First snow!

One month before Christmas and we got our first snow of the year. Beautiful, but like most first snows, it promises to melt quickly. We moved the pansies up on the front porch and they have thrived through three nights of twenty degrees or below temperatures. You've got to admire their pluck!

Still in bloom. . .November 19!

My husband took a walk through the garden last night and came back to report that there were still seven different flowers blooming in the garden. So this morning, November 19, I took my camera and recorded them. I even found a bonus - a very late (or very early?) Bachelor Button hiding among the grasses (above).

So here's our late November tour of the garden...probably the last blooms you'll see here until spring since the forecast calls for low temps in the 20s later this week.
[You may have to click on some of these to see the blossoms, but they're there!]


Right, a variety of Verbena (I forget it's name right now) mingling with the Sedum.





Winterperry Blue Veronica Speedwell has tiny, pretty little lavender flowers.







The False Sunflowers just don't quit! I much prefer them to the Black-eyed Susans, too.



Alyssum. This little patch bloomed all summer. I think these seeds must have been in some of the extra packets we threw in the wildflower mix.



Fleabane, just barely still in bloom, but there are enough little flowers to make it count.




The Carefree Delight Roses have bloomed almost continuously from spring until now.

"Volunteer" Dahlberg Daisies are still going strong in the pavers on the patio.

And we didn't count the five or six pots that still have a few blooms left. What an incredible autumn it's been!

Planting a Secret Garden

We started our own little "secret garden" this fall, making a border along the side of the garden shed with the leftover rocks from Grandpa's pasture, and planting the sprigs of English ivy from the summer flowerpots amongst the rocks. We'd love for ivy to eventually cover the side of the shed...maybe even train it into an arch over the stone walkway in this narrow alley between shed and house. In the spring we'll look for some shade-loving plants to add to our secret garden. We also moved the Moonlight Broom to the corner of the shed. It was in danger of being gobbled up by the Blue Dune monster.

Our "three cats in the yard" love it when we are outside at work on a project. They follow us from garage to yard to shed to porch like so many shadows. Here, Sundae, the one kitten we kept (of the nine!), helps Ken water in the rocks, and explores Rock Hill Garden, where the sedums are still thriving in spite of several frosty nights. We installed a pet door in the garage so the cats can come and go as they please this winter. Wish we'd thought of that two years ago!

Veterans' Day 2007

Today we honor our veterans and thank them for their service and their sacrifice for our country. And what a beautiful day it was. Bittersweet, because autumn can't possibly last much longer, but breathtakingly beautiful in its last days. This is the view across the street. If you look between houses, you can see the prairie meadow across the way.

Pumpkins, pansies, petunias and purple kale

After two nights of freezing temps and a sunny November afternoon spent putting the garden to bed for the winter, things were looking rather dreary around here. A quick trip to Stone Creek Nursery this morning changed that: nothing like pumpkins and pansies and petunias and purple kale to cheer things up. (And everything was on sale this late in the season!) I know I'll have to bid adieu to all the flowers soon, but I'm determined to make the summer color last as long as it can.

Bringing the garden inside for the winter

The first of November, and we had our first freeze last night. I spent yesterday bringing in the pots I want to try to baby through the winter. It looks bare and drab outside, but oh, what a colorful garden we have in the corner of our kitchen. The coleus look like they were cultivated specially to go with my decor. One nice thing about that first freeze: it gives us a great excuse to light the first cozy fire of the season.

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.

September morn

After a gentle rain this morning, the sun popped out, and for a few brief minutes we got a real taste of autumn. Oh, to capture such a golden moment and hold it forever! Click on the photo below for a cobbled together panoramic view.

September: Blue Mist Spirea

Blue Mist Spirea bloomed a little earlier than it did last year and it is so pretty! These two plants really suffered when we had snow in April. We weren't sure they would survive, but now, early-September, you can hardly tell they had a setback. They are wonderful for attracting bees and butterflies and add a new color to the garden this time of year - a stunning deep blue-purple.

Out of control. . .

These little cuties may look innocent enough, but that's only because they're tuckered out from wreaking havoc in our yard! They're almost nine weeks old, and all but one (we get to keep fluffball Sundae!) will go to new homes next week. I'm sad to see them go, but it's definitely time. Five kittens cavorting through the flowerpots, scampering up the arbor, skittering under the rosebushes and wrestling for hours on end wear me out! This morning while we worked in the yard, they found their way through the gate and into the front yard. We'd catch one and put her back and three more would be out before we turned around. Finally two of them had a run in with the garden hose spray and that toned things down a little. It's going to be awfully quiet around here with only three cats in the yard. I'll always remember 2007 as the summer of the kittens. Definitely one for the "happiest memories" file.

Front porch sittin'

Today has been a very productive day. After our traditional Saturday coffee and donuts we headed outside to find an absolutely perfect September morning awaiting us. Ken fertilized the trees and lawn, I did the same with the shrubs and flowers. We weeded every flower bed, watered trees and did a lot of pruning. The native grasses have practically hidden the stone border we worked so hard to put in. I did not haul those 100-plus rocks so they could hide under a stand of buffalo grass! So we trimmed and whacked and used Roundup where necessary. Oh my, everything looks so nice now! Makes me want to sit on the porch and just enjoy the fruits of our labors. Bet we'll sleep good tonight!

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may. . .

Last night when we took a walk through the yard, we were surprised to find a new flush of blooms on the yellow floribunda rose. This is the bush (no more than a stick, really) that my husband got free from the garden center because they suspected it was dead! Every flower on this bush has been gorgeous from first bud, until it drops its petals. And now that August is coming to a close, I've decided to start bringing bouquets into the house so I can enjoy more than a passing glance of this beauty!