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.
By Carol Cichorski, on October 5th, 2011 Some things just don’t make any sense. When I got this spider plant from Dawn last summer, I put it outside and basically left it to tend for itself. It was beautiful. Now, it’s been inside instead, and at the end of this summer, it looks bad.
It’s really very sad. I garden with a passion, yet my poor spider plant looks like this. It looks even worse when you get up close and personal. How am I going to explain this to Dawn?
I asked Mike if he had any ideas. After all, look at the size of his head. There is room for lots of brains in there.
Kitty pointed out that leaves were damaged elsewhere as well.
And she crept up closer for a detailed inspection.
Nice try at looking innocent Kitty, but know we know its you who has been eating our spider plant.
By Carol Cichorski, on October 1st, 2011 I owe you one. One muse day that is. As I post my October 1st muse, I post my belated September muse as well.
The month of September, per Edith Holden’s “Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady”…
September was the seventh month of the Roman calendar, but is the ninth according to our reckoning. The Anglo-Saxons called it ‘gertst-mnath,’ – Barley month.
And from the collection of poetry Ms. Holden has been kind enough to share with us…
While ripening corn grew thick and deep,
And here and there men stood to reap,
One morn I put my heart to sleep,
And to the meadows took my way.
The goldfinch on a thistle-head
Stood scattering seedlets as she fed,
The wrens their pretty gossips spread,
Or joined a random roundelay.
Author: Jean Ingelow
The month of October, per Edith Holden’s “Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady”…
The eighth month of the old Roman year. By the Slavs this is called ‘Yellow month,’ from the fading of the leaf; to the Anglo-Saxons, it was known as Winter fylleth, because at this moon (fylleth) winter was supposed to begin.
And from the collection of poetry Ms. Holden has been kind enough to share with us, I offer you this motto. With it, you’ll note that our generation is not the inventor of sustainable gardening…
In October dung your field
And your land it’s wealth shall yield.
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 is leaving Chicagoland and her blog to follow her heart to North Carolina. Thanks to Carolyn for her inspiration.
By Carol Cichorski, on September 25th, 2011  Ok, so it wasn’t a little rain. The folks running Pioneer Day in Elk Grove Village could boast they had a lot of rain. This is not something that you want to boast about. An outdoor event that can boast ‘rain’ can generally add ‘nobody came’.
The portion of said event that has a covered gazebo (and an annual following) can boast ‘rain’, and add ‘they came anyway.’ Fortunately for the Elk Grove Garden Club, our Scarecrow Factory fell into this category. Fortunately for Tara Steiner (picture at right), we were ready despite the rain.
Yes, the Elk Grove Garden Club sold less than half as many scarecrows as usual. And we’re proud of it! Based on the weather, our scarecrow count should have totaled zero. Our count was 42. We think of that as 42 families who braved the weather because making a scarecrow is so much fun. We think its fun too. That’s why we host this fun raiser every year. I’d like to call it a fund raiser too, but in reality, it’s a fun raiser.
Fun for families like the Albergas and McGraths.
 Fun for kids like Danaan Sutton, who is carrying his scarecrow away.
 Fun for kids like Connor and Arden Jasinek. We love putting smiles on kid’s faces.
And we love putting smiles on scarecrow’s faces.
 We supply everything except the creativity. That you have to bring yourself. And bring it you do. It’s not every scarecrow that has pointy shoes and is christened a diva by her maker, like this one that Sarah Ortiz made. Her diva even has a baby!
If your group is thinking of hosting a Scarecrow Factory, it’s all in the preparation. Lucille and Joan sewed the burlap heads ahead (pun intended) of time. Joan Witt brought the felt pieces she cut out for eyes, noses, and mouths. Marge had tied yarn into bundles for hair. Dawn & I had hit the garage sales for hats, clothes, and fun accessories. We had our glue guns ready, and we weren’t afraid to use them.
Here are a few more pictures to make you smile too.
Thinking of hosting a Scarecrow Factory at your event? Contact me – The voice of experience would be happy to share with you.
Thinking of making a scarecrow? Looking for ideas? Then take a look at the September 2010 postings. There are LOTS more scarecrows for your viewing pleasure.
Oh, there were other events going on at Pioneer Day? You want to hear about those? And you’d like to see how 2 girls and a pile of hay can equal a lot of fun. Then come back soon.
By Carol Cichorski, on September 20th, 2011  How can it be that today is September 20th? Summer has come, and summer has gone.
Already, my garden screams AUTUMN. The garden has an overall appearance of being less tended at this point. That’s because it is. That’s because I like it that way in the fall. There are spent blooms with seeds for the birds, leaves that are a tad more yellow, and everything borders on overgrown (sometimes on the wrong side of the border).
The flowers though, oh, the flowers. There is so much in bloom.
I’ll tease you by saying there of are lots of dahlias. In our yard, that’s a given. You’ll have to come back another day to see those.
For now, just take a look at this abundance!
If you still don’t want to believe me that it’s autumn, look at the calendar yourself. Oops – you got me. It shows that fall doesn’t start till Friday, which is September 23rd. I beg to differ based on my garden. I bet The Growing Place in Aurora/Naperville would disagree as well. They grew these great scarecrows for their Fall Harvest Party last weekend.
For more fall events at The Growing Place, check out their calendar. The Growing Place is offering a cornucopia of garden related classes including containers, bulbs, birds, and fall color and winter interest. If you’re ready to leave the garden to exercise your creative side, they have classes for you as well. The mosaic classes sound irresistable to me. You’ve seen the top of my blog page showing my mosaic, so you can see why those would appeal to me. The beginners class is 9/24 and the intermediate class is 10/1.
Last weekend was also Pioneer Days in Elk Grove Village. The Garden Club hosted the Scarecrow Factory, where families got to exercise their creativity. Those pictures will be coming soon.
Too impatient to wait for scarecrow and pumpkin ideas? I understand. Click on September and October 2010 in the archives at the top right.
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