Oh, how I have adored these glorious autumn days; mostly blue skies, warm (but not too warm) days, crisp cool nights, and vivid color all around……

The view from our yard to the tennis courts

…. Leaves crunching underfoot, colorful assortment of pumpkins, apple cider from a local orchard, cuddling under a blanket sipping hot tea, pumpkin pies, family reunions, cheering for our local football team, that first pot of spicy chili, making apple butter, glorious sunsets ….. 

Why is an autumn sunset always the prettiest?

…. It always makes my heart sing with joy!

I’m amazed every autumn at the palate of color God paints for our enjoyment, especially this year, our first here in South Carolina!

 

I love the color of my normally blue hydrangea shrubs; even they are changing for the fall.

I have loved working in our yard: weeding around rock borders, cleaning up spider webs, mowing, for what I hope is the last time, a preparing my plants for the winter.

AND THEN, Sandy and a major early season cold front paid a visit. 

We were spared any damage as we are just far enough from the coast Sandy let us be, but we have had the high winds of the cold front (and snow just miles north of us!) grab our attention and let us know Old Man Winter is not too far away!

It won’t be too long before the cayenne peppers (they go quite well with those winter pots of chili) completely quit producing……

 

And my roses that have put on quite a show this fall will have lost most all of their petals.

But they were beautiful!

Back in the spring, just after we moved here, my sweet hubby transplanted 34 roses bushes from our home in Alabama!  Of the thirty-four, we only lost three; the rest have been spoiled pampered and looked amazing!  They put on a spectacular show for us this fall.

My David Austin English roses are some of my favorites.  These are the ones that fill my back yard, surround my patio and front porch.  Their fragrance is heavenly and once they mature they grow more like a hedge shrub.

Mine will take a while though to reach that stage as we had to heavily prune them after transplanting.  But their blooms have been most enjoyable!

The surprise of the fall was the blooming of my Queen Elizabeth garden roses.  These were the last ones we moved; waiting almost too late in the season.  They didn’t bloom all summer and showed very little growth, but still survived.  Their blooms were stunning and some of my favorites.

{I checked…. not a petal left this morning!}

Our running roses also loved this fall

My Don Juan running rose bush is over 7 feet tall now!

 

Coral running roses next to our chimney

 

But my pride and joy is this coral beauty here….

This rose bush is over twenty years old!  I received it as a high school graduation gift and it stayed at my parents house until 12 years ago when I moved it to our home in Alabama.  I wanted to leave it behind because I was afraid it would not survive!  Audley decided to moved it anyway, and I am so glad that he did!

What a wonderful surprise to see it bloom so beautifully the last couple of weeks!

While this front has faded out the last of summer, most of autumn and ushered in a taste of winter, it seems the mums and asters are happy with these cooler temps.  Maybe we will have just a few more days of color.

 

And while I love the color on the trees……

 

I love the look of the fallen leaves.

 

And I am ever so thankful that my teenagers still get a kick out of playing in them.
{Don’t tell them that I told you!}

I am also blessed because they can rake them as well!

Tell me my friends, what are you loving this fall?