Sunny days and cold nights are the trigger for the autumn tints to start. Some of my trees and bushes are still waiting, I suppose the night time temperatures have to drop a little further before the chlorophyll switches off. There are plenty of signs though that changes are taking place, starting with the Amelanchier at the right hand end of the bog garden.
Amelanchier lamarkii
Silver Birch seedling.
It doesn’t seem very long ago that this was just a tiny seedling by the back door, now it is taller than the house!
Front drive.
The Cornus sibirica Westonbirt has changed to its beautiful burgundy colour. They have been this colour for a couple of weeks now and it all depends on the weather how long the leaves will remain.
Cornus Westonbirt.
I look forward to this stunning blaze of colour every year. We usually have it for about a month before the leaves drop and we are left with the bare red stems over winter.
Betula jackmontii and cornus
Cyclamen hederifolium
Cyclamen leaves are so very pretty, with such variation among the leaves. My silver leaved one is seeding around and coming up amongst the other darker leaves.
Hardy Geranium
Darmera peltatum contrasting with Anemanthele lessoniana
Central bed.
In the bed round the dead oak we have on the left, a purple Berberis next to Euonymous Emerald Gaiety. Behind the Euonymous are the autumn colours of Vibernum plicatum Maresii which is in front of Miscanthus sinensis Variegata.
Central Bed
Another view of the central bed with the Viburnum, miscanthus and in this view you can see the Myrtle tree with its white flowers forming a dark green background for the miscanthus.
In the top corner by the field.
In the foreground is Miscanthus sinensis Malepartus. The background has a Cornus tree next to the Pampas grass, in front of which is the yellow foliage of Euphorbia griffithii Dixter.
A closer look at the previous corner.
At the front left is a Phlomis, the seedheads are good hibernating places for ladybirds. The yellow is Euphorbia griffithii Dixter. Behind the Phlomis is Golden rod which has now finished flowering, there is a fastigiate purple berberis in the centre with the Cornus tree on it’s left and the pampas on its right. The shrub at the right hand edge is the spirea which is getting out of hand and will have to go, I can’t be doing with plants that can’t behave. This corner is looking a bit squashed, must do some editing.
Asplenium scolopendrium.
I noticed in the woodland that a some of the ferns were still looking rather nice.
In front, Dryopteris affinis Cristata with Polypodium cambricum Pulcherrimum Group.
Polystichum plumosum Bevis.
Cyclamen with Adiantum venustum.
The cyclamen are coming up through the mat of Maidenhair fern and I think they look lovely together.
Cherry tree.
By the front entrance, the cherry tree is sporting it’s autumn colours, but the first gale will blow them all away, I hope we have them for a while yet.
Cherry leaves, such beautiful shades of colour.
View from the balcony.
Starting at the left with Pittosporum Irene Patterson, with a purple Phormium to its right, then Prunus Kojo-no-mai and a tree heath. In front is my variegated yucca with Darmera peltatum on its right. Behind is the border which separates the woodland from the garden. All these colours show why I love October!
I will have to wait till next month before I can show you the Acers in all their glory, they have just about started changing colour, but they still have a long way to go yet.
Many thanks to Christina at My Hesperides Garden who hosts this monthly Foliage meme, do please pay her a visit to see other foliage from round the world.
The combination of Betula jackmontii and cornus is superb Pauline; I so wish I could grow dogwoods but they do need more water than I can give them and I suppose the foliage colour wouldn’t be as good anyway as we don’t often have cold nights this early although this year we did. Thank you for joining in and sharing all the glorious foliage in your garden.
Glad you like them Christina, they certainly make the front drive very colourful at this time of year! We are still waiting for our first frost down here in the south west, the plants and I are enjoying the warm nights, we still have the summer duvet on the bed and haven’t felt the need for the winter one yet!
Pauline your garden is looking great in its autumn clothing, lots of inspiring combinations, thank you. I’ve never seen darmera used with anemanthele before, what a brilliant idea.
Thank you Kate, I’m glad you like what I’ve planted. I have to admit though, the previous people planted the Darmera in the rockery. It is a bog plant, so I have tried to move it a few times, over to the bog garden. The roots however are so thick and strong, they are grey in colour and look like an elephants trunk and they go way under the rocks, it is impossible to move!
Your cornus is gorgeous – and that cherry tree too. And with all the acers to look forward to it sounds as if your garden is a riot of colour for weeks in autumn! My acer has dropped most of its leaves, but the cornus has only just started to colour the hedgerows here…
Thank you Cathy,over the years I have been planting more plants that will join in with the final fling in the garden, these days I think of Oct/Nov as being very colourful months, whereas one time I thought of those months being drab and dreary.
You have some bright fall color already, in the Cornus and the cherry tree. My favorite has always been the Acers, though. Nice that you and we also have that to look forward to.
Yes Alison, the Acers will bring lots of colour to the November garden, after most of the ones in this post will have dropped their leaves. There is always something to look forward to as after the Acers, in December the snowdrops start over again!
I can’t stop looking at the first photo, it’s so beautiful I could have it on my wall. What a beautiful tree.
Thank you so much Catmint. It is my favourite tree in the garden with white flowers in the spring, the new leaves open bronze colour before turning green. The flowers, which the bees love, then turn into black berries which the birds eat very quickly, before it starts its autumn colour. A wonderful tree for 10 months of the year for humans and wildlife!
A real tapestry of autumn colours there in your garden Pauline. Always an admirer of your silver birch and cornus combo.
The colours have come suddenly Angie and they get better each day. I’m just hoping that we don’t have any gales to blow all the leaves away, not for a long time anyway!
Here everything seems to happen are a more rapid pace. I don’t have a month to wait for the few Acers I have to take on their brilliant autumn hues. Already we have had a few hard frosts and the leaves have changed and most of them are already on the ground.
I admired your ferns in this post and love the cyclamen and Maidenhair fern together. I wish my dogwood had the color yours does Pauline! That burgundy is quite striking in amongst the other garden plants.
Getting up this morning Jennifer, we must have had some strong winds in the night, as we have yellow leaves everywhere. Still no frost for us, the nights are still quite warm. I too love the colour of the dogwood leaves, it is such a beautiful colour that follows on from such plain green leaves.
Cornus Westonbirt is an incredible colour!
Do you protect your dark phormium over winter? I heard Monty tonight saying they should be covered in fleece if it goes below -5, or dug up. I planted one this year and was rather hoping I wouldn’t be doing that as access is not the easiest. It might need to take its chances.
It is a super colour isn’t it Jessica.
Up till now, I haven’t protected my Phormiums, but I too watched Monty last night and wondered if I should give mine protection. A few years ago we had a really cold winter (for Devon anyway) and I nearly lost 3 lovely specimens. The purple one you saw on the post was 3 times the width and it has taken till now to look presentable again, my Yellow Wave in the back gravel area recovered quite well and is back to its previous size, but one with pink in its leaves is still struggling! I think I will have to have some old fleece handy, ready to rush out if the forecast is for -5C or lower!
Your autumn colours and combinations are spectacular! Your garden looks beautiful, whatever the season.xxx
Thank you Dina, you’re very kind! It’s nice that there are plants to brighten up a dull day at this time of year.
Autumn has painted your garden beautifully, Pauline! As snowbird said, your garden looks beautiful, whatever the season!
Thanks Peter, I’m so glad that we have four distinct seasons where we are and they are all so different!
Wonderful fall colors! I love this time of year. The vibrant colors in your garden rival those of spring. It seems you have planned everything well so that the autumn colors complement each other perfectly.
It is a wonderful time of year isn’t it Deb, so colourful. I think these days, anything that I plant has to have more than one season of beauty, it has to earn its space!