Bench strength

The garden is maturing so a stone bench with a little history is a perfect addition.

We bought it at a sale on Park Point last summer and Brian set it into place a couple of weeks ago. We were told that the feet were salvaged from the Superior High School and the seat was part of a retaining wall near Miller Dwan, circa 1885-1915.

Autumn crocus: What's not to love?

Color coordinated

Hey, look! -- my socks and shoes match the garden. (A dahlia and snapdragons supply the red.)

Spectacular September morning

Yesterday's rain has given way to a sunny Sunday at sillydoggarden.
 

Top to bottom: Front yard with colorful pear. Backyard with pink celosia. An unexpected, natural garden ornament. Back bed with dark burgandy-black ninebark. Steam rising from the deck.

Sun setting on summer: Seventh Day Project does September

What are those brilliant orange flowers in the back garden, you ask. Well, those are Tithonia rotundifolia, also called Mexican sunflower. One of the owners at Garden House in Solon Springs recommended them during a chat last spring about favorite annuals. They don't look like much now, she said, as she placed two plants with plain foliage and no blossoms or even buds in one of our boxes. But just wait -- you'll love them, she promised.

And we do.

See other fun things in the garden in Seventh Day September 2013.

Seventh Day Project: Back at it for July

I love baptisia. This is Baptisia australis.

So. It's been awhile. Here's a peek from earlier this month. 

We had a bear in the herb garden tonight. No photo, you'll just have to take my word on that. First bear we've seen in the yard for a couple of years.

Gaining on spring

Ussurian pear (or is it callery pear?)

Elsewhere, spring is already melting into summer. Here, after a long winter and a cold, wet May, spring is finally getting underway.