What Autumn Does Best

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Every year we know the leaves will change colour in autumn but somehow, it catches us unawares. Some years are better than others – the combination of warm, sunny days and cool nights last year made for one of the best displays I can remember. But even this year seems pretty good.

I’ll start with three acers, a family renowned for their autumn foliage effects.
Acer palmatum dissectum atropurpureum

Acer palmatum dissectum ‘Felice’

Acer palmatum ‘Osakazuki’

Cotinus, the smoke bush, can also put on a good display
Cotinus coggygria ‘Golden Spirit’

Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’

Somehow I always forget my azaleas are deciduous – until now

Euonymus alatus is our native spindle tree. This is a dwarf form but it still colours up as well as the full size one

Paeonia rockii is from China, definitely an exotic

I grow two physocarpus for foliage colour during the growing season; in autumn they still provide different shades. This is ‘Dart’s Gold’

and ‘Diabolo’

Even my flowering cherry, prunus ‘Accolade’, puts on a late show

Another family not renowned for fall colour – rosa rugosa ‘Alba’

Or how about spiraea’ Goldflame’ – the last fire of its leaves

And autumn wouldn’t be autumn, without the attention of a robin

• 10 Nov, 2009
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