Strange and Attractive Autumn Shrubs

Following my summer post Fine and Fantastic Fruiting Fungus I have been out in the local woods seeking these new pictures.

Get your bulb catalogues out and select your planting scheme for a glorious display next spring. Plant some bulbs just to cut for indoor flowers – the bunches will be superior to those you will pay na fortune for in the shops next year and you have the fun of growing your own.

Seed collecting can be addictive. You may quickly discover you are surrounded by drying stems and paper bags but all you need is enough seeds for your immediate needs.

This fleshy leaved Sedum Telephium Matrona is just colouring and clumping up in my garden. It is not as vigorous as Sedum spectabile Autumn Joy which can be come a bit of a thug if left unchecked.

From obenson flickr

New Trees: Recent Introductions to Cultivation by John Grimshaw, Ross Bayton and illustrated by Hazel Wilks. Amazon

The Japanese poetic work, ‘Manyoshu’ published in 759 AD but written 300-400 years prior  selected 7 flowers for Autumn. This corresponds to the 7 Herbs of spring reported on an earlier post.

When a plants roots fill the pot then it is time to think about repotting. Compost breaks down overtime, becomes prone to waterlogging and is less aerated. Plants in John Innes No.3 compost will last a bit longer but repotting every couple of years may still be needed to retain vigour.

Ornamental Japanese Maples are widely available for planting in your garden. The autumn colouring makes these trees spectacular when planted en mass in a woodland or Japanese garden setting.

Red, White and Blue the patriotic colours of the Hydrangea are augmented by pinks and purples like H. Ayeshia above as a variation on those themes. Flowering from mid-summer these shrubs give a magnificent display with very little effort. Did you see Hydrangea maritima on seaside holidays in large displays of sugary pink and sometimes blue.

The best trees for chalk soil conditions tend to be locally grown and not be Dutch imports. In fact they resemble shrubs more than trees but there are the odd exception that are tree like.

Blue is not the colour you associate with foliage but if you can bend your eyes just a little around the silver – grey through to green spectrum there may be some surprises.