I'm sure I've said this before, but - Autumn is probably one of my favourite times of the year. Yes, it can be cold, it may be wet and is often windy but - there is nothing quite like a British Autumn. The poet John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) famously began his To Autumn (September 1819) in these terms:
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness
- I’m sure we all recognise this line, but have you ever read the whole stanza or even the whole poem? (If not, click here to read the whole together with a short critique)
Colour is what defines Autumn for me. I have a fantastic memory from the mid 90s of a horse-chestnut tree swathed in orange, yellow, gold, red and brown hues against a brilliantly blue sky. It’s the sort of image that you would swear had been thoroughly photo-shopped but that day it was real and true and remarkable enough to have stuck in my mind to this day.
The BBC have a good, albeit very short, slideshow of a garden in Walsall displaying majestic Autumn colour now: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-15506502
If you want to see some for yourself, of course many of our public parks feature impressive displays at the moment, with deciduous trees well on the turn right now and these will be free to view. A local example is to be found Singleton Park in Swansea, with no lesser displays in Cwndonkin Park, Morriston Park and Clyne Gardens.
In the Vale of Glamorgan, Dyffryn Gardens is a treat for any gardener or photographer and on the 6th November they are hosting an Autumn Walk, beginning at 2.30pm. Normal admission prices apply.
Further afield is Westonbirt Arboretum, a delight in any season but especially renowned for its autumn colour.
To enjoy those wonderful colours in your own garden, you'll probably have to wait a while especially if planting a smaller specimen. However the RHS has an excellent guide to the 10 AGM trees for Autumn Colour; these include one of my favourite medium-sized trees, Nyssa sinensis, which can grow to 30' tall (10m) when mature. Another specimen, really only suited to much larger, parkland landscapes due to its 'wider-than-high' habit is the Parrotia persica (Persian Ironwood), a relative of the witch hazel despite its beech-like foliage. It's fanfare for Autumn is in its deep fiery red colouration just when the skies start to turn grey and miserable and Christmas begins to seem still a very long way away...
Finally, here’s an easy project borrowed from ITVs The Alan Titchmarsh Show last week:
- Take a clean, small jam jar and cover the sides liberally with undiluted PVA glue
- Stick a few dry (but not crispy) autumn leaves around the sides, leaving gaps between so that they do not overlap
- Cover again with more glue and stick 1 sheet of tissue paper on top so the sides are completely covered
- Trim off any excess tissue paper around the base and rim and leave to dry completely
- Firmly tie a piece of ribbon or raffia around the top to hide the tissue edge
- Place a tea-light inside, light, and enjoy
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Update [4 November]:
I made the tea-light holder with the help of my 19-month-old son. He loved slapping on the glue and randomly sticking ivy leaves newly picked from the garden onto the jar. We didn't get as far as the tissue paper or bow but as the picture shows I think it's a good effort and something to be proud of!
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