Blooming Fall

Proof that dahlias do, indeed, grow from seed.  They are not the colors I would have chosen, and they are not five feet tall like my mom's, but here they are, bright and blooming, and I had to do was poke the seeds in the ground.  I'll do this again next year, plus overwintering the bulbs from these youngsters.

And here is proof that there are beautiful things as rampant as bindweed (or almost):

Below all the purple hyacinth bean is the little pergola I built last Thanksgiving out of limbs trimmed from the Bradford pear, as well as the garden gate.  I'd rather see the beans than the gate.

And finally, proof that a new coat of paint can work wonders:

We painted the back deck to match the front porch, and it looks so much better - it goes with the house now, in a way it didn't before.  I think we had attached a 1970's ranch-house style deck to our 1950's cape.  Just didn't work, and it seemed to hang awkwardly off the back door, not really a part of the house or the garden.  Now it looks like it belongs.

It is fall.  The temperature has fallen, and Noah has started school.  I am the mother of an elementary school child.  Seasons.