MORE PURPLE & WHITE

after planning for a year, homecoming week has finally arrived. since i'll be travelling, and not blogging, here's an extra long post celebrating my school colors, purple and white (and everything is blooming purple and white right now anyway.)  here is luna's reaction to "treat!"

echinacea seed head framed by mum - looks like the death star?

i'm a bit surprised this montana daisy is reblooming!

fall blooming alliums explode! (well, you get the idea.)

ok, so you know i've been working really hard and gardening not so much.  i decided to let wild asters take over the south border to "fill in." who knew i would get such a lovely lavendar froth around my japanese stewartia tree!

water lily colchicum have been battered by the rain, but are still startling in the front shade garden. 

japanese anemone continue to bloom in their delightfully imperfect way.

fuzzy bright purple aster! go wildcats go!  ( i'll try to get some pictures at northwestern.)

FOOLISH VIEWS

views from around gf's place... the shade garden with water lily colchicum and caladium...
snoopy on the deck with a particularly endearing look...
the mums are blooming...
i am harvesting the northern sea oats, so they don't spread...
late sun piercing the japanese blood grass (amsonia in the background)...

BRUGMANSIA STUDY

'pink beauty' is loving the cool weather and hamming it up for the camera...

NAME THAT FRUIT!

the first person to correctly name the plant that bears this fruit will have their garden blog link listed on my blog! (i know, maybe not that great a prize, but all i could think of.)  my family members are excluded! can you name that fruit!?!?!

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY TRIBUTE

i will soon be visiting my alma mater, northwestern university, for homecoming. as i plan the trip, my garden proudly displays the school's colors, purple and white.

bee on sage

double japanese anemone

colchicum 'water lily'

fall aster

SEPTEMBER DAY'S END

after another tough day being a whippet...

handsome spider hunting in kitchen window...

the sun is setting and i'm playing with the camera...

brugmansia 'pink beauty' trumpets day's end with a final glow...

PASSIFLORA FOCUS

passiflora 'pura vida' shows why it is my favorite

i'm trying to photograph flowers through a droplet's lens; here is my fist effort...

can you tell it's this flower?

PURPLE & OCHRE SEPTEMBER

jj sits beside the lespedeza my brother gave me, which was felled by the rain

spiky spider

fall crocus are just starting to emerge

hurricane hannah gave us more than 7 inches of rain, so the fungus are amoung us

beauty berry

SEPTEMBER AFTERNOON

bee visiting sedum 'autumn joy'tiny hairstreak butterfly visiting garlic chives flower
purple buddeleia contrasted with neighbor's teal house in background
sweet autumn clematis putting on a show, here's the close-up...
and here's the harry lauder walking stick looking like a clematis-snow covered mountain

GARDEN FOOL'S ZOO

luna, the hunter

rats! tanzy on the left, and maria on the right

jj, the poo, ears-a-flying...

cicada joins the zoo temporarily, after this photo i put him outside

snoopy, making a puddle cat fat where ever he wants to!

LEPIDOPTERA COITUS?

first they had drinks...

then he made his move...

he tried to get too friendly, so she skipped out on him!

PRETTY IN PINK

brugmansia 'pink beauty' matches its name with its first bloom of the season...
i bought a young cycad and placed it at the foot of 'pink beauty'... unfurling lead detail... the little plant and the japanese anemones are blooming. the deer love these, they are been spared this year. yippee!

SPIDER WEBS

our spiders are intensively hunting this time of year, building larger and larger webs. this one has taken up residence in front of a window, where i can photograph her hunting at night from inside the house.hubs shot this web, which was about 3 feet in diameter...
here is the front window spider again, finished wrapping up her prey.