Saturday 7 November 2009

Autumn Tints

I used to think that our autumns were a bit 'fade' as compared with those of other regions I know. For instance I started life in France in the Creuse. It is a very wooded area, with beech being the predominant tree, and famously the beech has marvellous autumn colour, as well as having the most delicate of greens in the Spring. The Creuse also has acid soil, which intensifies autumn colour, and what with a little bit more rain it is an area where many of the stars of Autumn colour  - Azaleas, Cornus, Hamamelis, but above all Acers - can flourish. Here our predominant oak goes a rather muddy yellow and this provides the backcloth for a rather more subdued display.

Nevertheless the more I see of our autumns the more I have come to like them.  We may lack the 'Gosh' factor, but the trouble with 'Gosh' is that it is all too quickly over. Here we have what might be called a 'slow burn', and there is a lot to be said for it.  Our stars would include the Field Acers (A.campestre) - usually a very bright yellow - the wild cornus (C.sanguinea) - a dark burgundy - and the Wayfaring tree (Viburnum lantana) - also a darkish red. Hawthorns are a bit iffy in this respect.  They can go quite a good colour, but a dry summer can make them go a little tatty too soon, though they do possess what is the other great autumn feature the bright berries. Having read about it in Pamela Harper's book I have acquired Crataegus viridis Winter King, which she thinks is unbeatable for berries, while Adeline from whom I acquired it, suggests that it has good autumn colour. Mine at this moment has got quite a few berries, but the tree, which I have planted in rather an exposed place, did not enjoythe summer drought, so is not looking quite as good as I had hoped. The same is true of Sorbus folgneri Lemon Drop, also acquired from Adeline (when funds were more plentiful!), but in theory it should have both berries - in this case yellow not red - and a 'très beau coloris' in the autumn.

Of the Crataegus family I would however recommend C. phaenopyrum, otherwise called the Washington Thorn. One of its qualities, which to my mind is a very important one, is that the change of colour happens over quite a long period, and is uneven, so that the reds mingle with the greens and yellows.  Famously this is true of Parrotia persica. I first fell in love with this tree when seen at Sissinghurst many years ago. I have had it in every garden that I have been associated with, and I have one here. But none of the my French ones have done particularly well, which is odd since none of the books suggest that it is a difficult tree, though it probably does prefer a dampish soil. This is even more true of one of the autumn, and indeed spring, stars, Cercidiphyllum japonicum, so if you can provide shelter from wind, as well as damp, this is a must. If you can  get to the Chateau de Rieucazé's garden, you will see a marvellous speciman of Cercidiphyllum jap: pendulum, a very smart tree indeed if you can find the right spot for it, that is to say dampish, and not too exposed, though with its weeping form it probably needs a formal setting.

If you like what might be called 'in your face' red the obvious choice for here is the Sumach family. It is in fact a large family which I probably should like more than I do. The red candles of the bog-standard S. glabra, rather put me off, and it also suckers  rather too much, but if you want bright autumn colour, and not unattractive leaves for spring and summer, look no further.  Almost as in your face, and for me a more interesting family are the many forms of Cotinus. In fact I seem only to have two, which is probably too few. I remain faithful to Cotinus Grace, but largely for nostalgic reasons. I first saw it some thirty years at Marwood Hill Gardens near Barnstaple, created by the late Dr Smart, and somehow it made a very big impression. Whether in the end it is much better than the readily available C. Royal Purple I rather doubt; the colour is perhaps a little more intense in spring and autmn, but less purple in high summer. I have also got a yellow leaved variety - perhaps C. Golden Spirit - but I have treated it badly and as a result it has not grown very much.  Incidentally C. obvatus is well worth thinking about.It has a tidier form than many of the others, though growing quite big, lots of the candy floss flowers characteristic of the family, less interesting leaf through most of the summer, but very good colour in the autumn.

Since I started ths blog, the autumn colours have really come on, and I would guess for my neck of the woods, at their best (18th Nov.) right now. The undoubted star is the Field acer. As mentioned above, its autumn colour is usually an intense yellow, but occasionally (I think) you come across one that goes red. I have put in the bracket because it is quite easy to mistake an Acer campestre for a Sorbus torminalis, or Wild Service tree, also to be found in our woods and hedgerows, but well worth putting in your garden. The leaf form is similar, i.e. palmate or maple like, but being a sorbus it has the bunches of white flowers, though the white is rather dinghy, followed by berries. It is perhaps not as reliable as regards its autmn colour, but the colour is red, and by and large red is what we miss here.  But Adeline list two Field maples with red autumn colour, A.camp: Postelense and A.Camp: Red Shine, and I have to say I am tempted.

Autumn colour is something that I am obsessed with, and will no doubt return to the subject many times. I have not for instance mentioned the Red Oaks, of which there are a great many, and most of which grow well here. But for the moment enough is enough. It only remains to enjoy the show.