We have had the most fantastic Autumn here in Lancashire with stunning leaf colours and lovely mild days. It’s all changing now.
As temperatures start to fall the leaves will fall too. I love autumn and enjoy watching the seasonal changes. No hard frost here yet but it’s on the way I am sure. Until it arrives I am trying to make the most of this season outdoors before we go slip sliding into December and Christmas!
When I look through my photos I can usually tell which month I’m looking at by the colours. November is dominated by brown. But it’s not any old sludgy brown. Oh no! It’s more of a rich chestnut colour with golden orangey browns plus bronze and coppery tints.
British trees have turned the most dramatic shades of yellow, orange and red as autumn marches on.
Here’s a simple explanation about how leaves change colour.
This is a great time for planting trees. If you spot a tree that you’d love in your garden why not take a picture or find out the name then pop out to buy one from your local nursery. Many trees are available as bare root specimens in autumn and winter which is the dormant season for deciduous trees.
I’ve been gathering leaves by the barrow load again this morning and tiding up some of my herbaceous perennials too. Not all of them need cutting back now. I try to leave the sturdy stems in place for as long as possible to provide homes and food for tiny creatures. You wouldn’t believe how many little critters can share the same space. This morning I found a small snail jammed into the top of a hollow stem then when I looked closely there were a few woodlice in there too.
The wall on the north west side of our house is clothed with a vigorous climber Parthenocissus quinquefolia. It is probably better known as Virginia Creeper. It’s an attractive foliage plant year round with striking leaves – five arranged in each cluster – hence the quin part of the Latin name. Right now this plant is Looking Good! In autumn the leaves change from green to brilliant red.
I read a post on Pickin’ Petals Flower Farm blog which offered suggestions for THE TOP FIVE FLOWERS to grow if you want to start a cutting garden. Now Pickin’ Petals is based in Kentucky USA which is a couple of states south and west of New York State. (Think midway between the Great Lakes and Florida) The climate in Kentucky is very different to ours here in the UK and so it follows that their easy flowers are very different to ours too. It got me thinking… which flowers would I suggest for gardeners in the UK? I have already listed my BEST HARDY ANNUALS in a previous post. So here are my recommendations for the Top Five Flowers to grow in the UK for autumn blooms.
I spotted this burgundy Dahlia in a beautiful garden yesterday. The Dahlia was perfect but a wide shot showing the surrounding plants did little to enhance it… even though they were also beautiful in their own right. The plants around the Dahlia were bright orange Red Hot Pokers, a clump of pale pink Phlox, purple Malva and a swathe of golden grass – probably Calamagrostis brachytricha.
Apples are Looking Good this week in our garden.
Bramley apples are usually picked and sold when green. We don’t pick ours until we need them. They are ready to use from about September onwards so that’s when we start to pick and use them in the kitchen. We like apple pies, apple crumble and today we had Apple Cake.
After the rain the sun came out.
Dahlias have got to be at the number one spot for flowers for late summer and early autumn colour. I’ve grown quite a lot this year. Some from seed and some from tubers.