniversary, and I have high expectations. We go most every year to enjoy the display of decorated pumpkins on the courthouse lawn. Many of the pumpkin/scarecrow pictures in last year’s postings came from there. Sycamore will have a craft fair, parade, carnival, scary stories, crafts, and of course, music and food.
If you see someone dancing, take a closer look to see if it’s Mike and me. You can thank us for making your pumpkin carving so easy that you had time to go to the festival. Here is a picture of Mike so you can recognize us.
By Carol Cichorski, on October 21st, 2011 It was like a Normal Rockwell painting. Autumn leaves slowly swaying back and forth during their descent; a crunchy-crackly-kickable layer already covering the ground. Ghost and goblin costumed children laughing as they rolled down hills. A not so very scary maze decorated with spiders and cob webs, with even more children scampering throughout. Mike & I perched in our viewing spot, in, of all places, a tree house.
That was Morton Arboretum (in Lisle) last autumn. I was so impressed that I made sure to tell John and Heather to take Alexandria there this year. I even noted in my Outlook tasks so I wouldn’t forget.
And they did go to Morton this autumn, as well as Cantigny. Look at the fun Allie is having in the leaves. I’m so thrilled with this picture that my son Kevin took of Allie that I’m going to enter it in the Gardening Gone Wild Picture This Photo Contest for November. A worthy entry if I must say so myself.
There is still time for you to enjoy Morton as well. Start by visiting Morton Arboretum on the web. Then go one of these last October weekends for AutumnFest. Visit the trail of scarecrows, paint a pumpkin (Allie did), and build your own taffy apple with nuts and candy toppings.
And there’s more. Like the Theatre-Hikes, where zombies rise from their graves and take over the world. Or GourdWorks, where you can watch the Illinois Gourd Society artists make beautiful gourd creations. You can even attend a gourd decorating workshop.
Can’t make it for the festivities? Go another time. Here we are this last spring. Alexandria loves Morton Arboretum. Their children’s area isn’t so much a garden as an experience. And basically, any place with so many colorful and creative places to play qualifies as a great time for her. Note the happy children playing in this picture. You’ve got John on top of the acorn, me prancing, and Heather watching. Oops, no kid in this picture. I guess adults can have fun too.
Here we go; kids really do have fun here. Allie is making beautiful music.
So go to Morton yourself, or tell your kids to take their kids.
John and Heather like Morton so much they even have an annual pass. Don’t you just love it when your kids listen to your ideas – and like them!
By Carol Cichorski, on October 15th, 2011 I hate to admit it, but next month at this time, my garden will be pretty much done for the year. So I’m not going to admit it. I’m going to be oblivious to reality and just enjoy that my garden still has beautiful flowers. Oh sure there are dahlias. With 100 plants that go till a hard frost, we most assuredly have more dahlias than I have time to put in vases and share. Not a bad problem to have.
 The dahlias are not alone. For example, my toad lilies are pretty amazing. Toad lilies are one of those shade plants that just lie in waiting. All summer long they are just kind of, well, kind of just there. A nice enough arrangement of leaves, but not commanding any attention. They are ready for attention now. Such a beautiful little speckled flower. And it gets better – the flowers run all the way up and down the stems. Who thinks these things up? Oh yes, I’m tending His garden. That explains the creativity. Toad lilies are one of those plants that you may not have known you wanted – till now. Mine only gets about a foot tall, though it comes in other varieties that grow bigger.
 Cleome hasn’t given up yet either. Once you have cleome, you always have cleome. The annual plant dies, but the seeds are there. Oh yes, the seeds are there. Actually, here, there, and everywhere. Cleome is one of the few reseeders that I allow to have its own way, like here on the path by the porch. It’s my garden and I get to decide where it’s going to look less than organized.
I also get to decide when I’m done sharing. So though there are other beauties still blooming, I’m not going to take the mystery out of our relationship.
What else is blooming in the October garden? To see what other bloggers have blooming on the 15th of every month, visit “
The dahlias are not alone. For example, my toad lilies are pretty amazing. Toad lilies are one of those shade plants that just lie in waiting. All summer long they are just kind of, well, kind of just there. A nice enough arrangement of leaves, but not commanding any attention. They are ready for attention now. Such a beautiful little speckled flower. And it gets better – the flowers run all the way up and down the stems. Who thinks these things up? Oh yes, I’m tending His garden. That explains the creativity. Toad lilies are one of those plants that you may not have known you wanted – till now. Mine only gets about a foot tall, though it comes in other varieties that grow bigger.
Cleome hasn’t given up yet either. Once you have cleome, you always have cleome. The annual plant dies, but the seeds are there. Oh yes, the seeds are there. Actually, here, there, and everywhere. Cleome is one of the few reseeders that I allow to have its own way, like here on the path by the porch. It’s my garden and I get to decide where it’s going to look less than organized.
I also get to decide when I’m done sharing. So though there are other beauties still blooming, I’m not going to take the mystery out of our relationship.
What else is blooming in the October garden? To see what other bloggers have blooming on the 15th of every month, visit Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day for our Garden Bloggers’ Bloom day entries.
By Carol Cichorski, on October 10th, 2011 Beautiful flowers for Shermin. Creative fun for me. Looks like a win-win. Shermin’s engagement party just happened to fall during prime dahlia season. You can see that I had no shortage of blooms for table arrangements.
Yes, there was quite a palette to pick from. You can see here that we even grow dinner-plate size dahlias in our deck planters.
We don’t really dahlias in our deck planters. Mike is good, but not that good. He does grow dahlias in our two dahlia gardens. You can see one of them in the background.
Here are some of the finished products for your viewing pleasure. Please hold your applause till the end.
Ok, you can applaud now.
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