OhWhatA Wednesday – Goldenrod and Aster


This is the third is a series of weekly installments entitled ‘OhWhatA Wednesday’. The intent will be to let you know what looks good in my yard each Wednesday.

I’ll have to admit taking a little liberty with the timing for this one. These pictures were taken a week ago. Lets focus (quite literally) on the Asters and the Goldenrod.

Asters are expected to bloom this time and year, and they just plain old do that. They come in a variety of colors and sizes and are likely to come back repeatedly. Can’t say that I know what kind mine are. If I had cut them back earlier in the year, I could control their height. Preferably, buy plants that grow to the height you want.

Goldenrod has a bad and undeserved reputation for allergy sufferers. It happens to bloom at the same time as nasty things that do cause allergies, but please don’t discount Goldenrod as that is just a coincidence. Butterflies like it, and so should you. Be sure to get a hybridized plant like the Solidago Goldenrod you see here. It has been in my yard for years. It blooms reliably and is not at all invasive like the Goldenrod you see running rampant at the Forest Preserves.

These plants are in full sun, and get no special care.

Pumpkin-a-day #10 – Groovy Lady

Isn’t she lovely! Door County has just got to be the best place for pumpkin sitings.

Pumpkin-a-day #9 – Giraffe & More

Wow! A whole safari of pumpkins at Sycamore.

Pumpkin-a-day #8 – Cinderella’s Pumpkin

Wow! Where do people get these ideas?

Pumpkin-a-day #7 – Birdbath

A Sycamore prize winner. For all of us garden lovers!

Pumpkin-a-day # 6 – Pumpkin Clocks

We saw this grandfather clock pumpkin and the other clock pumpkins as we made the rounds in Door County on a past visit.

Pumpkin-a-day #5 – My Not-So-Easy Carved Pumpkin

Here is one of my pumpkins from last year. True to form, I picked a not-so-easy one. Also true to form, it was garden related with butterflies and flowers. I spent an afternoon making my 2 pumpkins, and enjoyed that. I used a regular paring knife, and just didn’t carve all the way through.

Pumpkin-a-day #4 – Easy Kitty

Liz has the right idea. One great pumpkin and it was so easy. She stopped at Walgreens last year, bought a kit, and made this pumpkin in 5 minutes.

OhWhatA Wednesday – It has got to be Dahlias

Last week was the first installment of ‘OhWhatA Wednesday’. Today is the second installment. This series may be short with winter coming, still, the intent will be to let you know what looks good in my yard each Wednesday.

I wrote a posting on Dahlias just a few days ago. You might want to look at those pictures as well to see why I am adamant that there is nothing else, let me repeat, nothing else, even in the competition this week. Yes, there are other plants doing nicely, but comparatively, the rest of the garden would be Michael Bolton on the dance floor. And if you saw Dancing with the Stars, you know he just didn’t measure up. Even Len would give the Dahlias a 10 if he saw them.

Let me try to explain. You may have seen Dahlias before, maybe even some of the dinner-plate size Dahlias, and thought that the grower must have performed magic to grow a flower that size. Or you’ve seen them as pictures on packages at the store, thinking that they wouldn’t grow like that for you. Let me assure you, in either case, the magic is in the Dahlia. It comes in many size, shapes, and colors, and it is a performer.

The Dahlia I’m holding at the Dahlia Club picnic is a hybrid from the garden of Steve Meggos.
Steve takes Dahlia growing to another level, not satisfied with making selections from the multitude of choices available. Steve basically makes new varieties of Dahlias and has started to sell them.

Dahlias come in different sizes as well, look at this little cutie.

Follow along with me, starting on February 14th, as Mike starts his Dahlias take the “7-month Valentines gift” trek from tuber to spectacular. For now, know that I took 4 vases full to work yesterday, and the Dahlia garden still looked great.

The rewards of growing Dahlias are huge…just like the size of the flowers!

Pumpkin-a-day #3 – The Painter

A third transitional pumpkin/scarecrow for your viewing pleasure. Notice those adorable plaid cheeks.