I have a love/hate relationship with fall. I bet a lot of you do, too. It's not that I hate winter; I actually enjoy winter sports and there's nothing to compare with the sunrise after a snow storm. Still, I'd rather be outside gardening.

Fall color is nature's way of easing us into the bleakness of February, in northern climates. One last hurrah and then hunker down and be patient. All the more reason to celebrate fall and that's just what the photographers in our October Garden Photo Challenge did. It was total eye candy and very hard to come to a consensus on the winning photos. But we've reached our decision and here they are, the winners of the Fall Color Photo Challenge.

The Nov/Dec challenge has already been posted. It's Holiday Plants, appropriately enough. And by that we mean anything you do with plants, to celebrate and decorate for any of the upcoming holidays. Centerpieces, cornucopias, pots on the porch, decorations on the mantle. Share your holidays with us.

Congratulations to this month's winners and thank you to everyone who submitted photos!

1st Place Photo: Fall Solitude.

Submitted by AmrJoe76

Maples get all the attention in the fall, but there are plenty of other trees that put on a decent display. I'm especially fond of oak trees at any time of year. There's an oak across the street from me that never seems to drop its leaves. They're still out there, hanging on, well into early spring.

This year we had a bumper crop of acorns. One day when I went out to get the mail I was literally pelted with the little nuts, as they fell by the bucketful in the breeze. By now the squirrels have safely buried them in all my outdoor containers. Still, I think every yard should have an oak. They're long-lived and give stature to your yard. About's Guide to Landscaping breaks down the fall foliage merits of different species of oaks, to help you decide which you might like to plant.

Photo: © Marie Iannotti

I'm an unabashed vegetable lover and even on Thanksgiving, meat is just an accompaniment to my veggies. This year, instead of matching your wine to your Turkey, choose a variety that will bring out the best in the vegetables you grew and stored for the harvest festival. Here's a cheat sheet from The Wine Guide by Williams-Sonoma and more in depth pairings from the San Fransisco Chronicle for pairing wine with everything from avocados to zucchini. Here are a couple of starter tips:

1. Wine pairs better with cooked vegetables than with raw vegetables
2. Roasted and charred vegetables pick up the tannins in red wine

Photo: © Marie Iannott

The longer I garden, the more I love shrubs. I am utterly delighted with every new Deutzia and Weigela that comes out, but I would never forsake my old favorites, like lilacs, hydrangeas and viburnums.

There are over 150 species of viburnums that grow from Zone 2 through 9. These are long-lived and fuss free shrubs that can provide colorful berries for the birds, brilliant fall color and sometimes even fragrance. You're probably familiar with at least a few Viburnums already, like Korean spice, with pink buds that open to white, clove-scented snowballs, the American Cranberry Bush, with it's lacecap flowers and clusters of red berries and the showy Doublefile viburnum, with it's intense orange-red fall leaves set off by almost deep red berries.

Viburnums, as a group, are versatile. There are many native species and there's certain to be one that will suit your growing conditions, no matter how difficult. If you're looking to add some four season interest to your yard, a viburnum could be just what you need.

• Choosing and Growing Viburnums
• Viburnum Leaf Beetle
• Flowers of Koreanspice Viburnum or Korean Spicebush (Viburnum carlesii)
• Berries on Smooth Witherod Viburnum (Viburnum nudum)

Photo: © Marie Iannotti