What a strange autumn it has been so far, no frosts yet where we are, which we are told help to form the wonderful colours that we see on our trees and shrubs. However the colours have been stunning as usual, now though, blown away on the southerly wind which has been bringing us such warmth all the way from Africa. There are just a few trees and shrubs still hanging onto their autumn finery or still showing their true colours as they lie on the ground. My first photo is of one of the last gorgeous leaves of Acer Osakazuki trapped in amongst the leaves of Ophiopogon planiscapus nigrescens, I admit, I combed all the other leaves away with my fingers as I thought the red and black looked so good together.
Miscanthus sinensis Malepartus looks lovely as it is turning from green to yellow.
It ends up looking like a golden fountain, I think quite beautiful. Normally the flowers are absolutely stunning, dark purple as they first come out, looking as if they had been crimped. This year, however, not much in the way of flowers at all, maybe it was the drought we were having at flowering time, just have to hope it is better next year.
This is a seedling of our first silver birch, Betula utilis jaquemontii, I’m assuming it is a seedling of that because it was the only one I had at the time and my neighbours haven’t planted any. This one seeds everywhere, I could grow a forest !
Little Prunus kojo no mai has now shed its leaves, I have to admit this photo was taken last week. The leaves were a lovely colour for such a short time.
Miscanthus sinensis Strictus forms a solid clump at the corner of a border. This growth stays until it is cut down in February, by which time it is looking rather messy and needs a good tidy up.
The same applies to this Miscanthus, this time “Variegata”. It looks a bit wind blown already or maybe just having a bad hair day.
The last leaves on the Cherry by the front gateway, these have all gone now, photographed last week, super colour though, starting pale at the top and becoming a more intense shade nearer the tips.
Most of the colour has gone from the back border now , by the bridge which leads to the woodland strip. The Acers which have been showing their wonderful autumn colour have now finished and you can see where all the leaves are now!
These are the leaves from the Acer which turns orange. Not sure which variety it is because it was here before us, possibly Acer palmatum.
Work here for someone, wonder who!
Guess who drew the short straw ! Well, I was busy planting the last of the spring bulbs !! We normally pile the leaves in a corner of the woodland for them to rot down into leaf mould, but since the horse chestnut leaves have been attacked by the wretched moth that is spreading across the country, we have been advised to bag all the leaves until next July at least. The theory is that the moth will come out of the leaves in the spring and be trapped in the bags, and then die. We will have to wait and see if it works.
These fantastic silver leaves belong to a Verbascum which has seeded itself into one of the raised beds in the veggie garden. It is huge, at least 4ft across, will I let it stay, goodness knows, will decide next year and in the meantime I will just enjoy it.
The Beech hedge at the front is just starting to turn colour, it also hides the wheelie bin, thank goodness! I think the contrast between the beech, mahonia and camellia is rather nice, this dark corner always looks interesting, if you like foliage like I do !!
This is one of our boundary oaks, only just starting to turn colour, they are always the last to change and therefore the last leaves to drop, we are usually still sweeping them up at Christmastime or even into New Year. The variegated laurel bush in front is over 7ft tall, so that gives you some idea of the height of the oak. The bags of leaves that I mentioned earlier are being stored behind the laurel, it makes a good hedge.
The leaves of the Hydrangea are turning the same colour as the new flower that the bush has suddenly produced, definitely colour co-ordinated.
Berberis atropurpurea “Rose Glow” adopts brighter shades of reddish pink in the autumn, looking very pretty just now.
The purple shades of Cotinus get even darker before they finally drop to the ground.
Most of the other Rogersias have lost their leaves , these are the last few that are turning yellow.
This will be the last of the deciduous leaves I would think, so next month I will have to start photographing the evergreen/gold/silver that I have in the garden.
Thanks to Christina for hosting this foliage meme, to see more lovely foliage go to
dear Pauline, I’m not sure what to say about this post. I think I loved the photos even more than in any other post. I suppose foliage is in some ways even better to look at and photograph than flowers, more subtle maybe. Anyway – great photography and great post. cheers, catmint
Wow, thanks Catmint, for your lovely comments – have always loved the different colours, shapes and textures of foliage. My first gardening book was “The Green Tapestry” by Beth Chatto and I think I have been inspired by her way of gardening, she says that foliage is with us for months and flowers are a bonus.