Everything in my garden is doing wonderfully, but I know it all has to end soon.
All my houseplants have been outside since the end of April, and loving it. I've had flowers off some of them that I never would have expected. (Hindu Rope--grew pink flowers--who'da known?)

But soon I'm going to have to bring them inside again to face another looonnnggg dry winter. I have oleander, mandevilla, hibiscus, and bougainvillea.

I really like the summers here. Soon I think my husband and I are going to have to become snowbirds, and move south for the winter. Personally, if it were me, I'd stay south all the time.

First, try to push the onset away by setting up the coldframe for winter greens (lettuces, mache, kale do excellently), and then wrap a couple tomato plants in layers of row cover; drape plastic over them whenever frost is expected. you should be able to pick fresh tomatoes through December; if you insulate well, you might be able to have tomatoes on Valentine's Day. It's a goal worth seeking.

Update your garden journal, if you remembered to take photos throughout the season, put them in order and make notes as to what you especially liked or didn't like.

Plant bulbs. Lots of bulbs of all types. We can usually plant them right through to the end of the year. Put some in a pot and then bring them inside after a few weeks of frost -- that's one way to get spring started early. :)

Mulch everything. Autumn is when shredded leaves are plentiful. If you don't already practice it, learn about lasagna gardening.

Plan next year's garden. Start with a graphed layout of your property and note in the perennials, shrubs, trees and hardscape. Now you can actually figure where each bed should be, and what would grow best in it, allowing for sun and soil. It took me two blizzards to get the graph made, but I use it every year.

Spend some time online (this link will get you started) to get some ideas for future projects. Early winter is a good time to make hypertufa pots, so they can weather before spring planting.

Go through your garden tool storage. Clean everything, sharpen blades, oil or wax metal surfaces (repaint raw spots), refinish wooden handles. List any supplies you might need next spring. It's irritating to run out of potting soil half-way through the spring planting, so buy an extra bag now. Learn to tune-up all the motored items.

Get involved in Winter Sowing. The forum on GW is excellent, and Virginia is ideal for the practice.

I'm sure others can come up with more ideas, but this should get you started. Mother nature invented winter to give the plants a chance to rest, and to give us time to catch up on all the other things that need to be done.