Given the unbelievable cicada emergence we have been experiencing here in my neighborhood (written about here and here), I've had the opportunity to see the lifecycle of this insect up...

This morning I walked out my front door with my oldest son to head down to the bus stop.  Something seemed odd.  The sidewalk was not just dirty with bits...

  My dahlias that I potted up about a month ago have grown well, if inconsistently.  Either I planted all of the bulbs at different depths in the pot, or...