A Kansas Prairie Garden

The views from our kitchen window

St. Patrick's Day, March 17, and these are the views from our kitchen window tonight. Stunning, especially for this time of year.

Green green green

Mid-March and we've mowed the lawn for the first time and started cutting back all the grasses. Everything is green and bursting into leaf and bloom. We're really enjoying the extra hour Daylight Savings Time is giving us each evening.

On the verge of spring

It's begun. We cut back the first of the flower beds on March 1. Already the carpet rose in the entry garden was starting to green up and leaf out. We hope to get to one flower bed each day until everything is cut back, but I have a feeling––with the mild weather we've been having––that we'll be hard pressed to keep up with everything that's trying to grow! Oh, how I love spring!

The view off our front porch to the meadow to the east. Can't wait till all

those branches are full of pear blossoms and cottonwood leaves.

Once we cut down the Maiden Grasses on either side of the driveway, we'll
be able to see the flag on the mailbox again.

Before and After

January 31 and we sat on the porch in shirt sleeves and had our morning coffee break. Winter has its own beauty but these "before and after" photos sure have me longing for spring!

A murmuration of starlings

This morning we watched for over fifteen minutes as thousands (maybe tens of thousands!) of red-winged blackbirds (or starlings) flew over our neighborhood in a ribbon that had to be miles long! They were headed northeast. I hope they get where they were going before our snow arrives!

Indian Summer in December??

December is almost over, but today felt like spring! We spent an hour working in the yard, cleaning up the last of the flower pots and hanging new bought-half-price-after-Christmas lights under the deck railing.

Wishing you a very blessed

and happy Christmas!

Winter skies

One thing I love about winter is the gorgeous sunsets and sunrises. And there's no better place than Kansas to watch them in all their glory. These photos were taken on our way home from getting groceries, just as we pulled into our development. We oohed and aahed all the way home!

A new tree!

November 25, we replaced a Korean Sun Pear tree that died this summer with a wonderful Eastern Redbud. I love the promise of a bare tree planted in the fall. Makes spring all that more looked-forward-to!

This is what we hope to see come April!

Autumn scenes

This bright coneflower decided to make
a final appearance before winter.

It's the first of November! How did that happen?? It's beautiful here, but always a little sad because we know it won't be much longer before the long winter sets in.

The lovely views from our kitchen winow

The burning bush in the yard across the street is in its glory!

Diascia back in bloom!

I'm a huge fan of Diascia (Twinspur). This pot bloomed hard all spring until the worst heat of summer, but now, even after a beastly hot summer (spent in the shade of the front porch) this little beauty is back in bloom and covered with delicate pink flowers. I love it because it tolerates the shade and blooms at least 5-6 months of the year. I'll bring it inside when the nights get too cold and enjoy it for a few more weeks, but you can be sure Diascia will be on my wish list again next spring.

Maiden grass heads out

The maiden grass headed out while we were in North Carolina mid-October. I'd forgotten how pretty it looks once the heads "bloom"––especially on a windy day like today. The Autumn Blaze maples across the street from us our gorgeous. The one in our own back yard lost all its leaves in September. Overall, our yard looks pretty sad, thanks to the hot, dry summer. : (

Mum is the word

A late October cold snap took a few of our plants, but the mums offer pops of color on the deck. The dragonfly was a gift from our friends in New York. We spent a fun few days with them in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, watching a marvelous display of autumn color.