The Autumn Garden

A stroll through our garden during the final days of October. The prairie grasses are turning golden brown and the red-twig dogwood is displaying the reason for its name. Sundae, the kitten we kept, thinks the colorful sedum is a playground to romp through and the robins are bathing for their trip south.

Autumn...finally

October is nearly over and it's just now beginning to feel like autumn. The grass is still nice and green from all the rain we've had, but the trees are finally starting to turn. The prairie grasses, too, are heading out and going from green to brown. I'm in the mood to buy some pumpkins to add to the colorful scene!

Cal's Rainbow

This was the view out my kitchen window yesterday evening. I'd like to think God placed this vivid, full double rainbow there to celebrate the birth of our second grandson born early yesterday morning. Welcome to the world, Cal!

Dahlberg Daisies

Even though we're trying to stay away from annuals and buy more perennials, we can never resist the charming Dahlberg Daisies at Stone Creek, one of our favorite nurseries. This year, these sneaky little annuals somehow managed to escape the pots and seed themselves between the stone pavers on the patio. We've been so diligent to quickly yank out any weeds that dared to pop up between pavers, but you've got to admire their pluck, and so the Dahlbergs get to stay. In fact, the specimens on the patio look better than any of the ones we potted - a bright spot of early October color.

The first of October

October is one of our favorite months of the year. Everything is still green and lush, the flowers are having a new flush of blooms with the cooler nights, and a crisp whiff of autumn is in the air. The entry garden has filled in quite nicely - almost too nicely. We've had to really work to keep the roses from wheedling their way into the dwarf fountain grasses. But the overall effect is very nice. The cart my dad made is the star of the show. Before long I'll fill it with pumpkins and mums or maybe a pot of fountain grass from the back yard.

I wish the coleus would stay nice into the fall, but it wilts at the first hint of a freeze. I hope to bring a lot of it inside and try to overwinter it like I did last year. Most of our pots of coleus came from starts I pinched and rooted in the kitchen window all winter.