FRIDAY FINDS

It has been a difficult few weeks to be a gardener in my area. The sun is setting early (and soon to be much earlier) so there's no time for gardening after work and the weekends have been rainy. I appreciate this late season rain, as I believe that it is best for plants to go into dormancy well hydrated, but it would be much more convenient if it could just rain during the week instead of on the weekends.

That pattern may change this weekend, thankfully, but it's also going to be in the 40s. Remember how I said that the problem with cleaning up the garden is that it's either the right time for the plants or the right time for the gardener and those two things rarely happen simultaneously? Well, that's what's happening now.

Box o' bulbs waiting for planting. More coming tomorrow too!

Well there's nothing to be done about it. It all has to get done. The priority this weekend will be bulb planting, and a lot of it. Once that's finished I can better clean out beds and then start mulching with shredded leaves (of which there are thousands on our lawn). After that, the containers need to be cleaned out. Most of the plants are mostly still alive (and would be more so if I hadn't pretty much given up on watering) as we've not had a frost yet, but they've served their purpose. The new containers I planted for fall will stay, but everything else will begin its road to compost.

So that's what is occupying my time this weekend. Here are some of the things that I enjoyed online recently:

Linda, whose garden shines no matter the time of year, is celebrating flaxen hues.

I do tend to go on about Chicago's Lurie Garden, but check it out in fall! It's gorgeous.

This is not a link, but can I just say I wish I would stop seeing posts about holiday shopping? Enough! Unless its a DIY project that takes time, it is WAY too early to be discussing such things. We still have Halloween and poor, forgotten Thanksgiving!

Sadly, many salvias are not hardy in my area, but they are beautiful enough to give some of them a shot and hope for the best.

Did you know you can buy kit houses on Amazon? I sure didn't until I read this article on GardenFork.

Are you planning to be in the garden this weekend?
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FRIDAY FINDS

It's been awhile since I've done a Friday Finds, so I thought I'd pop in quickly to share some of my favorites for the week.

First off, a bit of a programming note. I haven't been posting a lot lately simply because it's been one of those busy times in life. I was out of town last week (in beautiful Annapolis, Maryland, where it was 80 degrees!) and then catching up this week and blah, blah, blah. I've got some posts in the works and a video I'm editing, so you should see those all soon. I'm also working on a new website for the blog. I'm changing platforms and sprucing up the design just a bit. In the past some of you have written to tell me that you've had a problem leaving comments and hopefully those issues should be gone and the entire user experience should be better. No launch date to announce yet, but hopefully it won't be long. If anyone has requests that you'd like to see on a new website, please give me a holler!

But let's get on with the fun bits, shall we?

This frog, or perhaps a whole bunch of frogs, seems to be living in my rose containers on the driveway and I keep catching him out sunning himself. I have all kinds of pictures of him now, but I love this one. I worry about what will happen to them when I move the container in the garage for winter. Is it safe to assume they'll move on before I do that (after a hard frost)?

It's pumpkin season and of course the folks at Detroit Garden Works have the most amazing collection of interesting pumpkin varieties, which you can see in this post. I will say that a couple of the price tags had me thinking I should start growing fancy pumpkins!

Ricardo Labougle/NYT photo

If you didn't catch this article about an amazing English garden New York Times, check it out now. Can you say gorgeous?

Check out Matt's beautiful vegetable harvest. This is why I want to redo my veggie garden.

Lauren Liess, who is one of the few design bloggers I still like, is getting a show on HGTV and I'm thrilled. I don't have cable since we cut the cord, but occasionally HGTV offers shows on their app even if you don't have cable, and I hope this is one of them.

That's it from here. There is work, work, work to be done in the garden but honestly I'm not sure how much will actually happen as between the weather (rainy) and a lot of other things on the agenda, I don't see that there will be much time for garden chores. When will they all get done, one wonders?

What's on your agenda for the weekend?
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FRIDAY FINDS

It's been a busy late summer so I haven't spent as much time on the internet as I might have otherwise and therefore there wasn't a lot of finds to share with you, but this week there's some can't miss stuff I want to share.

First off, don't miss the most charming little garden and plant show in Belgium, compliments of Rob from Detroit Garden Works. He's on a buying trip which means soon there will be pictures of all his amazing finds. What I wouldn't give to tagalong on that trip!

Nick at Thinking Outside the Boxwood shared some amazing containers he came across recently in Boston. Lots of good container inspiration to be had.

Speaking of containers, I shared some out-of-the-box ideas for fall containers on the Proven Beauty blog last weekend. Don't tell anyone, but I'm a little sick of mums and kale with a pumpkin jammed in. One never knows what the weather will bring but last year we didn't get a killing frost until mid-November. If that were to happen again, I'd get two and a half months out of new fall-planted containers and that's well worth it to me.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day is always fun to see, and I urge you to check out Lisa's contribution at Greenbow Gardens. Her 'Fireworks' Solidago (aka goldenrod) is outstanding. I wish more people would appreciate that plant. Check out all the linked gardens at host May Dreams Gardens.

I haven't said anything about the impact of the hurricanes on The Impatient Gardener blog or social media channels, not because I don't care, but because I like to think of this as a place people can escape the worst of what is going on in the world. The devastation from both Harvey and Irma is terrible to see, and I'm particularly heartbroken to see what happened in parts of the Caribbean, which have far fewer resources helping than in the U.S. But this story about the damage to the Naples Botanical Garden is sad. I go there almost every year when I'm in Naples visiting family (who are fine, thankfully) so I'm sad to see what happened there.

But I don't want to leave on a sad note. Tanya at Lovely Greens (that's her above) has a great post chock-a-block with fall gardening tips and inspiration, so do check it out.

The weather here is for summer this weekend you know I'm excited about that! I'll be soaking up the sun on land and water, with some time in my garden and maybe a few others. What are you up to this weekend?

FRIDAY FINDS

How did it get to be the middle of summer? Ugh ... it's going too fast and needs to slow down!

The good part about this time of the year is that the major work in the garden is starting to wind down. That's actually sort of funny because of course I would prefer that to have been wrapped up weeks ago, but that's how it goes. 

Two tons of gravel were dumped in our driveway yesterday and the good part about that pile being smack dab in the middle of everything is that it forces me to get to it ASAP. That will be going in the paths of the circle garden and filling in a few holes in the path to the garage.

The first bloom on 'The Alnwick Rose' is just starting to open! I can't wait.

There are small surprises in the garden as well. The first Labyrinth dahlia is starting to open and, even better, the first David Austin rose is starting to bloom! I'm so excited to see the flowers and I just cross my fingers that they'll be amazing and fragrant.

So that's the garden update. Several of you have asked for a video garden tour so if the weather is cooperative I may do a quick one on Facebook Live tonight. I'll post a bit of warning on the Facebook page if that happens. 

Anyway ... here's the rest of what I'm digging from the internet this week. Just FYI, some of the links that follow are affiliate links; thanks for helping support this blog!

I love both of Linda's picks for new favorite plants in her garden. Can you even believe the colors in that Alstromeria?

I was thrilled to be a guest on the Root Simple podcast recently. Give it a listen here and check out the Root Simple blog (not to mention their great books). 

You know I love a good roundup, and especially this time of year I'm a rattan fan, so this was right up my alley.

You know how I love my Bahco hand pruners? Well, I've been cheating on them with this red hot number for a few weeks now. I've been waiting for the newness to wear off (I mean, new pruners are always so sharp and shiny that they always seem better) to do a proper review for you, but so far it's looking like the Bahcos are going to permanently end up in the "backup pruners" slot.

Cute garden markers? OK, maybe, but garden markers (which I'm about three years behind in updating in my garden) are more about function to me. I like the galvanized ones with a printed weatherproof tapes.

FRIDAY FINDS

The rabbit struggles continue here. I have borrowed a few traps but the little buggers aren't big enough to set them off. They are absolutely decimating any annuals I've planted in the ground and it is getting so frustrating! Deer repellent seems to have no effect on them. If you have some proven ways to manage them, I'm all ears.

I had to take a break from gardening last weekend to give Odin a bath. This is a full half-day activity but the pay off is a clean, fluffy, good smelling dog. It's not often that I get a clean dog and a decent looking garden at the same time! By the way, those white alliums that you see in the foreground ('Mount Everest') are real winners. Going to have to add more of those.

I also got very late in planting in the vegetable garden, just planting many seeds in the last week. But I figure better late than never. I'll just have these crops later in the season.

Matt is clearly more on the ball than I am this year and his sweet pea pictures are to die for. My sweet peas are currently 8 inches tall.

This cake is beautiful!

I might do that cake thing, but this? Gimme a break. 

I look forward to each and every post from Deborah Silver this time of year, when her amazing container creations spill forth. Don't miss her latest post. 

Lastly, in case you missed my latest video, here it is. I was supposed to be in it, but as you'll see at the end, I had a bit of a miscalculation in trying to shoot it myself. Whoops.

Will you be spending time in the garden this weekend or are you into "relax" mode? Either way, I hope you have a great weekend and avoid some of the crazy weather that is popping up all over the country.

CRAZY TIME IN THE GARDEN + FRIDAY FINDS

We've officially hit the height of Holy Crap There's a Lot to Do in the Garden season. I've been taking it chunk by chunk, trying to completely finish one area before starting on another. The problem with this plan, of course, is that the other areas of the garden farther down the list are turning into jungles while they wait for their turn.

Short of hiring help, which I talk about every year and then come up with 18 reasons why that won't work, there's nothing to be done about it other than to just plod on. It is frustrating because right now a good amount of time is spent tending annuals and other plants that have congregated in multiple areas of my yard while they await planting. And yet, I'm still on the fence about whether I want to plant containers this weekend. It's still quite cold at night here (often in the 40s), and that's not treatment that most annuals like. Right now I can cover them all at night, but once they are in containers, it's every plant for itself.

Anyway, there's no question what I'm doing this weekend. Gardening. I'll take a few breaks for some Memorial Day gatherings and a graduation party, but we're rapidly getting to the part where I wish all the big work in the garden were done and I could go into maintenance mode. Also ... why are there so  many weeds? It is infuriating.

There are moments of glory in the garden though and here's one. This spirea. I'm pretty sure it's Glow Girl and I'm very sure I planted it too close to another spirea, but holy smokes, that foliage is outstanding. A loose hedge of these would be phenomenal.

I feel like that rogue ostrich fern is photobombing this picture.

Speaking of containers, which I guess I was about four paragraphs ago, I planted my first one last weekend, just to do one because I couldn't wait any longer. And I made a video of it. Check it out here and stick around the mini blooper toward the end of it.

And now a few finds for this Friday:

It's Chelsea Flower Show time, so I've been checking out all the gardens. Honestly it's a bit of a let down from previous years, but apparently the Brexit vote came right around the time they were taking garden submissions and very few companies felt comfortable spending money sponsoring show gardens then. Anyway, this is my favorite of the bunch. I'm not at all a fan of the Best in Show garden, although I imagine it garnered major points for being such a huge undertaking.

I think my friend Linda's garden looks better in spring than any other time of the year. She has such interesting foliage plants that all the fresh green popping up is delightful. Do check out her blog to see the fabulous photos she's been posting lately.

If you're into fairy gardens, don't miss Lisa's adorable wheelbarrow garden. I had a wheelbarrow that meant a lot to me and when it rusted out and got wobbly we pitched it. I now wish I would have saved it for a mini garden/container. Woulda coulda shoulda.

A few weeks ago I did a cocktail hour stroll through the garden, completely with cocktail making, on a live Facebook broadcast. It got LONG (I'm a talker), but if you want to check it out here you go. I want to do more of these (but maybe as videos instead of live broadcasts) because I can't think of a better match than cocktails and gardens.

Well that's it for me. What are you up to this weekend? Anything OTHER than gardening? Or do you take these holiday weekends off from the garden?

FRIDAY FINDS

Gosh, it's a little crazy being post-Easter already! The next big holiday is Memorial Day! Crazy. Anyway, here's what I'm digging this week.

I like seeing interesting floral arrangements. I sort of aspire to have a clue about flower arranging, which I don't, but I figure practicing will help.

But I was confused why the water in one of my Easter table arrangements was turning blue. The other day I figured it out (see above). By the way, there are no real photos of my arrangements because Easter was mostly a fire drill. Once again, my oven misbehaved. We figured out that it works fine when there's just one thing in it but when you load it up, it runs very low. Grrr.

Well, now I have to go to HomeGoods.

This is a joke, right?

This, definitely is a joke. Well it would be for me anyway.

I bet the No. 1 thing people go to a nursery looking is screening or blocking a view. Here are some ideas.

I'm so envious. I want to go to this nursery for a behind-the-scenes look!

I was so busy last weekend that even though it was beautiful weather, I didn't get into the garden at all! So this weekend I will make up for that. On the agenda is some serious weeding and general clean up, a bit of plant division, a whole bunch of chive hedge work and a horse manure run. Glamorous stuff, I tell you!

Will you be gardening this weekend?

WEEKEND FINDS

What a week. Well, weeks. I have been at an uncomfortable level of "busy" lately and I can't wait to be back to normal busy, which is my happy place.

But caring for my seedlings is a wonderful break. Two times a day I check on them, making sure they are properly watered, rearranging them under lights or on the heat mat, petting them and generally checking on their well being. 

I sowed tomatoes last weekend and they came up so fast they were already stretching by the time I got them under lights.

There's a bit of a Clark Griswold situation going on with the power cords in the lower left corner. Four-light fluorescent on top, new LED light in the middle, old two-light fluorescent second from bottom and the heat mat on the lowest rack. 

This post contains a handful of affiliate links. Thanks for your support!

That peculiar blue glow is coming from the new LED light I got this week. I don't fully understand how to compare the fluorescent grow lights I'm familiar with to LED light, so this much smaller light, that apparently is meant to hang much higher is odd to me. I bought one of the less expensive lights I could find because I'm not quite sure how it will work. You can be sure I'll let you know.

Think zinnias and marigolds are has-beens? No way.

My friend Linda from Each Little World gave a compelling review of this book that had me running to buy it. Speaking of which, I'm excited to be seeing Linda this weekend at a gardening symposium she told me about in Madison.

I've been looking for some dining chairs to use when we have large gatherings that can be easily stored but are still sturdy. The requirements were that they either fold or stack, were comfortable and weren't hideously ugly. And budget was a factor. 

After a lot of back and forth between a bunch of different styles, all of which I perceived as being a bit trendy, I decided I might as well go for trendy, but trendy that I like. I found this black bistro chair at Williams Sonoma and loved how it looked staged at a table, even if it has a bit of an outdoor vibe to it.  So then I went on a hunt to find it at a more realistic price. Here's what I came up with.

Williams-Sonoma Parisian Bistro chair $125

AspenBrands dining side chair from Wayfair $118.99

Table in a Bag French Café Bistro Chair, Amazon $75

As far as I can tell, they are all the same chair and certainly the last two are. The descriptions and reviews for the last two say they are stackable and I love the idea that they will work equally good outside when we entertain in summer. I may get some cushions for them but I'll wait to see how they sit first. 

That's it from here. Saturday will be a day for inspiration at the gardening symposium I'm going to and I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be able to get some time in the garden on Sunday. I have a lot of work I need to do as well but I'll go positively nuts if I don't get in there to do some cleaning, even if it's with a rake from the edges. What's on your agenda this weekend?

WEEKEND FINDS

The week again got away from me, but that's no reason not share some good stuff from the web. Here's some of my favorite finds.

Gardener admission: I don't care for asparagus. I'll eat it if it's roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper but I do so begrudgingly. But I know plenty of people love it and I think it's a beautiful plant. If you're itching to grow some, here's how.

I need work on the decorating part, but it tasted amazing.

A couple weeks ago Mr. Much More Patient celebrated his birthday and his only request was a weekend of his favorite meals and a chocolate cake. I made Ina Garten's Beatty's cake but used this chocolate cream cheese frosting recipe. Best. Cake. Ever. (As confirmed by several friends and family who also got some because we don't need an entire cake for two of us.)

Speaking of Ina, you can buy her New York Pied a Terre. It doesn't exactly thrill me.

After all that cake I should probably do this.

I do love a space with just a hint black and these are really good.

I went to the Philadelphia Flower Show a few years and thought it was one of the better garden shows I've been to, but still a little disappointing in that so many of the show gardens put plants together that never would grow together. Looks like that's changed.

By the time you read this the weekend will be in full swing. The garden is (again) covered in snow so there will be no outdoor gardening activities for me this weekend. There will be some more seed starting (which one must do if they are going to grow as many different things as I am) though. And of course there's that little project going on in the basement that I haven't brought up for awhile to deal with.

What will you be doing this weekend?

FRIDAY FINDS

I've been following Claus Dalby on Instagram for quite some time and if you hang out there he's worth a follow. Gardenista recently wrote about him and you can see some of his work, although I detest the headline (I don't really see any comparison to him and Martha Stewart).

Over at the Rusty Duck, an ongoing bedroom renovation is progressing and I love it so much. Do not miss what they did with rustic wood dressers (made from floorboards) that they topped off with modern hardware for the best of all worlds.

You can tell that northern gardeners are going a bit stir crazy because we're all talking about seeds. Matt at Growing with Plants has some fantastic tips for seed starting that shouldn't be missed.

These are a handful of the photos I've shared on Instagram in the past couple weeks:

So I guess there's no doubt where my brain is these days. I'm pining a bit for warmer weather. But this week I took Margaret Roach's "365-day garden" webinar and I'm rethinking all this wistfulness I'm feeling for summer.  Her main message was that there is beauty to be found in the garden all year round, whether it is beauty that the gardener creates or beauty that naturally occurs. So I'm going to make it my goal to revel in the season we have now. Well, as soon as it's warm enough to actually walk around out there.

By the way, I enjoyed that webinar. I'm a pretty avid reader of A Way to Garden, so much of what Margaret talked about and showed were familiar to me, but I still picked up a lot of ideas for new plants I'd like to try, including a possible solution to the troublesome spot I have in front of the chimney on the west side of the house that has me excited.

We made pizza in the cast iron skillet last week and holy cow it was good. I like a really crispy, thing crust and this was the most crispy crust we've ever had come from a homemade pizza. I'm definitely going to use that technique again! By the way, this is my very favorite cast iron pan (affiliate link). In fact it's my favorite pan period and well worth the hefty price tag.

I'm off to GardenExpo this weekend and I'm really looking forward to immersing myself in a bit of garden fantasy. And work continues on the basement. There will be an update coming soon on that! What will you be doing this weekend?

FRIDAY FINDS

I can't wait for the weekend. I have nothing special planned other than little projects here and there, including on doing more painting in the basement, but some weeks an unplanned weekend sounds like the best thing in the world.

Lots of great stuff happening online this week (well the fun stuff, not the bits that I use this blog, and others, to escape from).

Linda's gardening journals are works of art. I love them and wish I had the talent or dedication to make any kind of garden journal. This blog is the closest I'll ever get to one.

I hope we never have to replace our wood floors. Redoing floors is terrible because you basically have to move out of your house and it is very expensive. But I recall the floor guys telling me they didn't know how many more times the original floors in our house could be refinished so theoretically it could happen. And if it did, I think I'd want a floor like this. 

I think our house is around 1,400 square feet (I can't recall exactly anymore) and I can't imagine wanting a bigger house, but apparently I'm in the minority on that. 

Two real-life friends have recently launched amazing blogs that I want to tell you about.

This illustration by Madalyn Joy became this stunning outfit ....

 Cassie Sterwald photo

The first is my neighbor, who was just a kid when we moved in, but is the most stylish young woman I know (she puts the rest of the neighborhood to shame in the style department). Madalyn is a talented fashion and lingerie designer who shares her creative inspiration and process as they become her creations on Styled by Madalyn Joy.

And a longtime friend and his family recently purchased and moved into a Frank Lloyd Wright house that, until 2015, no one knew was a Frank Lloyd Wright house. It was built in 1917 as an American System-Built House, part of Wright's effort to develop houses for any income level. (Here's a story about how the found out it was an FLW house featuring the previous owners.) My friends have passionately taken on the stewardship role that comes when you buy a house like this and they are blogging about it on The Elizabeth Murphy House.

That's it from here. I hope you have a great weekend! Tell me what you're up to in the comments. 

WEEKEND FINDS

I had to change the name of Friday Finds this week since this is going out so late that most of you won't see it until Saturday.

Here's what I've been liking and loving online this week.

Loi Thai / Tone on Tone photo

Loi shared some of his tips for growing the amazing myrtle topiaries he grows. I'd love to give this a try.

I just signed up for Margaret Roach's "A Garden for 365 Days" webinar. I missed the first one, which was held earlier this week, because I assumed it would be unlimited, but I was wrong. So I quickly signed up for the next airing of it (actually I was on a wait list for a few days). There are three more airings scheduled if you're interested and she just announced a seed-related webinar as well. If you are interested, my advice would be to sign up right away.

Count me in for spicy meatballs.

Some good tips on how to find a hairstylist, although I think they work better in bigger cities. I left my longtime stylist about six months ago and I've been bouncing from stylist to stylist hoping to find someone I like within my price range and haven't had much luck.

Some gorgeous arrangements straight from the garden.

Garden Matters photo compilation

I know you're all thinking about gardening as much as I am so here's a great list of gardening hacks to use this summer. 

FRIDAY FINDS

It feels like it has been a long time since there's been a Friday Finds post here. I can't even tell you how busy this month has been and amazingly I feel like I'm already behind on gardening. There are seeds and dahlia tubers to be ordered and I've not done anything about formulating a plan yet!

But there will be time for that soon (and if not, I'll make time). For now, let's check out some of the goodies the Internet has been dishing up lately.

Margaret Roach's podcast of Q&As with Ken Druse is great. I love the question about decyphering degrees of shade. I wonder if in our quest to simplify plant labels we haven't gone too far.

Flower Patch Farmhouse photo

I mentioned that I haven't ordered seeds yet but back in fall I ordered eight David Austin roses. Eight.  You may recall it was just a few years ago that I swore off roses. I'm a sucker. But there's an excellent rose care article over at Flower Patch Farmhouse that I'll be hanging on to.

One of the things I'm hoping to do in 2017 is increase the number of garden conferences and events I attend. Here's a great roundup of several excellent ones to consider.

Did you catch my predictions for gardening trends for the coming year? Tell it to me straight: Do you think I'm on the right track?

And lastly, I just wanted to take a moment to toot my own horn a tad. I was thrilled to find out last week that I was named to two great blog lists.

I was named to Lawnstarter's Top 50 Garden Bloggers list (aka the Golden Trowel awards).

And I was also named to Toolversed's Top 10 Gardening Bloggers list.

In both cases I'm delighted to be in the company of some of my favorite bloggers. Check out their blogs at the links above.

There's lots on the agenda for this weekend. More work on the basement, a Green Bay Packers game, maybe some quality time with plant catalogs and a bit of birthday celebrating (such as it is when you get to be my age). What are you plans?

FRIDAY FINDS

It's weird to have Christmas on a weekend. I love it from a work standpoint (taking off in the middle of the week and having to come back is a drag), but from an organizational standpoint it feels odd. Like there is a lot of Christmas stuff I still want and need to do and given the date, I feel like I should have more time, but this weekend is really the last shot.

Anyway, no surprise, Friday Finds is pretty Christmas heavy. Merry Merry!

Loi's sparse Christmas tree. Loi Thai photo

I think Loi's Charlie Brown tree is pretty much perfect and the garland on his banister is to die for.

I have no idea what in the world an Asian perogi is, but it sounds pretty yummy.

I'll be baking lots and lots of Christmas cookies this weekend (although I'm scaling back from previous years to only what I plan to give away; we neither need nor eat a lot of extra cookies), and I think most spritz cookies are boring. This one may have a needed kick.

I agree with this. I love orchids, particularly varieties other than phalenopsis.

Emily Henderson (ex-HGTV designer and fab blogger) bought a new house and just finished the kitchen. She's calling it "Modern English Country" and I can't decide if I love it or not. What I do like about it is that it seems like a much more approachable kitchen than most kitchens you see in the blogosphere. That's not to say that I don't like other kitchens, but there is a warmth and a "normalness" to this kitchen that seems real. But I have to say, I'm always shocked when I see bridge faucets in kitchens. Who wants to have to turn on two taps to get water and then balance the temperature?

Also on the agenda for this weekend is taking the Christmas card picture (I know, I know, I'm so late!) You can see what we've done in years past, but I really can't imagine a cuter picture than this one of my friend Kelly's new Newfoundland baby Piper. Kelly had our Rita's sister and she died just a few months after Rita. It makes me so happy to see this little cutie bring Kelly and her family some joy. And she's just too cute not to share.

Have a great weekend everyone! What's on your to-do list? Lots of running around or are you one of those organized people who will get to sit back and just enjoy the season while the rest of us crazies pull our hair out?

FRIDAY FINDS

Well, it's December and suddenly weekends are full of checking items off a far-too-long to-do list. The main item on mine is doing all the outdoor decorations on Saturday. It's going to be in the mid-30s all weekend, but it's going to rain most of Sunday, so Saturday is the day for outdoor work. I hope I can power through to get it all finished. And I shall remind myself of the wise words of my friend Eric at GardenFork: Done is better than perfect.

Here's what the window box looked like from inside last year. I loved the glow of the lights. This is also a good reminder of why I should remember to wash the window before I do the window box.

I probably don't need to share all the amazing holiday stuff floating around the interweb with you here. Suffice to say, if you're in the mood for a little holiday crafting/DIY, head over to Pinterest and you'll find something to occupy your time. 

Here's a non-holiday project that is pretty cool: a wood storage shed.

A very different kind of advent calendar (that you should probably keep in the fridge).

Oh my gosh, yum. 

Loi got a new shipment of antiques into his shop and of course they are incredible. That first desk melts my heart.

If you're shopping, make sure you check out the two gift guides I've done so far: Custom Gifts for Gardeners and Vintage Gift Finds. More to come next week in case, like me, shopping doesn't really start for a few weeks!

And lastly, I am definitely going to be stealing this super simple napkin-folding technique from Kim at Sand & Sisal for any holiday gatherings we may have.

What will you be doing this weekend?

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FRIDAY FINDS

So, I'm not entirely sure what happened, but apparently Thanksgiving is next week. I am rather shocked. So I guess that means I better spend some time this weekend figuring out what kind of pie (or pies) I'm going to make. That's my contribution to the meal. One year I made the turkey. It was terrible. Now I stick with pie and we're all happy with that arrangement.

But if you are hosting Thanksgiving, you must check out the to-do list of Mr. Thanksgiving himself, Stephen. He's so organized he actually has time to take some photos and post on his blog on Thanksgiving. Sometimes I aspire to be this organized but then I realize it's better to just surround yourself with people who will do this kind of organizing for you, because some people are cut out for it and others, like me, just aren't.

I want oyster cornbread dressing. So much that I may make it for dinner some night. Is that weird? By the way, if you are on the looking for basic Thanksgiving info, the New York Times has amassed a ton of information and recipes.

I am opposed to both eating dessert out of mason jars and to using light cream cheese for cheesecake. But these still sound good to me.

I shared this picture on Instagram earlier this week. Would you believe I took that photo of one of my 'Cafe au Lait' dahlias last weekend? They have no business blooming like that in the middle of November but I wasn't going to tell them. Of course shortly after that I harvested all the flowers and cut off the stalks so I can dig the tubers soon.

This is an interesting spin on holiday decorating. It wouldn't work in every house and it's certainly not traditional, but changing it up can be good.

It seems like soap-making is quite the thing lately, but these from Garden Therapy are pretty much the most gorgeous soaps I've ever seen.

I can't help it ... I get all sappy around the holidays and I love this Thanksgiving story.

Did you catch my Etsy gift guide for gardeners earlier in the week? If you're eyeing some of those things up, don't delay because they all take time to make. I'll have more gift guides, including some Black Friday deals next week. In the meantime, do you have Amazon Prime? I'll be honest, it sort of ruins you for anything other than two-day shipping and it's way too easy to just buy it on Amazon rather than seeking something out locally (which I try not to do), but it is very handy for some things and we've been using it for a lot for the movies and television. And Amazon has pretty phenomenal Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals. Here's an affiliate link for a 30-day trial, which would get you through the holiday shopping season, if you're interested in checking it out.

After a high of almost 70 yesterday and a warm day forecasted for today, a cold front is due to come through in the evening and I'll be dealing with more leaves tomorrow in 38-degree temperatures. It's not like I didn't know it was coming but that doesn't make me like it any more. What are you doing for Thanksgiving and what are your plans for the weekend?

FRIDAY FINDS

Thank you all so much for your nice comments on Wednesday's post of beautiful gardens. Few places can bring peace like a garden. Maybe I need to do that more often on the blog.

But for now it's Friday and a weekend in the garden will be an excellent thing indeed.

Now, on the other hand, if you're looking for an excuse to stay inside, I have one of those too. If you haven't already heard, "The Crown" on Netflix is fabulous. So good, in fact, that I'm on my second viewing where I really pay attention and that goes up to three if you count when I was doing other stuff in the background.

Speaking of movies, I am absolutely going to buy this one. Let's face it, there aren't a lot of gardening movies out there.

For the first time in my gardening life, we haven't had a killing frost (or any frost) by the time I usually dig my dahlias. This is problematic, so I've been looking for advice online. The Dahlia Society tells me it's OK to dig on November 15 even if we've not frosted, but in an effort to get eyes showing so I can divide clumps of tubers this fall, I'm going to chop off all the stems this weekend (making sure to cover them if they are hollow to prevent water damaging the crown). Matt's tutorial on dahlia care in fall is excellent and you should all do as I have and pin it or save it in some way.

It's not bragging to say I make pretty good tasting pies. Unfortunately they are usually not pretty. This should help. 

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The family dining room got a bold and colorful wall treatment and more modern art. Architectural Digest photo

Cote de Texas did a lovely post on Architectural Digest's story showing for the first time how the Obamas decorated parts of the White House. She went back and found how various rooms looked during other presidencies and it's fascinating to see what stayed and what changed over the years. I love the modern art the Obamas have used.

AD also did a story about the book All the Presidents' Gardens and shares a few fun facts here.

Speaking of famous gardens, Gardenista did a post on ideas you can steal from Sissinghurst. I would suggest that "be inspired by" might be a better term because it's not like throwing up a curved brick wall with a window in it is something you can just throw up on a whim, but I'm happy to look at Sissinghurt anyway.

That's it for this week. Last weekend was all about leaf management for me. Although plenty more have fallen, I'm hoping to only go through that process once more this year and they are going to wait until next week. This weekend, work will continue on the circle garden. My goal is to have the inner circle of cobblestones set and the paver base installed by the end of the weekend. What's on your agenda this weekend?

FRIDAY FINDS

Well folks, I've just set a new personal record. I just ordered plants. For next year. Certainly this is the earliest I've ever done such a thing, but I needed to just make a decision and move on. So I did. Someone should remind me in spring that I ordered these because I'm sure I will forget.

Onto Friday Finds, which, for now at least, will be devoid of mentions of Christmas.

This is great news.

For some reason I find this very humorous.

Lovely Greens photo

If you are feeling the need to do some crafty things, how about making soap? Here are some great recipes.

Really good light, simple kitchen inspiration here. Out of nowhere I'm really liking the pale limestone-type floors. Scary to pick though ... they go pink quick.

A good article on ornamental grasses. The first, Bouteloua gracilis 'Blonde Ambition', has been on my list for two years now and both times I've tried to get it, it was not available. Still, I'd like to add it to the garden some day.

I've got some quality time booked with leaves this weekend, as you may have noticed from one of the photos I posted yesterday. What's on your weekend agenda?

FRIDAY FINDS

You can tell that it's fall and people are starting to move inside because there's been some great stuff on the Internet this week. Before I dig in, a quick programming note: I mentioned bulb augers (that's an affiliate link) the other day and I realized, while in the throes of mass planting the other night, that a little bit of instruction can help, and probably save your wrist. I'm hoping to get a post about that up later today or tomorrow, so check back for that.

OK, let's get into some Internet goodies.

The design of Linda and Mark's garden is largely dependent on an amazing web of paths, all very much designed in a specific manner. Their planning paid off so well. Each Little World photo

My favorite posts of the week, by far, are from my friend Linda at Each Little World. She's been reviewing her garden journey through the creation of gardens past and I find it fascinating. Check out her posts on the garden at her first house and the creation of the garden she and Mark currently tend to.

Good eye candy on poured concrete applications in gardens.

This kind of thing comes easy to some people, but it's the sort of step-by-step that I need. Right after reading this, I ordered a tray for the coffee table.

I love me a good source guide.

I hate pumpkin pie (yes, Stephen, I'm one of those people). But because I trust Stephen in all things Thanksgiving, I may give this Not Barfy Pumpkin Pie a shot.

Flower Patch Farmhouse photo

Do you have a Thanksgiving cactus or a Christmas cactus? Truth be told I never thought much about the difference.

It's gotten chilly here and the wind has kicked up so leaves are falling like crazy. My weekend will certainly include some quality time with leaves, but also all the other fall garden-related tasks that I need to keep plodding away on. We still haven't had a frost, so I've not been able to dig dahlia tubers yet, but that is hanging out there as a big project on the horizon. What's on your agenda this weekend?


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