Our Return Home

 Thursday, July 16, 2026

We were gone for about a week and a half. Here's what the yard looks like.

I admit it's a little overgrown in spots but it's not as bad as I anticipated.

The annuals did really well despite the heat we had. Dale said we got a pretty good amount of rain while we were gone. That helped. 

The State of Our Yard Today

 Wednesday, September 17, 2025

I stopped by Bachmann's today to pick up some flowers for our garden. With all of the malarky going on in the world today I'm looking forward to creating something of beauty. I've meant to do more in the yard this summer in terms of planting flowers but this is the first I'm getting to it. 

Picked up some celosia (also known a plumed cockscomb) and some mums.

The celosia is the tall stuff that looks like flames and the mums have the more traditional looking flowers. Dale's always loved the garden in autumn. I do too. Even when I plant in the spring I like to go with fall colors in anticipation of late August thru October. Now there's even warmish weather into November. Although I'll never complain about pleasant weather, summer in November in Minnesota is quite sad for the overall state of the planet. 

Dale moved the lawn today.

It got quite shaggy while we were in Arizona for nearly a couple weeks and I felt I was back in the 70s when we got home on Monday. 

The daylilies are not flowering as prolifically as they were earlier in the summer but we still get a few blooms now and then. 

The ferns have held up pretty well this year and have lasted quite a while mostly due to the amount of rain we've gotten however they're starting to brown....

...although not nearly as much as the lily-of-the-valley. 

The sedums are flowering and will turn a brilliant auburn red as we progress through fall. 

Bought a few gourds at Bachmann's too but these will stay in the house for now as the squirrels will gnaw them mercilessly. 

First Daylily Bloom & More

Friday, June 23, 2023

First day lily flower appeared recently.

I've done a lot of yard work this summer. So far it’s been a lot of raking out of gardens and weeding but I’m moving on the the planting flowers phase. Today I went to Bachman’s for some annuals. On top of the cart pictured below is a flower called celosia. Dale really likes this kind so I picked up a lot of it. Much harder to see underneath are some snapdragons.There’s also some dusty miller down there which is hidden from view. Also got some potting soil. 

Celosia. The following is from the University of Minnesota Extension website: “Celosia is a member of the amaranth family and is a very common plant in Minnesota annual gardens due to their ease of care and wide array of flower structures and colors.The name Celosia originates from the Greek word for “burning” due to the flame-like flower heads. The species used for flowering annuals is believed to be native to the Mediterranean region or East Africa and also commonly known as “woolflowers”.Leaves of this plant are edible and have a spinach-like taste while the plant is young but after flowering, the leaves turn bitter.”

Daylilies

Thursday, May 27, 2021

First daylily of the season spotted. 

Did you know the daylily's botanical name is Hemerocollis and means "beauty for a day." Most daylily  flowers open in the morning but die by night time.