Fall is definitely here. Some red maple leaves are turning red. This branch is sticking thru some pine trees, so the red really pops amongst the pine boughs.

From all the rain, I have all these crazy white mushrooms in the lawn. It almost looks like someone has dropped a couple dozen eggs in the grass!

The planters on the front lawn have been replaced with potted mums.

At this season my garden is beginning to look like a cross between a clearing in the woods and a tall grass prairie. With a few roses standing around.

View from porch (and computer window). I went out on the porch to photograph to get a clearer view. There's a Knockout rose and a few rugosas to the right, and Carefree Beauty rose in the distance.

Rose Carefree Beauty. I stopped deadheading the beginning of September so it's going to hips mostly, but still sending out a few blossoms.

This is the view from the path running along the side of the house. Birdfeeders and birdbaths are an important part of my winter garden. The Mary Stoker mum is being crowded out by the grasses and I'll move it in the spring. Somewhere.

Lots of grasses with the winterberry wall behind. The winterberry leaves are still on but will drop later while the berries will remain (until eaten by birds).

And steadfastly blooming away, this time framed by grass seadheads, the Blushing Knockout Roses. I really, really love this rose (I have three big ones).

Claire

My first Miscanthus....Finally Bloomed!!!! I have anxiously been waiting.

I posted some photos finally! I didn't read this all the way through and so I thought it was more a place for what's blooming right now. Since my photos were taken at various times, I posted a separate message. If interested, it's on this NE forum, as "Photos! Finally! (I hope!)"

I was really shocked when my Hermerocallis 'Larry Grace' sent out new buds at the end of September. It's really more lemon than these show it to be.

Here is a link that might be useful: https://picasaweb.google.com

Wow! That last photo is a real show-stopper, Molie! I love your roses, too. Claire, your grasses and roses are great - I have a hard time integrating grasses into my garden but you seem to have found a way to do it so that it looks like they belong where they are planted.

I hope to have some photos soon, but my old laptop doesn't like my new camera/phone very much.

My main attraction at the moment: 3 Franlinea Altamaha in full bloom. Other than that, it's mainly tender Salvias (Love Wendy's Wish, a gorgeous red) and roses: New Dawn, Bonica, and Fairy. Lots of Chocolate Eupatorium volunteers (will I ever get rid of it? Here in zone 7 it's become quite a pest).

Speaking of pests, Sweet Autumn Clematis is going strong in areas where I didn't know it had popped up. I think I'll have to move if I want to keep gardening.

Great photos, Molie! I particularly like the vignette with the anemones and the Knockout rose, with the foggy background of grasses and others.

DTD: My Sweet Autumn Clematis has never seeded around (yet) but I'm beginning to get Miscanthus seedlings in interesting places. The grasses have their own idea as to where they belong; I just move them if I don't agree. Their judgment has been surprisingly good, at least to my not-too-critical eyes.

Claire

You can see the touch of fall in everyone's gardens. Claire your winterberry looks fabulous! You'll have lots of birds visiting this season. Molie, I like your rose shot with the lantern. Very peaceful.

With the mild weather we're having, the annuals in the back garden keep getting better, as long as I deadhead AND they don't get pummeled by tropical storms. :) I am cheered up whenever I look at this garden.
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This is part of the front garden. The Salvia Black & Blue, Agastache Black adder, are new this year. I think the Aster novae-angliae is either Alma Potchske (sp) or September Ruby? Not sure which. It looks nice as long as you hide the ugly legs. Love the bright colors.

Here's one of the Franklinias:

And a close up of the flower:

And what's left of the rose 'Bonica', which hasn't rebloomed for me before:

All your photos are lovely and the late flowers are such a treat when the weather...isn't! I'm a little surprised to see things still in bloom here that started back in June/July: gaura, feverfew, gaillardia, hardy geranium, rudbeckia & ladybells. Phlox p. 'Blue Paradise' still has buds on it! The winter sown boltonia just started blooming a few days ago. My beds aren't ready for prime time just yet but they're getting there, slow but sure.

Gaura lindheimeri 'The Bride' with Russian sage
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Gaillardia 'Golden Goblin'
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Adenophora liliifolia/ladybells (Montauk daisy just getting started on the right)
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Gaillardia/blanket flower
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Toad lily w/black snakeroot
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A lot less color in the garden as the days get shorter, but the leaves really haven't turned yet.

Some of the Hosta still look good while others are getting ready for dormancy. Alligator Shoes up front and Neat and Tidy (looking a mess) in the back.

Leaf detail of Sweet Innocence.

Not all the Monarchs have migrated South yet.

The Hydrangeas are still blue.

And we are getting some leaf color in this Japanese Maple

The Wood Asters have taken over this old bench.

And this Mum is growing onto the walkway.

You get color where you can find it. Heuchera Plum Royale

Thuja Orientalis '4 Evergold'

Colocasia 'Mojito' will be brought inside tonight as there will be frost in Worcester County.

Steve

We've been away for a few days up to Maine where there wasn't much fall color yet, so it was great to see fall beginning on your Japanese maple, Steve, and in the wonderful pic of wood asters under that old bench. They go so well together. But you also have some reminders that Indian Summer brings warmth. Love the Monarch still on its bush and your Hydrangeas blooming! The old flowers on mine are starting to turn and there are, sadly, no buds.

I was mighty jealous seeing those beautiful Gaillardia, Gardenweed, especially the yellow one, because I lost mine this season. Maybe the salt water brought in from Irene did them all in.

DTD, the rose 'Bonica' has always been a favorite of mine but all the ones I've seen here get so tall and I don't think there's a place where I could fit one in. Those flowers are striking, they almost shimmer and are such a clean, bright pink! How old and tall is yours?

Terrene, there's such a beautiful contrast of textures and colors in your front garden. I think it would be neat to see these same views in a few weeks. I actually don't mind the switch to fall and then winter that we New Englanders experience. All of your photos have gotten me thinking about what I want to do in my gardens next spring!

Molie

Another joy of this season comes when the big old Osmanthus heterophyllus comes into bloom next to the winterberry wall. This is the view from my kitchen window. The osmanthus is peeking over the top left of the winterberry. Both of these small trees date back at least fifty years to my parents' garden, although I had the osmanthus moved during construction.

Those are big mischanthuses in the foreground, to give an idea of the scale.

Osmanthus et al

Osmanthus and winterberry

The osmanthus is at least ten feet tall; here I'm standing underneath it and shooting straight up.

Closeup of the blossoms:

While I was photographing, a male towhee flew up, perched in the winterberry for about a minute, then flew off.

Claire

Nice, Claire! I'll have to go check my osmanthus - it's a holly O and looks a lot like holly, with spiny leaves. I really love the foliage, and the flowers are sort of an add-on.

Molie, my Bonica is about 4 feet tall and is crammed between a row of peonies and a small conifer, so it's pretty narrow. It's maybe 5 years old and hasn't grown very fast - but seems to be coming into its own now.

DtD: When I first started renovating the osmanthus it was already an old shrub, about 7 feet tall and scraggly and all of the leaves were spiny like a holly. Family lore was that this was a true holly. It was growing in almost pure sand in a spot partially exposed to winds off the bay and had been neglected for years.

I pruned and fertilized it and the new growth began to come in with smooth entire leaves, not spiny. Eventually I had it moved to a better location, protected and with good soil, and most of the leaves are now smooth. (It took several years before I discovered to my amazement that this was an osmanthus, not a holly/ilex)

Wikipedia says that "Spiny leaves predominate on small, young plants (an adaptation to deter browsing animals), while entire leaves predominate higher on larger mature plants out of the reach of animals."

I just went out and checked and some of the leaves on the bottom are still spiny.

Others near the bottom are mixed smooth and spiny:

A little higher up they're all smooth (entire):

I've been adding Osmanthus Goshikis to make an osmanthus grove, and my biggest Goshiki is about five feet tall and pretty much all spiny leaves.

When I planted this Goshiki I made sure to leave plenty of space from the big osmanthus for it to grow in. I thought the old one was mature and wouldn't spread much more. I was wrong. The trunks are far apart but the old osmanthus is reaching into the Goshiki space. Here's the two intermingled.

None of my Goshikis has flowered yet, but I'm hoping for a fall extravaganza there some day.

Are all of your osmanthus leaves spiny? Maybe the cultivars stay juvenile longer, or forever, while the older, species-type change form.

Claire

Franklinia and Roses are gorgeous! Gardenweed, I love the combo of Guara and Perovskia. I just bought some of both from Santa Rosa!

Stevemass, your Buddleia is gorgeous and of course the Monarch...I had one visit the annuals yesterday. That is the latest date I've seen a Monarch here!
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Physostegia 'Crystal Peak' - dwarf white Obedient plant, started from seed this year, it's making little blooms! I hope this one doesn't spread like crazy.

Geranium Rozanne and alyssum -

Spiranthes odorata (Fragrant Lady Tresses)-

Took this pic this morning. With the sun getting lower, the gardens are getting much shadier. Yvonne's Salvia and Zinnias, Eupatorium 'Chocolate' and Aster lateriflorus 'Lady in Black' all still blooming away. The bees are going nuts.

Wow, I love that Spiranthes odorata, Terrene - I'll have to look for it. Is it a bulb, or a perennial?

I still have monarchs and other butterflies on my weedy old butterfly bush - haven't seen them anywhere else in my yard lately, though.

Claire, that Goshiki is stunning. Does it need more sun than the solid greens? Mine's in deep shade - might get a little morning sun and some reflected light from the water. Anyway, I really have no space for more shrubs - not fair, is it?

Hi DTD, it's a late-blooming perennial. It's in the orchid family I think, but one of the easiest to grow and it even reseeds a little. A southeastern US native, but I've had it for 4 years so it's hardy here. And it's fragrant, more noticeable on mild days.

The grasses are in their glory now (except for the ones that are flopping or are beaten down by the latest winds and rain). I'll show the glorious ones that I caught backlit by the morning sun. There's a glimpse of Blushing Knockout and Carefree Beauty roses to the right.

My big old winterberry still has leaves on and the berries are bright red now. I also have one little seedling that has its first berries this year. This, obviously, is the big old winterberry.

Aster Fanny is happily blooming; here it's infiltrated into a white pine branch.

Rose Carefree Beauty is having its best year ever. For years it's flopped all over and I've always risked my skin crawling into it to stake it up. This summer I decided to let it flop and become a low hedge so I removed the stakes. A few canes immediately flopped but the rest stood tall and proud. The east side still has many blooms, while the west side is mostly hips that are turning orange.

hips

Rose Carefree Delight is much more delicate but I think the little blooms are charming. That's winterberry and euonymus in the background.

The Autumn Joy sedums are now rusty colored and the Virginia creeper is turning red. Here they're next to a variegated Miscanthus.

Classic Knockouts and Blushing Knockouts are also blooming steadily.

Claire

Here is some late October color from winterberries.

Dwarf lilac and Sedum 'Autumn joy'

I had fun just scrolling through all your photos and looking at all the colors as they changed this past month. I love all the October colors� the maroons and purples, rusts, yellows and the varied greens. Fall in New England is beautiful.

Molie

I like the Sedum Autumn joy combo Claire. Also gorgeous color combos in your pics Franeli.

What weird weather we got yesterday. Don't know why but the annuals only got half-zapped. Some hostas had snow on them this morning but they look fine this afternoon and didn't get frozen?? Weird.

I thought I would take some last photos before we get hit with snow tomorrow. But the weather yesterday seemed to have flattened anything that was looking good last week. I did manage to get one of 'Julia Child' rose that is still blooming....

Hope everyone has their shovels ready. :-)

Julia Child is lovely, PM2. Does it have the nice fragrance they describe?

No snow here, just lots of wind. The winds hastened the migration of the ghosts that pass through this time of year. The pines have been dropping their needles on the beds. That will be very welcome if we get the usual winter with little snow cover (last year was an anomaly).

Harvest time brings pumpkins to brighten up the yard and terrify small children. Although small children here don't seem to be easy to terrify.

When the sun goes down one pumpkin lights up.

Claire

We just got power back. I'll try to get the November thread posted later today. Definitely tomorrow at the latest. I'll also be back to hopefully post some Snowliage photos.

Claire - love your Halloween pumpkins. When we went on vacation, the squirrels made a feast of our pumpkins - we came home to a few little remnants on the front steps!

I've had a busy month - so I'm posting all my October garden photos now.

My tomatoes in October were fabulous! My best tomato year ever.

Hydrangea Paniculata Tardiva has taken on the pinkish hue

I vaguely recall getting a division of a chysanthemum about 4 years ago from an old neighbor. I had almost forgotten about it until it bloomed this year. And I seem to remember it being pink! Not the happiest plant, but at least it bloomed this year! Maybe there is hope for future years?

Morning Glories have finally covered the brush pile with foliage and blossoms

Brown Eyed Susans continue to put on a show

Fall foliage. The tree in front is a red maple - this is the tree that was devastated by the winter moth caterpillar. This year it has colored yellow before turning red - it typically goes straight to red. (This photo was taken on the 24th). Behind the red maple is a silver maple with absolutely no color - just holding onto the green leaves.

And finally - some snowliage photos from this past weekend.

That's quite a progression, pixie_lou, from tomatoes to snowcover! I've almost forgotten what the beginning of October looked like.

The squirrels don't really bother my full-size pumpkins, but they devastate gourds. I think it's a question of whether they can get their teeth around them.

Last year I had a few small round gourds and they kept getting pieces chopped off them. This year I started out buying a few gourds with long skinny necks at the farmers' market, expecting to buy a few more each week. The ones with necks simply disappeared - I guess they had convenient handles for the little rodents to carry them off. I gave up on gourds.

The pumpkins are now on the porch where I also keep birdseed in trash cans, and the squirrels seem more interested in seeing if they can break into the cans.

Claire

Very cute pumpkins Claire and your ghosts look friendly. :-) Halloween was postponed until last night in our town and there were not very many people out, either.

Yes, Julia Child is fragrant, but I wouldn't say it was strong fragrance. I seem to think it was more fragrant with it's first flush of blooms. The fall blooms have not been very fragrant at all. Not sure if I am imagining that or not.

Nice to have tomatoes in October pixie lou, we've been buying Heirlooms at the store for awhile and last week there were not many available in the store either.

Pixielou -

The photo of the pond with a dusting of snow is just lovely!

Can you tell me about what variety of tomato is in your photo and what you thought of the taste? I'm looking for a good variety since our previous favorite is no longer available.

Thanks!
Barb

Barb - I'm almost embarassed to say this - but the tomatoes were Early Girls and Big Boys bought from Walmart. I had excellent production through mid-October. No problems with pests, disease, blight, etc. The taste was fine, nothing special. I used them mostly for tomato sandwiches or bruschetta. Plus I made a lot of salsa from them. I will admit that we prefer cherries for our fresh eating.

I'm going to try starting my own tomatoes from seed next year. I want to grow lots of yellow tomatoes so I can make yellow marinara sauce.