Just for fun, here's what's left of my garden after a very light frost... And I don't mind the critters eating what they need at this point (except for the shrubs which I've given up on growing for the most part, sadly)

thanks for sharing the photos from your areas where you have a real fall ! Ours was very pretty but awfully short - (not complaining though, just hoping for a ton of snow this year)

I've still got some outdoor chores like spreading more compost and topping with our large pile of leaves that my dh raked into a pile

And I could order more tulip bulbs ;)

Grape arbor in October

Nyssa green gable showing its usual red color

My first year really seeing afterburner show its fall potential. I like that like the straight species it has a variety of colors. Some of the other cultivars favor just turning one color. After seeing these colors it was worth waiting and searching. This is in the only tree in my front yard that will get big. It will be a snow stopper many years from now.

Nyssa wildfire showing no color as usual. The growth rate and spring color make up for the lack of fall interest. If they could make this same tree with fall color it would easily be one of the best trees on the market.

Mostly fall colors in our garden except for these monkshoods.

I thought the pattern in this sunflower seed head, the blue jays have picked it clean, was mesmerizing.

I started to fill the window boxes yesterday, but was suddenly interrupted by rain… hoping I can finish today. I lost my thuja occidentalis this year and really miss it as filler!

@SeniorBalloon love your monkshood, the classic blue stands out beautifully against the much lighter background.

All look great, and interesting. I did a few things different for Halloween, then captured a picture of my last zinnia bouquet for the year.

New Mexico Autumn

First Camellia 'Yuletide' flower of "winter", while Camellia Crimson N Clover (guarded by Kizzie) continues to bloom and bloom.

I guess it's been awhile since I looked at this thread! lol

Art - Gorgeous dog! Jealous of your camellia!

Lynn - Are those peppers drying in the sun?!

SBalloon - Love your monkshood and your sunflower head!

Valinta - looks like you are having some Halloween fun!

PartyMusic - Finish your window boxes?

James - Your Nyssa tree is such a nice shape. Is 'Afterburner' the variety name of the tree with the red leaves?

Dana - What kind of grapes?

Rouge - Very pretty Nemesias!

Lat - You have a nice property, why are you giving up on shrubs?

FANewbie - LOTS of Mums!

Bill - That's some zinnia field!

Dee - I love your rose!

Amazing post @prairiemoon2 z6b MA :)

Rouge, I know, it is amazing that I can post a short comment...lol. I do like to throw you all a curve ball once in awhile. ;-)

Prairiemoon2, I did add more stuff to the window boxes! It usually takes three passes to get them filled. :)

PartyMusic - Wow....those are really great looking! I would be very happy to look at those all winter. Great job!

Fatsia japonica Camouflage is about to bloom. I find the flowers at this stage are more interesting than when fully open.

And Italian Flat-leaf Parsley is always so dang fresh and healthy looking in October in the PNW.

Lol, now why didn't I think to post my parsley? It looks fabulous! Guess I'm focused on flowers lol.

Loving the pictures everyone!

:)

Dee

As I grow older I appreciate more and more this cart to now bring potted perennials and shrubs into the garage (and then moving them back out come the spring).

Enjoying looking at these fall pics. Since I live in an area where there’s no frost or snow or ? It’s fun seeing these. There are a few trees showing fall color, however, I’m sure it’s due to the changing light, not temps.

Prairiemoon, thanks for the compliment about the property, we do enjoy it ! The shrubs are challenging because of the moose - we are in a real moose 'corridor' . I do enjoy a few rugosa rose blooms each year but not the large shrubs I'd love to have. We have completed some copper 'caging' for rhododendrons 2 years ago and after a decade of being munched those rhodos are looking happy and I hope for some blooms in the spring! It's a common sight up here to see fencing protecting ornamentals but I've been lax because I don't like the look of that .

When I see the lovely shrubs on this forum I do feel a pang of longing:)) Happy fall everybody !

Lat... That's right you are in Alaska! Moose?! And I complain about rabbits! [g]

They must be beautiful though...moose. So huge. Well...are there any plants that a moose won't eat? Iwonder if you couldn't install some wire fencing around an area to hold shrubs they would eat, and then put some shrubs that they don't like in front of it so you don't see the fencing? Must be something they dislike the taste of. [g]

The moose are grand, especially this time of year when the males have their huge fuzzy antlers - I've had them do their sparring right in my garden , it makes quite a clatter ! And in the spring, the calves are adorable .... they'll eat anything, and sometimes spit it out, haha .

I've tried to focus on perennials that they won't eat - peonies, poppies, astilbe, meadow rue, geraniums, etc, there are plenty. I do have a slowly establishing potentilla.

I love your idea, a beautiful rose garden surrounded by a thicket of meadow rue, maybe I'll try that! We have 3/4 of an acre. I could do better on some fencing for sure , your idea reminds me of 'a way to garden' describing fencing strategies, thanks for the encouragement !

I do have native shrubs like devils club and elderberry that form a nice backdrop.

Lat - Critters are tough, even sweet ones like Moose. The babies sound amazing. Wow. Rabbits have been relentless and getting worse in the last 5 years. I've felt discouraged lots of times, but....gardeners are hard to keep down, right? lol You manage to get up a little enthusiasm to try another way to co-exist. It comes in waves.

Why do critters eat roses? Rabbits do too - despite all the thorns!

We just discovered we have Bob Cats in our neighborhood! Maybe attracted by all the rabbits. And we are almost urban here!

Rabbits sound like a pain, so cute yet troublesome Nature is harsh but maybe Bob Cats can enjoy some good meals, yikes! We have Lynx in the park nearby , I see them from time to time . And occasionally coyotes roam through the yard. Time to set up a wildlife camera, maybe for Christmas.

Yes, hard to keep down ! adapt / conquer / accept

Rabbits do too - despite all the thorns!

It is crazy as I see this every season, winter mostly but also in the growing season.

We walk the neighborhood every day, I'm sporadic but my DH is out there just about every day. We have a flat neighborhood so it's almost too easy. There is a very small patch of woods around a small playground at the edge of the neighborhood and that seems to be where people have seen the Bob Cat and yes...we have coyotes too. Last year people were remarking that they were not seeing the coyotes as much and now I'm wondering if the bob cat drove them off? Which is the fiercest?

Lot of neighbors have small dogs and small kids so everyone is on alert.

BOBCATS

I just looked up Bob Cats in MA - preferred meal? RABBITS! Birds, rodents and even some plants? Are known to kill chickens, ducks and small pets. Are they dangerous? Shy, and fearful of humans, won't attack unless provoked.

COYOTES

Coyotes - will avoid people at all costs. I found that interesting because I've lived in this neighborhood since the 1980s and I never knew they were here until 3 years ago. Human attacks are rare in MA - only 10 in the past 60 years.

Rouge - Yes...I was very surprsied when I inspected in the spring how much they had damaged. I ended up cutting to the ground Calycanthus. I've stopped buying Hostas and the Lilies are barely hanging on because they eat 1/2 way up the stems, weakening them. The bottom of my roses....some of them, not all....the bottom 2-3ft of canes are stripped of leaves. They have a favorite in the back - 'Penelope' and they've already started on that. I'm getting ready to put a wire cage around it for the winter. In the spring, if you walk 2 short blacks you could see 6 rabbits, not very concerned about running away and hiding. [g]

What beautiful flowers all! artinnature I adore orange and you have embraced it, really lovely!

I am very late to the party.

Miscanthus Purpurascens earlier in the month.

Sorgastrum n. Indian Steel still looks good but this is from a couple of weeks ago.

Miscanthus Strictus

Lobelia siphilitica

Oenothera macrocarpa, The deer don't like these but they are desperate now. You can see the stems munched.

Phlox p. still putting out blooms.

Papaver orientale looking fresh as a daisy surrounded by the nasty foliage of everything else.

These pics were all taken yesterday. My garden is done for the season.

October almost over.

Picture of my back yard from me standing on the deck.

A little frost on the roofs. 30df this am.

BillMN -- As president of the lawn haters guild, I feel it's my duty to ask, is it time to merge most of your bark circles? ;-D

Been time for that for quite some time now. lol

I just can't figure out how to accomplish all that without doing any work. :-))

I've had two spinal fusions in the last 6 years with long recovery periods, so am limited with what I'm able to do.

Generally, my working days are over, but I've still been able to sneak in a smaller plant or two when I see them available, even though I pay for it physically for a few days.

I hate grass too and ours barely grows anyways, just in the shady spots and unless we get rain and even then, some areas stay pretty sparse and short (read poor, droughty soil).

I voted for you at the last meeting of the LHG btw. ;^)

It looks to me like an enchanted forest, with plenty of room for frolicking ! I keep some grass because we like badminton and croquet, haha, but it is a pain when it moves into the garden - catching up on edging this summer and eliminating the grass from the perennials (after 2 years of neglect) has been satisfying .

I love the assortment, would be fun to see the labels, I've got so many native white spruce that I haven't branched out on conifers... especially love the larch !

Thanks, lat!

After planting smaller trees here, several years ago, a good portion of them is appearing more 'Forest like', when you're out there among them. Reminds me a little of earlier times, when I Iived on a Forty-acre wooded parcel that was surrounded by wooded public & private land. The walks were wonderful.

I finally planted a small weeping white spruce a year ago last spring. It grows just as good as my species white spruce.

Too cold, too droughty, too poor of soil, too short of seasons, too open of winters, for me to get into the perennial thing, even back when I was young enough to do that. But I do have a few of them mixed into the landscaping. Easier for me just to buy a few potted hanging baskets of annuals for the deck, and it seems to satisfy what DW is interested in.

Here's a picture from a few years ago, of labels I made from scrap copper.

Thanks again!

One final October pic for me, Heptacodium miconoides still dressed in pink although its fading now. This has become one of my favorite small tree/shrubs.

IndianaGGirl - Glad to hear how much you are enjoying your Heptacodium, since I just planted a small sapling last spring! :-)

Fall sunrise in the Midwest!

Excellent copper labels, Bill !

Must be a joy watching your trees establish themselves, I wonder how tall they'l be in the end ?

I myself want a Dawn Redwood, they're hardy to zone 4 and I actually put one in once but, hey, it's not California here and that tree knew it the first winter ,haha

A larch I can put in and will! I started with sooo much shade but I've lost quite a few spruce to the bark beetle, so lots more sun and a well placed larch will fit in nicely - that fall color is amazing !

Here's some larch from our bike trail near the house (past full peak but still very nice):

Oh I hear you Bill. I have a long list of ailments and I hurt all the time. I'd rather hurt while gardening than anything else though, and I find I don't notice the pain as much. For me horticulture is an antidote to a lot of stuff.

If you are interested in reducing your grass, you can now get 50% acidity vinegar (kitchen vinegar is only 5%). This stuff does a number on lawn grass & weeds (I'm all organic).

Your place is very reminiscent of my mom's one acre garden in Long Prairie. I littered that place first with tree circles, then sweeping beds. But I was in my teens & 20s.

So....is someone going to start a "Share your November pictures!" Thread?

@artinnaturez8b Where do you get your 50% vinegar, and do you use it at full strength? We've been using 5% distilled white vinegar to control weeds in a small rockery area. Am interested in something stronger.

Bill, I also had L3-L4 fusion 10 yrs ago, apparently from a high-school football injury rupturing the disk there that I didn't even recognize until major problems much later. Complete success, but hard to put on socks because of the bending required.....

Worst most painful type of surgery one can ever experience, and the older you get the recovery time seems to last forever.

Why hasn't someone started a November picture thread already??

Bill they have! :)

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/6515448/november-photos-anyone#n=4

:)

Dee

SeniorBalloon - I've been getting it on Amazon, but I've seen it in a local store this summer, might have been Home Depot or a garden center, I can't remember.

Bill - the November thread was started by prairiemoon and is called "November photos anyone?"

Never got around to posting these. Fothergilla

Very nice!

Glad you got around to showing them.

;-)

James those are awesome! What cultivar is that? I've got a couple of Legend of the Small, and while admittedly they are still new (one is planted this year, one last year, both small mail-order specimens) I am a bit concerned because they don't seem very full. Hoping they fill out to look like yours!

:)

Dee

Wow, that fothergilla is impressive! It’s 7:20am and dark and raining here, so your vivid photos look extra nice to me. :)

Gorgeous foliage @Jameszone7a Philadelphia

They are fothergilla gardenii. There at 2 blue mist tucked behind these that don’t color up well. The summer color is okay because it’s a nice blue but I may eventually put 2 gardenii there instead.

Really beautiful James. I've been trying to find fothergilla major but can only seem to find Mt. Airy, not the species. I want something a bit larger than Mt. Airy or Blue Shadow, another one I keep running across. The search will continue this winter lol.

:)

Dee