Mum is the word...

September is quickly coming to an end, and today we "replanted" our scraggly petunias in the compost heap and replaced them with gorgeous fall mums. With the air crisp and our hands in the dirt, for a minute it almost felt like spring again. But autumn is my second favorite season, so we're savoring every minute.

September peaches...just for looks

We planted this Bonfire Dwarf Peach tree two years ago and I think it's been the best $25 we ever spent on the yard! Gorgeous pinkish blooms in spring, deep purple palm-like leaves, and late in the summer, hiding underneath, perfect little peaches (that don't taste very good, but look luscious!) These dwarf trees get about 10 feet tall, and this one is close to halfway there now.

Rearranging the garden...furniture

We rearranged some furniture in the house, which brought a garden bench from our bedroom out to the front porch, which brought this cafe set (an anniversary present from my husband a few years ago) out to a corner on the back deck. I love it here. It's the first thing I see when I look outside every morning, and it always seems to be inviting me to come out and enjoy the day.

September rains

A cool September morning and we're getting a gentle rain here in Kansas. My favorite thing about rain here is that the rainspout sets off the "fountain" Ken fashioned from a holey rock. A simple concept, but really neat to watch.

We'd just about given up on the Confetti Lantana in the pot and I'd started to fill in with ivy and coleus cuttings. Wouldn't you know it...when those took off, so did the lantana. It's a beautiful combination - one of my favorite pots of this summer.

Prairie grasses

The prairie grasses along the fence are headed out and so top heavy they keep falling over. Recent rains haven't helped. They look lovely and graceful swaying in the breeze, but they are a pain to mow around. We have several varieties including Big and Little Bluestem, Side Oats Gramma, Prairie Dropseed, Dallas Blues, Indian Grass (the tallest, most prominent grass you see in the photo above) and probably some other varieties I'm forgetting. The grasses really are the stars of the landscaping.