We’re returning to Mel’s gorgeous New York State garden today.

I sent in a GPOD entry in March 2022: Mel’s Rustic Cabin Garden. This submission focused on the summer garden, and I decided it would be fun to share some more photos of my garden during my favorite time of the year—autumn. All of these photos are from September and October of 2021 and 2022.

The garden was started in 2003 and has evolved continually since then and will continue to do so. I think that older gardens are very challenging, as shrubs and trees can just outgrow their space or die. A few years back we lost tons of junipers and arborvitae in the Northeast, and I lost three huge junipers along the path to the front steps and had to hurriedly repair the damage before an Open Days Garden tour. Sometimes, forced change has some surprising and wonderful results. Losing the junipers opened up the view from the steps, and I added a little rock garden with a ‘Wolf Eyes’ kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa ‘Wolf Eyes’, Zones 5–8), Abies koreana ‘Ice Breaker’ (Zones 5–7), and Aralia cordata ‘Sun King’ (Zones 4–8), among other things (image 5).

I love the fall garden! There is so much color added with the foliage both in the garden and the borrowed view, the weeds slow down, and some browning and drying out looks right!

From the porch with the red maples (Acer rubrum, Zones 3–9) blazing in the background you can see the ‘Bobo’ hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata ‘Bobo’, Zones 3–8) and ‘Bloodgood’ maple (Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’, Zones 5–9) clearly. A climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala, Zones 4–8) is in the foreground, and the porcupine grass (Miscanthus sinensis ‘Strictus’, Zones 5–9) is a standout at this time of the year.

Down the path from the parking court to the steps through the conifer shade garden—which is dominated by a large Juniperus chinensis ‘Hetzii Columnaris’ (Zones 4–9)—there is a Picea abies ‘Gold Drift’ (Zones 2–7) next to the fence in front of the showy ‘Bobo’ hydrangea.

This photo was taken on September 13 and looks down the central path in the garden, with the ‘Bobo’ hydrangea in the front and my beloved Heuchera villosa ‘Autumn Bride’ (Zones 3–8), the newish ‘Lemony Lace’ elderberry (Sambucus nigra ‘Lemony Lace’, Zones 5–7), and the persistent black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia fulgida, Zones 3–8) leaning out into the path. The slightly unusual Spodiopogon sibiricus (Zones 5–9) in the middle left of the photo is one of my favorites; it had been there for a decade and died back to almost nothing in the winter of 2021 with no rhyme or reason. The gangly tree in the back is a staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina, Zones 3–8) that volunteered in 2007 and that I have nurtured and pruned ever since. I love it, and so do the birds, which I can watch from my upstairs bedroom window.

Facing the house through the ‘Lemony Lace’, once again there is the show-off ‘Bobo’, as well as a ‘Pink Diamond’ tree-form hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata ‘Pink Diamond) next to the steps and a Pieris ‘Brouwers’s Beauty’ (Zones 5–8) next to it. I love ‘Brouwers’s Beauty’ but gave up on them in my designs because they rarely do well. The tree on the left is a variegated Norway maple (Acer platanoides, Zones 3–7) that I prune to keep it at a reasonable size.

On my porch is an Abutilon (Zones 8–11 or as an annual or a houseplant) in a container. Another red maple is showing off in the distance.

Down the lilting gravel path parallel to the porch, my prize Picea pungens ‘Procumbens’ (Zones 2–8) on the left was maimed by the deer a few years ago. That surprised me because they “aren’t supposed” to eat blue spruce.

This photo is packed with color, including the kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa, Zones 5–8) fruit, Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Firetail’ (Zones 4–9) blooms, Physostegia virginiana (Zones 3–9) blooms, the Harry Lauders walking stick (Corylus avellana ‘Red Dragon’, Zones 4–8) foliage, inflorescence of the maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis, Zones 4–9), and the variegated boxwood (Buxus sp., Zones 5–9).

This photo, taken on September 2, is also jam-packed: Imperata cylindric (not invasive in my Zone 4/5 garden), Ligularia dentata (Zones 3–8), a variegated sweet flag (Acorus calamus ‘Variegatus’, Zones 4–10) that is actually in the little pond, the ‘Lemony Lace’, a ‘Little Devil’ ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Little Devil’, Zones 2–8), with the ‘Wine and Roses’ weigela (Weigela ‘Wine and Roses’, Zones 4–8) right behind.

I love portulaca (Portulaca grandiflora, Zones 2–11) and how it shines in this close-up with the ‘Autumn Bride’ coral bells, ‘Blue Carpet’ juniper (Juniperus squamata ‘Blue Carpet’, Zones 4–7), Bowles’ golden sedge (Carex elata ‘Aurea’, Zones 5–9) in the pond, the pickerel weed (Pontederia cordata, Zones 3–10), etc.

This photo shows off the morning light and what a simple fence and gravel path can do to set off a vignette. I love the flowers of the Persicaria aplexicaulis ‘Firetail’, obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana), and my favorite new mountain mint (Pycnanthemum pilosum, Zones 4–8).

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #FineGardening!

Do you receive the GPOD by email yet? Sign up here.