Roger Griffith's flower and vegetable garden, just hours north of New York City, is like a farm stand in a backyard. He uses succession planting, in which seeds are sown about every three weeks, to ensure produce into fall.

Billowy hydrangeas introduce a tumble of sunflowers, castor beans, gomphrena, and tithonia.

Well defined but soft around the edges, this kitchen garden seems right at home. Griffith's plot is large enough to hold its own alongside the mature sugar maples and mountains visible in the distance.

When he's not knee-deep in mulch, Roger Griffith loves to cook.

The rocky driveway path existed when Griffith bought the property. By adding the rectangular gravel terrace, he made the old-fashioned strips look clean and modern.

Outside the garden, a small orchard of sour cherry, apricot, and plum trees is set in a checkerboard pattern with boxwood mounds. Added just last year, the trees already yield luscious fruit. To keep the squares tidy, Griffith edged them with shallow, V-shaped trenches that prevent grass roots from crossing over.

Griffith relaxes on the patio in front of his perennial garden, which bursts with blooms during three seasons. Spring kicks off with tulips, bread poppies, and peonies, giving way to the night-blooming daylily Hemerocallis citrina, thalictrum, goat's beard, 'Indigo Spires' salvias, and 'Sum and Substance' hostas in summer. Fall brings on 'Limelight' hydrangeas, 'Autumn Joy' sedums, and tickseed, which glow in the season's soft rays.