Gardening

Have yours flowered already?
I pulled mine up this time last year, but they were quite small, I got told I had pulled them far to early and was meant to wait for them to completely finish flowering and start to die off on top, rather than pulling them just before they've started flowering. However I'm quite impatient and looking for any excuse to pull them soon.

I think the waiting for the flowers to die thing is for maincrop potatoes. Mine are first earlies and have been flowering for a couple of weeks. Spuds were a decent size.

Catching up on threads and saw this. My mom grew up in Oak Park, which is right next to River Forest. The church she & dad got married in has an altar rail donated by Tony Accardo. My aunt went to school with Giancana's daughter (who wrote Mafia Princess about her childhood). Mom's not Italian, but always talks about how there was virtually no street crime.

Perfect thank you! Mine are meant to be first earlies too (ie salad potatoes rather than chips/mash style potatoes, I think that's what everyone means by first Earlies anyway, I'm still learning) I'll let them flower a bit then pull them.

Also, mine are in bags so might be a bit ahead of yours if they're in the ground.

Mine are in tubs but where I live has shocking weather so most things are behind.
Thanks for the info.

We actually have a ban on fires right now what with all the bush fires and stuff. Not sure if that applies to fire pits as well.

We have lived in Oak Park since 1997. Soon to be no more.

Chicago: Planning a garden party.

My hydrangea hasn’t flowered this year. I think I pruned it too hard in the spring.

I am at my wits end with ants nests across my lawn. Half my lawn is now bald due to ants nests. I have tried nematodes recently but that doesn’t seem to have worked

This sounds like a problem for @Ingo

Fire.
Poison.
Boiling water.
Ant Eater.

That order.

Bought a burner to kill the weeds on our drive and spent an enjoyable afternoon yesterday listening to the cricket and setting fire to stuff. Would recommend.

I have been doing the old fashioned dig and fillet the plants. Pull 'em up from the roots and toss them. Lots of fun, but it's so fucking hot here you do go a bit melty. Adding fire to the mix probably wouldn't be a good idea but that was an option in the old days (as in months ago).

We have a large garden/lot and i have to push mow every week and since we are having Tornados and rainstorms and blazing heat the weeds are having the times of their lives. The grass not so much. The second wave of Cicadas are here too and they are a bit uglier than the red eyed ones. The cats are having a blast.

Wifey dug up half the back garden/yard so she could put planters in and grow some fruit and Vegetables. She never bothered. I like grass because I can run around on it with a football but now it is minimized with pulled up sod and sheeting.

She's such a killjoy.

Chicago: Green Fingered.