Just some photos of our Autumn Blaze Maple Trees in our backyard.

I got home early from work today for Halloween and took the opportunity to take shome pictures of the beautiful fall colors of our changing Autumn Blaze Maples.

We really love our trees and are incredibly happy with how they've grown and beautified our backyard.

I went out to water in the backyard tonight and was greeted by a spider between two bushes wrapping up his dinner.

Today was the annual raking and playing in the backyard fall leaves. Drew and Will had some serious speed on this one.

Drew got some height in this one as both boys did their best "Superman!"

Soon the chest first landing gave way to the all powerful instinct of a boy to land on his knees.

I love this aftermath photo at the moment of impact.

An animated gif of one of Drew and Will's jumps.

Landon was content to play on the edge of the pile.

Landon took an occasional mini-jump, but never ventured too far into the pile.

Mary recently caught one of our backyard garden bunnies hiding in the grass.

Today the little guy was bravely hanging out on our patio checking.

Mary was quick with the camera today (and skillful with the focus) and caught a shy bunny in our garden hiding out amongst the plants.

Our Little Business Daylilies (Hemerocallis) are doing awesome this year. Lots of blooms, lots of buds, great color. The weather has been perfect with good intermittent rain and reasonable temperatures...at least until lately.

Just some pictures of our Zuni Crape Myrtles (Lagerstroemia indica). It was after a storm so a lot of the flowers are gone. Even so, they are about the most colorful thing around during the dog days of Oklahoma summers.

During dinner we spotted one of our bunnies.

A close up reveals he's almost certainly related to the ones we've seen in 2006 and 2007.

Saturday, I mowed the law and then Drew finished up by getting the spots that I missed.

Drew worked very hard and had to take a break to cool off before finishing up the back yard. He really did a great job finishing up my sloppy work.

It's officially spring as our backyard garden begins to bloom. First out, the Emerald Blue Creeping Phlox (phlox subulata) shows its stuff.

Creeping Phlox is a beautiful early spring accent for any garden. We have it under all of our Crape Myrtles.

Our back yard is a regular Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom.

Recently a hawk came to perch on our fence which I wouldn't have thought much about except for the fact that our backyard is also the home of the annual baby bunny brigade.

This little guy is only about five inches long and has one or two siblings. Hard to tell for sure...they're a little shy.

If I had known I'd only have to wait two and one-half years before I'd get someone to do my watering for me, I would of had kids a long time ago.

The day lilies in our backyard garden are doing incredibly well.

Our garden bunny is back...with a friend. As I approached to take photos, one rabbit immediately took flight while this one opted for the defense of freeze and maybe I won't be seen. Somehow I get the feeling we might have more rabbits later this summer.

This is the before picture of this year's garden project.

Fortunately, I had a lot of help from Drew. Together, we installed a cement brick boarder which matches the retaining wall around the rest of the garden (a little of which can be seen in the far right of the top and bottom pictures).

Then we planted (from left to right) four Hosta Tardiana Halcyons (Funkia, Plantain Lily), one Zuni Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia Indica X Fauriei), three Gulf Stream Nandinas (Nandina Domestica) and five Patriot Hostas (Hosta Fortunei).

We still want to plant some Emerald Blue Creeping Phlox (Phlox Subulata) under the Crape Myrtle but the nursery was out of them. They flower in the spring and that's when people are most likely to buy them, so that's when the nursery carries them. Also, between the Nandinas and the Patriot Hostas we want to put a Japanese Maple (Acer Palmatum) but we are evaluating the amount of shade the spot receives first.

I know what I'll be doing this weekend...

During the day, when I'm thinking of other things, things that might make a decent blog post come to my mind. Now, at home, sitting in front of the computer...I'm blank.

So...I pop open one of my to-be-blogged folders and find the below unknown orchid (Orchidaceae Incognitum) that I photographed last year at the Four Seasons in Dallas.

I wanted to post two last photos of our Autumn Blaze Maples (Acer X Freemanii) changing colors for the fall. But other than the pretty colors, I wasn't too excited about the photos and figured, if I wasn't too excited, then anyone else viewing them would be completely unimpressed. So, I mixed them up a little which I, at least, like a little better.

If you are curious what the pictures looks like unscrambled click on "Continue reading."

Some leaves from one of our Autumn Blaze Maples (Acer X Freemanii). A cultivar of red and silver maples, the patented Autumn Blaze Maple has brilliant orange-red color, dense and healthy branching, and vigorous growth that protects from insects and disease. But, most importantly, it has "superior crotch angles" and that is always a good thing.

The Stella de Oro Daylily (Hemerocallis) was the first Dwarf Daylily to be created. It's now become incredibly common due to its super-long blooming period and hardy trouble-free nature. And this, of course, is a picture of one from our garden:

While snapping some shots for my flower posts, I came across a moth so I took a picture of it. I was surprised by how well the shot came out; the depth of field, the lighting, the focus, all came out just right. I have no idea what kind of moth it is (illiud latine dici non potest).

Here are some Double Wave Blue Vein Petunias (Petunia) in a planter on our backyard patio:

My sister reminded me that I have not been keeping up with my "weekly" flower posts. So, here is a photo of one of our Zuni Crape Myrtles (Lagerstroemia indica). It's incredibly common in Oklahoma as it very heat and disease tolerant and blooms throughout the summer.

Here is a Ruby Star Coneflower (Echinacea Rubinstern) from our garden:

Finally, to close out today's flurry of postings, due to my working at the computer most of the day and needing an occasional break: the view from our backyard patio.

I think I might try and post a weekly flower shot from our garden or some other place of interest. This week's offering from our garden is the Little Business Daylily (Hemerocallis) which actually looks a lot more like an Autumn Red Daylily. All I know is that Little Business was the name on the pot and, in this case, was what the person at the nursery called it.