Posted on by Donna

A Spooky Fall Garden

 

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“In nature, everything has a job. The job of the fog is to beautify further the existing beauties!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

 

 

When fog visits the garden in fall, I am that child again who races outside to stand in it, breathe it in and marvel at how everything looks different, almost spooky.  

If you have been in fog, then you know the heavy feeling in the air as it fills your lungs.  Almost breathing in liquid.  The first time I remember seeing fog was when I was walking to the bus stop in first grade.  You could hardly see the sidewalk, and of course with all the fog I had to walk in the street to feel the full effect.  Not a safe decision, but I was too enthralled with this new experience.  All I knew was the clouds had come down from the sky to kiss me.  And oh what an experience to walk in the clouds for the first time.  I jumped and ran and bounced barely making the bus.  But I will never forget that first time I walked in the clouds.

This fall, in late September, we had a particularly spectacular morning fog.  One that would burn off in time, so I made haste to capture what I could.

 

 

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This was what the sky looked like when I came outside that morning (on the left).  The sun was trying to shine through making everything glow in the fog.  I was sure it wouldn’t last, but as I wandered for what seemed like an hour, I noticed it was getting darker, not lighter.  Can you see the sun barely visible in the center picture?  The sun looked like it was being swallowed by the fog until it was gone.  And the air seemed to get even thicker with the heavy fog making it almost difficult to breathe.

 

 

 

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Don’t you love this view.  The gazebo shrouded in the foggy mist….come closer and see what lies inside….bwahhahaha!

I love haunted houses, but a haunted gazebo?  No not spooky, but a wonderful scene.

 

 

 

DSCN5142The close-up view around the pond made it look almost spooky to me.  It also had the look of a lake effect snow day, but no white stuff falling.  Just the heavy foggy skies that come with that kind of snow.  The view at the top of the post is a similar view just taken from a bit farther away.

 

 

 

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Here the tall helianthus, that grow near the fence, frame the foggy woods in my neighbors meadow area.  Thankfully on this foggy day, the leaves were just turning and the yellow native helianthus were still blooming, so there were some bright colors in the garden brightening my way.

 

 

 

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This is the view from my meadow covered in the fog.  Have you noticed in fog that there is an eerie silence. And as the fog thickens the colors seem to fade like those in the distant woods here.  

 

 

I thought it would be fun to also capture the foggy garden in black and white.  I wondered what the result might be.  I think it looks even spookier…

 

DSCN5171Enter the garden if you dare.  There is a huge spider web in the corner of the arch so be careful and stay to the left.  

As the fog thickened the contrasts were even more stunning in black and white.

 

 

 

DSCN5173The pond shrouded in fog makes for another ghostly scene.

 

 

 DSCN5163This the same spot where I was standing in front of the archway, but turned 90 degrees looking toward the patio and trees.  The trees are disappearing…  

 

 

 

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But as the fog started to lift the colors returned although a bit fuzzy still.

 

 

 

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Clearer now outlining the spider webs throughout the garden.  The blackened flowers still drenched with dew lending a lingering creepy feel to the garden.  I spent a good long time out in the dreamy fog that day, feeling more blissful than frightened.  Transported back to 50 years ago.  Remembering my first foggy morning.

 

Do you love the fog?  Or do you find it frightening?

 

I leave you with one of my favorite images of the day, the huge spider web in the corner of the arch.  A work of art and a perfect picture for Halloween which is just around the corner….fade to spooky laughter….hahahahaha!!!!!  

 

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Sometimes we need the fog to remind ourselves
that all of life is not black and white.
– Jonathan Lockwood Huie 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Next up on the blog:   

Monday marks the time for another garden journal and review of my October garden.  And Wednesday will be time for a Wildlife Wednesday post.

I am linking in with Michelle@Rambling Woods for her Nature Notes meme.  It is a great way to see what is happening in nature around the world every Tuesday.

 

All original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Gardens Eye View, 2010-2014.  Any reprints or use of content or photos is by permission only.

 

86 Replies to “A Spooky Fall Garden”

  1. thank you, I really enjoyed your view of the fog. Not a love I share with you but I loved all your images especially the black and white ones. Luckily it is rarely foggy where I live but if I drive towards the Apennines it is almost always foggy in winter.

    1. Thanks Christina. I do not love to drive in fog mind you, especially thick mountain fog. Been there and it was very scary. Glad you enjoyed the photos. I loved the black and white best too.

  2. I really enjoyed this post, Donna! Your photos are wonderful and your texts so vivid… and funny. I like all weather conditions, but yes, I do like the fog very much. It beautifies almost everything.

    1. Thanks Sara. I had a lot of fun putting this together especially for Halloween. Never seems to be foggy on that day though. Rainy even snowy but never foggy!

  4. Super pictures, very atmospheric!
    I can’t say that I like fog, I’m always glad when the sun comes through and burns it away. We had fog this morning, but then it cleared and we now have rain!

    1. I think I have such fascination for it because we rarely have it here Pauline. Not sure the fascination would hold if we had fog a lot. Much like snow here. The fascination is gone after the first few storms. Glad you enjoyed the pictures.

  5. We live in a river valley, and so when the air and water are different temperatures, the valley fills with fog. Like you, I always find it magical and a little spooky.

  6. I love the “same spot” picture! It really is spooky. A nice reminder that sometimes our lives are “clouded” by fog, yet it lifts and the flowers peak through. Even if they are a bit tattered and worn, they remain intrinsically beautiful!

    1. Glad you enjoyed that particular picture Beth. Very wise Beth. I agree the worn and tattered flowers seem to hold so much beauty in the garden.

    1. I agree Laura. I love to see it in the morning, especially inviting. Less spooky except close to Halloween maybe or in a graveyard…

  8. I love fog Donna! Beautiful (haunting) images. I like the black and white. When I lived in Colorado for a brief time I really missed fog and dew and even rain. Here, over the summer when my husband and I stayed on Grindstone Island, the fog moved in across the river and swallowed up a full moon. It was the first time I was ever “prickly” over fog – apprehensive. It became thicker and thicker and seemed to move in through the screens in the windows like a ghost – closer and closer. It was hauntingly beautiful. Every splish splash in the river made me jump ha ha.

    1. Oh Kathy that sounds like the great set up for a horror movie… gave me chills, but of course it is Halloween and dark!

  9. Let me put it this way….I LOVE THE FOG!!!

    Around here, where I live, the fog along the coast is so mesmerizing, I can’t help myself but walk along the shore in the foggy mist and imagine a lone fog horn from the distance calling at me. And not being able to see the ocean through the dense air…but I can hear it…there is something about fog that makes me drawn to it.

    Your images are astounding.

    1. I too am mesmerized by fog Anni. It sounds lovely where you live, especially with the fog along the coast! And I am so happy you loved the photos.

  10. What a fun post, Donna! Your garden has beauty in every season. I love those helianthus; do you have any seeds to share by chance? I’d love to make them part of my garden. Hope you are having a great week, Donna.
    Hugs and blessings, Beth

  12. The black-and-white pictures truly are a bit spooky.

    And some of those flower photos — Garden of the Dead (Flowers) 😀

    I love fog too — and we’ve had some nice foggy mornings recently where the autumn hilltops are ablaze with color, but the fog lies like a blanket in the valleys. Very pretty.

    (But like you say, driving in the fog is a different matter. It can be very cool, but a little nerve-wracking too. Especially one time in the mountains outside Roanoke, Virginia where it felt like I was driving in a cloudbank…because I probably was!)

  14. Your photos are so lovely Donna I could almost grow to like it, but for me fog is not scary, just a nightmare! In our valley we get fog from the end of September until February or March, sometimes for days on end where the sun never manages to get through. It is pretty sometimes, but mostly dreary!

    1. I can understand how so much fog can be so dreary Cathy. Like our snow, from Novemeber/December to April is dreary too. Let’s hope we both see a bit more sun this winter.

  16. I love your fog photos. I see beauty, not spooky – but one of your black-and-whites with a pointy piece of architectural something on the right – THAT one *is* spooky.

  17. Thank you for the post, the photos, and memories. I would have never thought I would miss fog, but after our long drought we rarely see it, and our valley is known for its cold foggy winters which used to really depress me. Our fog is kind of unique, known as Tule (pronouced too-lee) fog. I remember as a student, and later as a teacher, having foggy day schedules when school would be delayed for 1 to 2 hours (and sometimes cancelled) due to the heavy fog. However, I did enjoy the quiet that hung over the Valley on those foggy days. Thanks for the memories!

    1. You are most welcome Dorothy. I have never heard school canceled because of fog, but I can understand that as our snow hangs like a fog making visibility impossible some days. Thank you for this very interesting info about your fog.

  18. Goodness, there is such incredible beauty in your photos. And I also love it when it is foggy. I love its ethereal quality, how everything is more quieter and how it bathes everything in mist. Magical!

  19. I love the eerie feeling that the fog provides, your pictures are gorgeous Donna. I can just see a ghostly white figure float through that arch!

  20. I like what Denise in VA has written–there is an ethereal beauty in the photos. Things do appear quieter and softer, like a gray cashmere coat covering the scene. We’ve had so much rain that I hope the little goblins will not get too wet in their special costumes. i know many of them wait all year for this holiday! And we have a perfect home to welcome them. Time to bake pumpkin bread and have the house smell warm and cozy. Cheers! Susie

    1. Oh pumpkin bread sounds yummy Susie… I think of the fog as a blanket… the rain has held off here and the temps are around 50. Not too bad for Halloween here.

  21. That web is incredible Donna! The way the fog looks in your garden looks so fantastic!!! It is that feeling of the unknown….and your story of your first experience of fog is magical! Wishing you a wonderful week! Nicole

  29. You’ve made the fog look both mysterious and pretty, Donna. While I hate driving in it, it don’t mind watching it form a blanket over the harbor below us – it makes the shipping cranes look like prehistoric monsters rising up from the sea.

  30. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the fog, Donna! You must have known I’ve been thinking about it lately because this is the time of the year when it envelops everything on many mornings. One of these weekends I want to go out early with Astrid to the polder to catch the cows and sheep in the fog…and the pollared willows. This is part of what I adore about the Netherlands. But you have it there, too. So I know you “get” it.

  31. Hi Donna, I can really relate to your love of misty foggy mornings in a garden, I love the thought too that the sun will burn through and lift the misty cloak to leave a clear view. I hate it though when I know one of my children has to drive in fog.

  32. I don’t mind the fog much but it is keeping us from our road trip adventures to Edmonton this am as we sit in Red Deer and the fog is thick. I know I always let others walk through the garden early in the morning so they catch the spider webs, lovely photos, thanks

  33. Delightful and mood-affecting pictures. There are sea mists where I live. They don’t come often and tend to creep along the ground in drifts. I’ve lived in a couple of places in the past where there are hoar frosts. They are pretty spectacular – but we don’t have them either!

  34. What a wonderful post Donna! I loved the close-ups of the end of season rudbeckia (?) flowers and the black & whites. In one of the last your looming umbrella almost looked like a monk, praying – looking up to the sky? Or maybe it’s because I live in a place that always seems a bit spooky, even in bright sunshine? Halloween (and All Saints on November 1) are wonderful times for remembering – finding the chink into the past and recalling what’s gone. You’ve triggered my own nice memories of autumn as a child. Very glad I popped by!

    1. I am glad you popped by as well Cathy. An interesting interpretation of the umbrella picture. And yes, they those are Rudbeckia.

  35. Lovely photos! Fog makes everything so atmospheric! We have sea fog (called haar in Scots) on the east coast of Scotland.

    My most memorable fog moment though was when I visited Turin in Italy. We walked up a hill behind the city and came to a viewpoint with an information board showing the nearby mountains on the opposite side of the city. Unfortunately it was so foggy we cound’t see anything of the mountains. We carried on walking then when we got back to the viewpoint (it was a circular walk) the fog was starting to life and the mountains appeared one by one….

  37. Oh fabulous foggy scenes Donna. I think that fog is similar to snow – beautiful as long as you do not have to travel anywhere. No fog here for some time but I imagine there will be some before long.

  38. Your photos are stunning, Donna! The fog gives such an ethereal quality to your garden, and the black and whites are perfect for Halloween. I like the fog when I’m safe at home, but I will never forget traveling home from Chicago a few years ago with my good friend after visiting the Chicago Flower Show. It was night, which made the fog even worse, and I couldn’t travel faster than 40 mph on the interstate–one of the scariest drives I’ve ever made, and one I don’t care to ever repeat!

  39. Fog adds extra to ordinary and turns a familiar landscape into something completely different.

    Gorgeous, mysterious shots and the black and white adds such a wonderful element!

  41. Instead of looking spooky, I think your garden is lovely in the fog. I always enjoy how fog makes the spiderwebs look so pretty. The only time fog is frightening to me is if you need to drive in it.

  42. I know exactly what you mean about the magical, beguiling nature if fog Donna, and the hush it brings with it. I loved your images, particularly the monochrome ones. We get sea fogs swooping in sometimes, very atmospheric, and accompanied by the sound of the foghorn from the lighthouse down the coast.

    1. Thanks Janet….I can just see the sea fog there slowing engulfing things and that haunting foghorn blasting…so surreal and beautiful.

  43. Black & white worked really well to turn your foggy gardens into spooky gardens. I don’t think I want to be in your B & W gardens. And especially with that ginormous spider web nearby! NO THANK YOU! Great post.

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