Mid-October in the garden
Monkshood (very poisonous), dahlia, colchicum.
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Garden Journal
Cancer log 193: Art.
When I was invited to participate in this breast cancer gallery exhibition, I wasn’t sure what kind of imagery I’d end up with for the finished piece. I felt a faint pressure to keep the work positive, uplifting, and that made me cranky, because my experience of breast cancer had plenty of darkness to it.
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Press On
Accompaniments done, on to rice and breads. A little slower than anticipated, because I had a flower pressing emergency. Huzzah for the microwave, but it still took some time to get through the first wave. Also spent a little while pruning the hellstrip. V. satisfying, rehabilitating some of the damage from the road construction. It’s
Claudette
First dahlia of the season, a little late, because I was busier than usual in May, and so I didn’t get them into the ground until June. That’s all right, but it makes me a little sad to see how small the plant is. I started planting dahlias about six years ago, putting them in
Autumn Tapestry
This is the first year I’ve had colchicums (fall-blooming bulbs, a little larger than crocuses), and the first year I’ve had hardy mums that came back, probably twice as big as when I planted them last year. Love how they look together, with the silvery artemisia between. When I first moved into the house, I
Signs of autumn
Signs of autumn. And look, cotton! I haven’t seen that in the store before, v. cool. It’s nice to have the house full of flowers again — I usually don’t do much with indoor arrangements over the summer, but as we head into the darker part of the year, the need for brightness emerges.
Supplemental Programming
The Garden Club is experimenting with adding some weekend programming to our calendar — hope you can join us: Sun October 1, 1:30 – 3:00, Oak Park Main Library, Community Engagement Space: “Planting Bulbs for Winter and Spring: paperwhites and amaryllis, spring ephemerals, daffodils and tulips and more.” Sat February 17, 10 – 11:30, Oak
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Sedum
Spent half an hour weeding and cleaning up the hellstrip this morning. The autumn sedum have started to bloom; I think this one might be Autumn Joy, but not positive. It’ll bloom from now until November, is drought-tolerant and generally requires nothing more from you than that you enjoy it. I also continue to
Moving Day
This is some variety of beardtongue / penstemon, prairie native, new this year, and I totally underestimated how tall it would grow — it’s almost 4 feet, I think, and completely blocks my bench. Oops. Will move it. I was talking to a neighbor earlier today, as I moved an iris, and she said she
GC meet-ups
I’m pleased to note that the OPRF garden club is going to add some casual meet-and-greets in the next year — six of them, hopefully. They’ll have loose themes, with perhaps a 15-minute presentation, but we’ll also be encouraging people to simply bring their garden questions, ideas, thoughts, or simple interest in meeting other gardeners.