At this time of year I’m always looking at the Acers in the garden to see their changing colours. When I was away at half term, I was hoping that I wouldn’t come back to all the leaves sitting on the grass!
A. Osakazuki by the arch into the woodland. All the leaves thankfully still on the tree.
The colour is getting better each day.
Fortunately the week I was away, the weather was quite calm and everything was still in place when I got back. A few of the leaves on Acer Osakazuki were a little burnt and shrivelled, but overall they were fine.
Such a beautiful colour. It is worth the wait each year
Suddenly we have night time temperatures down to almost zero followed by nice sunny days, this is what causes the chlorophyll to switch off and shows the underlying colours in the leaves.
This also shows Acer Sango Kaku in the background, which is becoming more of a butter yellow as the days go by.
When the sun shines through the leaves, yellow can be seen too.
Love the contrast with the dark background.
Yes, definitely yellow in there with all the red.
I’m reminded of stained glass windows when they are backlit by the sun.
I love the way the colours vary.
Yes, this is now a good year for autumn tints, a little later than usual.
Acer Sango Kaku in the background, is the first of my Acers to change colour from the green of summer.
Acer Sango Kaku has lovely coral coloured stems as well as its beautiful leaves.
The leaves show up well against the bay bush behind it, this bush also shelters the Acer from the SW wind and the sun which would burn the delicate leaves.
The leaves of Acer Sango Kaku seem so much more delicate than the leaves of A.Osakazuki.
The colours are still changing, becoming more yellow as the days go by.
I love the contrast with the dark background.
The leaves form an almost lacelike cover for the tree.
I think I should give the tree a good shake to dislodge the fallen chestnut leaves.
The large Acer to the left of the archway, which was here before us, always starts changing colour from the top. This is taken from an upstairs window and it will be a while before the whole tree is orange.
Day by day, the colours get better, but there is still a long way to go.
When all the leaves have changed it makes the garden look as though it is on fire, I think it will be another week before that happens. It will have to have a post all by itself.
I can see lots of different shades in here, very pretty.
Like the other two trees, a dark background sets them off.
Sometimes we don’t have leaves on all three trees changing at the same time, it all depends on whether we get strong winds and rain, or not. Already we have had wonderful colour for over a month, so it is well worth the wait for the garden to have its final fling before closing down for the winter. Closing down did I say, I will hardly be able to draw breath and it will be snowdrop time!
I love Osakazuki at that part green part red stage. Mine is all red now and will soon start dropping leaves sadly. Especially given how cold it’s supposed to get tonight. Great time to be having a new central heating boiler fitted. Not!
Hope you managed to stay warm last night Jessica! A few leaves have dropped from Osakazuki, but the tree is still looking gorgeous. I have bought 3 more little acers and have 2 that I have grown from seed of Osakazuki so soon the woodland should be a blaze of colour at this time of year.
Lucky you having so many beautiful acers. I do love them. Mine are only small but still they are gorgeous too.xxx
Acers soon grow Dina! The last one that I mentioned which was about 3 ft tall when we moved here, is now so tall and wide that maybe a couple of branches need pruning when the leaves are finally down.
I always love seeing your acers Pauline. Sango kaku is really beautiful. I hope you get the perfect conditions for a grand display as they all turn… look forward to seeing more! 🙂
Thanks Cathy, I love it when we have all three in beautiful colour at the same time, but it doesn’t always work.I have high hopes for this year though as long as we don’t get some sudden gales!
The season is surely ending with a flourish in your garden! Stunning autumn colors.
I always look forward to November for my foliage colour fix Peter! Since planting the Acers November doesn’t seem such a dreary month after all!
The season does seem to be particularly good this year. Even in my garden where there is rarely any real colour there are lots of butter yellows. we’ve been having cold nights and warm days for about a month; and sadly none of the rain we were promised. Your garden is truly a garden for all seasons.
Yes Christina, it is a good year, even though a bit later than usual. The last couple of days have been cold as well as the nights with the wind from the arctic! We had our first frost yesterday so I think autumn is almost over sadly. I do like to have something nice to look at all year round, I will have the red stemmed cornus and silver birches for December, soon to be joined by snowdrops!
A. Osakazuki is one of the best for autumn colour. Each year I see it on other people’s blogs and remind myself to get one. I admired yours last year. So far I just have to enjoy every one elses’ beauties.
I agree Chloris, it changes to such an amazing colour, I can thoroughly recommend it!
It was the autumn acers that I loved the best in the grounds of Capel Manor where I did some hort training. My favourite was Sango-kaku which glowed gold in the afternoon sun – a truly heart stopping moment!
Sango Kaku is a really beautiful tree Caro, I think mine needs a bit more sun, the bay behind it needs a good prune.
What wonderful colour, Pauline – how much of it can be seen from your windows?
I can see all of them Cathy from the sitting room and dining room windows and three bedroom windows. I need my daily fix of brilliant colour in November!