By Carol Cichorski, on March 19th, 2019 I’ll be presenting “These are a Few of Our Favorite Things” at the Chicago Flower and Garden Show on Thursday at 11:30. I wasn’t planning to speak this year, but they asked me to fill in for a speaker who cancelled. There was no time to prepare a new presentation, so I opted to “rebloom” a very show appropriate topic. “Favorite Things” is just that, as it is the favorites of local pros and gardening celebs I rub shoulder with while I am the on-site seminar manager. Basically a recap OF the best FROM the best. So if you want to know what favorite the show’s owner shared with me, stop by for a sneak peak behind the curtain.
The show is at Navy Pier on Wednesday March 20 through Sunday March 24th. Its open on Wednesday to Saturday from 10 AM to 8 PM, and Sunday from 10 AM to 6 PM. Stop in for a touch of much needed spring, and say hi to me in one of the seminar rooms.
Have to work? Already downtown? Even busy on Saturday? They’ve got a ticket just for you this year. The Spring Fling ticket gets you into the show from 4 – 8 PM and is available for Wednesday thru Saturday for $10.
By Carol Cichorski, on February 16th, 2019 Yes, I know its February, and in Chicagoland that means snow and it means cold. It also means that the 2019 dahlia season begins! The Central State Dahlia Society recently had a tuber auction. We bought some and Mike will be down in the basement next week planting those and the tubers we stored over the winter.
 Jim Kassner auctioning plants at Central States Dahlia Society tuber auction The question is, where should you buy dahlias? Well, that depends. The first thing to consider is whether you should buy a tuber or a plant.
- Start tubers inside like we do and you can start any day now, take cuttings, and make many more dahlia plants from that tuber. That’s a lot of effort and requires the right conditions and some know-how.
- Start inside 6 weeks before the last frost to get a tuber rooted to plant after the first frost.
- Plant a tuber directly outside two weeks before the last frost here in zone 5 and you won’t get dahlias till September. We personally don’t want to wait that long. If we are buying dahlias in May, it will be established plants instead of tubers. Check out a local club like ours for their sale.
Buying guide:
- Dahlias at big-box stores may have names, or they may simply be marked as a mix. You need to know the name if you want to enter some competitions, and those competitions may require the dahlia to be recognized by the American Dahlia Society. Otherwise, you may not care. Certainly it can be more “iffy” when you don’t know what you are buying.
- A more expensive dahlia may be costly because it is a new variety or doesn’t make tubers well. A more expensive dahlia does not mean its a better dahlia. Check out the American Dahlia Society for top performers like the Fabulous Fifty.
- Dahlias can be 1 foot tall border plants or the 5 foot tall variety we like. They bloom as small as golf balls (Poms) or as large as dinner plates (AA size). You can NOT tell the size of the bloom from the picture – a close-up picture of a small flower can look really large. This Bristol Stripe Mike bought recently at Home Depot doesn’t state the size, and its hard to tell from the pictures. It also says “Plant once for color all summer”. We know it won’t bloom till August, and that assumes we’ve grown the tuber inside and then planted the rooted plant after the last frost.
- If you are going to buy one dahlia that would be big and “could not be killed by a lawnmower” (as Frank Campise, Mike’s mentor, would say), Kelvin Floodlight is the dahlia you want.
Some options for buying tubers:
- The auction was a good place for us to buy dahlias that are hard to get or already out of stock on-line, even if we paid more. Arrowhead Dahlias, for example, has many varieties marked as sold out already.
- On-line sellers will usually take orders early (December for example) and ship them at a time that is right for your area. Swan Island Dahlias is one we buy from.
- Garden centers may have the tubers, and I like to keep local businesses in business – but a garden center that hasn’t opened yet is not an option.
- Big-box stores are absolutely an option. Our Meijers and Home Depot have them in now and Costco will soon.
Spring will come…it will, it will!
By Carol Cichorski, on January 12th, 2019 Eight dollars and eight minutes – that’s about what it took to change my outdoor Christmas planter to a Valentine’s Day planter. It was actually ridiculously easy.
I must admit I had the birdhouse, so the $8 covered the heart-shaped welcome sign and the two burlap hearts. The good news there is you really aren’t spending $8 for a short-term planter, you are adding to your reserves for future projects as well. You can see the evidence of that in the outside Christmas planter I started with. Almost everything there was from previous years except the living material – basically the berries, pine cones, and evergreens. Even the birch branches had been tucked away from last year. 
One thing I’ve learned is to be careful about what could get frozen in. Perhaps I’d have removed the birch snowman, but that was no longer an option in a Chicagoland winter. I may try switching out his scarf for a heart patterned ribbon on a day when it isn’t snowing.
I decorated the fireplace too. It went right from Christmas decor to Valentine’s Day. Of course, it didn’t hurt that the wall behind our fireplace just happens to be red. 
Even there its pretty much scavenger hunt through the house – old Valentines’ Day cards and a candy box, a pitcher from the basement, items I’ve used for Valentine’s Day in the past. What a nice way to pay homage to those pieces of history that you can’t part with, but don’t seem to have a use for. Cuz yes you do!
By Carol Cichorski, on October 26th, 2018 I’d like to introduce you to Frank N. Pumpkin. He is just too cute. And so easy. The good news is that we aren’t looking for perfection here – I’m not good at perfection. I started with a green pumpkin and used craft paint. Then I sprayed him with clear coat and with hair spray. I’m not sure which of the two is keeping the squirrels away, but it’s working. Frank has been outside all week without a nibble.
The inspiration for Frank came from a pumpkin we saw at Pumpkin Patch in Door County. Here is another simple one we saw there…
For the more ambitious amongst us…
And for those with no ambition…just go get your nails done!
By Carol Cichorski, on June 12th, 2018 When you see a pond like this, you can’t help but say WOW! And when it’s in someone’s back yard, that is truly amazing. The next thought, of course, is WHY? I enjoy my pond, and virtually every pond owner wants a bigger pond. That’s a given. But this pond is a serious upgrade from anything I would dream of. It’s a dream come true for John, Sheryl, and their family. And surprise…it made sense for them.
John is a long-time friend of pond enthusiast and builder Brian Helfrich of Aquascape. John has probably seen the Aquascape pond that “is” Brian’s yard and wanted a pond that his kids could swim in too. On a hot summer day, the kids will be out there enjoying the water that reaches 6′ deep at the far end. Its way prettier than a pool, and there’s no chlorine. Sheryl can enjoy breakfast listening to the waterfalls. Wine and friends pond-side? But of course. Already sounds like a winning proposition doesn’t it?
The pond extends from the new patio to the back fence and sure made the neighbors happy. The low land that collected water at the back of the property was troublesome. Now, the 3000 gallon rainwater collection system is underground, collecting water from surrounding properties thus making the standing water problem disappear. Tough luck mosquitoes. 
Ed Beaulieu of Aquascape said they worked closely with the engineers from Arlington Heights. The village’s main concerns included pumps, electrical, storm water management, and fencing.
Now its time to relax and enjoy. Time for family, friends, and for nature. Ed anticipates biodiversity to happen soon – “Build it and they will come.” Expect dragonflies, pollinators, frogs and small animals to appreciate the pond as well.
Thinking of buying a summer home? Think again! You just may be able to create your dream in your own back yard at a fraction of the cost of second home ownership and without any additional drive time.
Check out Aquascape to be inspired!
By Carol Cichorski, on May 21st, 2018 It took FOREVER for spring to arrive in Chicagoland, but BOOM, its suddenly here. My garden is gorgeous! Just look at how beautiful groundcovers can be in the spring…
This one is creeping phlox. It will gently cascade its blooms in the spring. The alliums in the background are pretty cool too.
Ok, I know the alliums aren’t a groundcover, but I needed a segue to show how pretty an allium looked with yesterday’s deviled eggs.
Back to our regularly scheduled program – groundcovers. The yellow stonecrop sedum was a nice addition three years ago. It’s so bright, and certainly doesn’t need flowers. That’s a good thing because it doesn’t have any.
The Dragon’s Blood sedum is growing by the edge of the patio. It is so perfect there. The ground was slightly higher than the patio and I needed something to stop the dirt from falling on the patio edge. It took about 5 years for it to do the job well, and I may be in for some maintenance when it takes over more area. Its roots are shallow and will come out easily by the shovelful. I know cuz that’s how I transplanted them from another area of the garden.
Sweet woodruff is one of my favorites. It looks delicate, but survives our zone 5 winters well. It even looks great even when the flowers are spent. Finally, a groundcover that isn’t a thug! It likes shade and is growing here under an evergreen. Unlike so many groundcovers, it takes a detour around other plants in its path. It has shallow roots and is easy to transplant. You need to know that because you will want it in other places.
Candytuft is a bit of a mixed blessing. It is stunning in the spring when it covers a large area, but ratty looking after that. I often just pull a lot of it out, knowing that if I do, some will still come back next year.
I can’t have a groundcover article without mentioning ajuga. Sure, it looks rather weedy most of the year, but It grows in shade and right now its bright enough to see all the way across the yard.
I’ll end with a few words about the creeping Charlie you know doubt noticed in the last picture. I suppose you could think of it as a groundcover. Maybe I should and they we could stop fighting it. Sigh. So far, creeping Charlie seems to be winning. Mike is on the attack this year, so watch out Charlie, you may have won the battle, but Mike will win the war!
By Carol Cichorski, on February 9th, 2018 In the highly recommended department…
Today is the day for a walk in the freshly fallen snow. We got to Busse before anyone else. Peaceful and Pristine. The woods that is. We were more like Nanook and Nanookette.
By Carol Cichorski, on December 2nd, 2017 Yes, it is December 2nd.
Yes, I live in Chicagoland.
Yes, those are my gardening tools outside.
I kid you not.
Its been another balmy December day where I just HAD to get outside. I don’t do all of my cleanup before winter sets in. I do typically leave a lot for spring. After all, snow landing on something is so much prettier than snow landing on flat ground. But today I could not help myself. The areas that I chose to work on were the ones that I won’t see out my window in the winter. The daylilies behind the garage could go. The hosta and solomon seal on the other side of the berm could go.
So what stayed? Certainly grasses. We all know they need to stay for winter interest. Even my mums remained untouched. After all, if I cut them down, its flat out there. If I leave them, I’ll have nice mounds of snow when winter does show up. And I really don’t think the mums care if I cut them down now or in the spring. Either way, maybe they will come back. Then again maybe they won’t. And the goldenrod you see on the right – It’ll come back.
Here’s one for ya. I used the back of an old chair this summer behind a planter. It looks so pretty that I am taking my chances with leaving the planter outside for the winter. It’s in a highly visible spot right outside our bedroom window, so it’s worth it.
We have a very different weather forecast for next weekend…
Yes, it will December 9th.
Yes the temperature will be below freezing.
Yes, I will be inside in front of the fire.
I kid you not.
By Carol Cichorski, on October 22nd, 2017 Simple. That’s what Ginny is aiming for. And the pumpkins we created while camping in Door County are just that. Well, just that and more, with the more part being that they are awfully cute. To Ginny, simple was one big pumpkin transformed to cute in no time at all. To me, it was pumpkins so easy that I could actually make a bunch of them. Still simple, only on steroids.
 Carol and Ginny and their pumpkins – Peninsula State Park, WI  Football pumpkin Or how about this manly pumpkin version. A little something that Mike might even admit he and I worked together on.
My gosh, just look at these pumpkins and you don’t need directions at all. As a matter of fact, the only directions I am going to give you is where to buy your pumpkins. That would be Dairy View Country Store in Door County, Wisconsin. Ok, that might not be possible, but as long as I am aiming for simple, I might as well aim for perfect world as well.
So just imagine…
Sitting in these chairs eating ice cream…
 Dairy View Country Store – Door County, WI Looking at this view…
 Dairy View Country Store – The view And planning your pumpkin. Yep, simple is good.
By Carol Cichorski, on August 28th, 2017 I fought a battle against springtime invasive plants. Now another war has been waged against those that raise their battle flag in summer. This time its ditch daylilies and garlic chives. They have got to go. Here you see my ditch daylilies right where they belong…in the garbage can.
 Ditch daylilies with tri-color beech to the right Sure, if I had a great big empty spot that I wanted consumed by daylilies, they would be the ticket. But I don’t. You can see towards the right that we planted a tri-color beech. That’s part of the area that had the horde of spring invasives. We also planted a larch, redbud, and Black Hills spruce. But that didn’t scare of the ditch daylilies. Nothing does. Well guess what, ditch daylilies – we will win this war! Mike went on the offensive and you don’t want to be his enemy.
Low maintenance will be the victor. More trees, big trees. I’m not kidding. You know a tree is big when they use one of these to dig the hole:
 Hole digger  Black Hills Spruce We selected the Black Hills Spruce because its a little smaller than the Colorado Spruce. 20 to 30 feet high by 10 to 15 feet wide is a good size for us. Could I have bought a smaller one and waited for it to get big? Sure. And usually I won’t spend the money for a big ‘un. But this was war and I wanted a strategy to win NOW. Unfortunately for my wallet, its true that the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago.
Time marches on and only weeks after the ditch daylilies were defeated, a new opponent joined the forces against us. Garlic chives quickly took over an area where we had conquered another troop of daylilies. Beware of garlic chives. They look angelic, but watch out. I can’t believe how quickly the multitude encamped over a 4 ft x 10 ft area. They put up innocent enough looking flowers, but I know their plan and I’m not gonna put up with it.
 Garlic Chives We are being ruthless, and the garlic chives are easy to remove. Its painful to dig up a flower that is in full bloom; its also necessary or the seeds will scatter everywhere.
Our flag of low maintenance continues to be planted…instead of invasive plants.
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