Take a Last Leaf-Peeping Trip With These 25 Postcards of Fall
Readers from across the country, and the world, share seasonal views from their front yards, backyards and beyond
There’s a lot to celebrate in fall, from sports championships to the kickoff of the holiday season. Fall is also a time to slow down and celebrate spectacular natural beauty, as colors intensify and seem to emerge from out of nowhere. We asked you to show us your spectacular views of fall, and here are some of our favorites.
In this photo uploaded by John Algozzini of K&D Landscape Management, the Monee Reservoir in suburban Chicago showcases native woodlands, restored prairie and open water. “It’s a nice reminder that Nature still does the most sophisticated landscape work,” he says.
Autumn light hits the golden leaves and reflects off the water just right in this view Evelina Fuhrmann shared from her window in Vienna, Austria.
Jay Sifford, of Jay Sifford Garden Design, opted to share this photo of his own yard in Charlotte, North Carolina. “This was my first Japanese maple purchase years ago, and [it] has become like an old friend. It wears autumn quite well.”
We see more beautiful Japanese maple color with this backyard in Elk Grove, California, uploaded by caloco. The wood tree hangings add another colorful and textural layer.
“My favorite time of the year,” says Laure Cain of Loudoun County, Virginia, and we can see why. Fallen leaves decorate this quiet rural road near her home, framed by rustic rock walls.
Terry Sims, The Garden Artist, shared this contemporary, high-contrast foliage combination from her Boise, Idaho, garden. In the background we see a blue Atlas cedar, with a purple Diabolo ninebark, yellow-flowering goldenrod and feathery golden Tiger Eyes sumac. The green ground cover is a cranesbill.
Known for its evergreen forests, the Pacific Northwest also offers its own fall color show. In Olympia, Washington, colorful trees line a quiet street in a photo uploaded by sueping, with leaves dotting the ground all around.
Sycamore leaves blanket the front yard of Gretchen Nation’s more than 100-year-old home in Oregon. “Our sycamore is supposed to be the oldest and largest in the county,” dating back to before the house was built, she says.
Japanese maples are some of the season’s brightest stars, as seen in Karen Heffernan’s backyard in West Hartford, Connecticut. The crimson leaves create a river of red around the tree and garden statue.
The golden sandstone of Bodiam Castle in East Sussex, United Kingdom, glimmers in its own reflection in the water of the constructed moat around it. Fall foliage frames a picturesque backdrop. Dave Parsons, who uploaded this photo, lives nearby.
While fall is a time to take in the season from the outdoors, it can also be a time to appreciate the beauty from the comfort and coziness of home, as we see in this photo of the hills of Litchfield, Connecticut, uploaded by Irene Budzynski.
In Edgewood, Washington, local livestock enjoy a cool, misty morning meal. This photo is from Pam Glaser.
Grasses glisten on the Puget Sound in Gig Harbor, Washington. “I was driving by and saw these beautiful plants all aglow in the afternoon sun and just had to stop and take a few photos,” Lois Gerard says.
Fall color has come to Wisconsin, as C. L. Sleger shared with this photo of the Benjamin Church House in Milwaukee. It is an 1843 Greek Revival-style home that sits on the National Register of Historic Places.
Overlooking rivers, farmlands and forests, this view uploaded by Tawny Nicole shows a spectacular Virginia river in autumn.
Spanish moss drapes the branches of this old-growth tree in a hurricane-hit area of central Florida. The photo is from Jay Wilson.
Kim Foos’ dog Miley loves to take walks on the trail leading from their backyard into state land in Upper Michigan. “It’s sometimes too wet or buggy to walk back there in other seasons, so it’s a special treat in the fall,” Foos says.
The bright green grasses pop even brighter against the red and gold trees in this photo of pastoral land taken by Andrew Priest in Glandorf, Germany.
Nancy Nygaard snapped a few shots of the farm down the road from her home in Wisconsin. This road is called The Great River Road, part of a collection of local roads that follow the route of the Mississippi River. It is considered one of the most scenic roads in the U.S. “Fall in Wisconsin was lovely this year with all the rain we had over the summer,” Nygaard says.
On the West Coast, fall is the perfect season to enjoy a cold night around a toasty outdoor fire. That’s just what Patty Clark had in mind with this photo. This ring of Adirondack chairs around a fire pit is in Washington’s Yakima Valley, 60 miles east of Mt. Rainier.
This shot uploaded by Nancy Langlois showcases “the perfect morning to enjoy the view of my garden” in South Lancaster, Ontario, Canada.
This view from Rick Smith of Southwest Harbor, on the Somes Sound, from Mount Desert Island in Maine, is breathtaking. Somes Sound is a fjord that runs right into Acadia National Forest.
Sheri Horvath has the right idea for fall with this photo from her home on the Walker River, in Walker, California, between Lake Tahoe and Mammoth. “I took the picture from a patio where we drink wine and just chill,” she says.
As the leaves change in fall, so does the light. Shadows appear different day by day. Here we see some shadow play in Lincoln, Nebraska, in a photo uploaded by Sara McCracken.
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