My name is Maria Clemente, and I live in northern New Jersey. Working in the garden design industry for over 20 years has inspired me to create several garden areas around my own property. While I try to design gardens that display beauty in every season, I am always surprised at how the autumn garden seems to be my favorite.

Since I heard Danielle and Carol talking about the pink Sheffield mum (Chrysanthemum ‘Hillside Sheffield Pink’, Zones 4–9) on a recent episode of Let’s Argue About Plants (love the new podcast format by the way!), I felt a need to share the photos of my autumn garden, as that particular mum is one of my favorite plants!

Check out the podcast episode that features Maria’s favorite mum: Episode 148: Wish List Plants

‘Hillside Sheffield Pink’ mum takes center stage in the fall garden. Behind it is the tall Aster tataricus ‘Jindai’ (Zones 3–9) with purple flowers and a oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Ruby Slippers’, Zones 5–9) with beautiful fall color.

Here’s another view of the same planting, seen through a spray of Calamagrostis × acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ (Zones 5–9). The soft pink of the mums is such a great contrast to the brown and tan colors that dominate in the fall.

Brown seed heads from Allium ‘Millenium’ (Zones 4–8) in the foreground and a Japanese maple (Acer palmatum, Zones 5–9) in the background set off the mum flowers perfectly.

A closer look at the oakleaf hydrangea reveals leaves that are just beginning to shift into their warm autumn colors.

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.

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