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When it comes to gardening, spring tends to get all the attention, but fall can be full of beauty as well. “We sometimes have ideas about what you can plant when,” says Leora Novick, an avid gardener and the founder of Persephone Social, a social media marketing agency. “But many plants are cold-hardy and you can plant them later in the season than you might think. Many flowers keep blooming later in the season as well.”
Leora developed a passion for gardening during the pandemic, while living in a Brooklyn, NY, apartment building with a thriving backyard greenhouse. She and her neighbors built raised beds and started a communal garden. “It really got us through a dark time,” she says.
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In 2023, a move to an 1880s farmhouse on three acres in New York’s Hudson Valley pushed Leora’s skills to a new level—and upped her appreciation of the seasonal nature of gardening. In September she begins to prep her garden for winter, clearing out garden beds and cleaning summer planters, but it’s not a full shutdown. “You can still plant cold-hardy kale, carrots, radishes, and lettuce, so I try to keep those going as long as possible,” she says.
And there’s time remaining for displays of purple grasses and heirloom chrysanthemums in rich jewel tones. The key, Leora notes, is to help your garden evolve with the seasons so you can enjoy being outside later in the year, because “putting your hands in soil, or just stepping outside and hearing birdsong, is so grounding.”
3 Fall Gardening Hacks
Try the fingernail test.
Leora swears by this trick to tell whether a pumpkin is ripe: “Press a fingernail into the skin. If it goes in easily, it’s not ready. If the skin resists or just dents, it is.”
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Plant garlic..
Tulips aren’t the only fall-planted bulbs. Garlic that goes in now may deter pests such as aphids and mosquitoes; it will be ready to harvest next summer.
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…and hardy shrubs.
Viburnum, lilacs, and hydrangeas are good candidates to plant six weeks before the first frost, Leora says: “They add visual interest to a yard.”
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Read on for more about Leora’s chosen fall tasks.
Leora’s Fall Gardening To-Do’sGift extra seeds.
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Leora likes to save these to share with family and friends. “I buy recycled paper seed envelopes on which to note the flower or plant name and the date the seeds were collected,” she explains.
Cut for more blooms.
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Dahlias are known as “cut-and-come-again” flowers. “The more you snip them, the more they keep on delivering their joy,” Leora says.
Prep garden beds for the cold.
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Leora resets her garden beds in the autumn by removing debris and clearing out brown perennials, but she lets the leaves remain. “They act as natural mulch, encourage biodiversity, and support creatures that like to burrow,” she says.
Display fall flowers.
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“I harvest flowers as late in the season as possible,” Leora says. “It’s a great way to fill my home with autumnal color.” Cosmos, zinnias, and larkspur shine in her fall garden.
Get creative with planters.
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Reclaimed whiskey barrels double as containers, perfect by Leora’s front door. She fills them with heirloom chrysanthemums, purple grasses, and more.
This feature appears in the September/October 2026 issue of Good Housekeeping.
Monique Valeris is the home design director for Good Housekeeping, where she oversees the brand’s home decorating coverage across print and digital. Prior to joining GH in 2020, she was the digital editor at Elle Decor. In her current role, she explores everything from design trends and home tours to lifestyle product recommendations, including writing her monthly column, “What’s in My Cart.”
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