Autumn: signs of autumn around the edges
It's a week since my last autumn blog and I took another walk around today to see how the colour is progressing. Things have certainly moved on a quite a bit but as always, the eye tends to focus on the trees that are colouring while all around them most are still showing little sign. I really like this time when trees are still full of leaf but with the first signs of autumn around the edges.
One thing to remember is that at this time of year it’s easy to mistake signs of stress or illness for early autumn colour. Many of the earliest turning Japanese maples for example are actually suffering from honey fungus or other ailments. Leaf blotch on horse chestnut caused by the fungus Guignardia aesculi likewise can look like early colour but the tell-tale yellow band around the brown blotch gives the game away.
In Colour Circle I was greeted by the beautiful sight of the red-yellow combination of Persian ironwood and Amur cork tree (Phellodendron amurense). The former is a very old tree possibly dating back to the Holford era.
On the opposite side of Colour Circle, the group of Katsura trees is largely green still but one or two individuals are beginning to turn – this one has turned butter yellow but elsewhere in the arboretum you can see the usual sweetshop mix of purple, red and gold.
I’m always fascinated how some species change colour very irregularly with both green and coloured leaves simultaneously on the same branch. The rare Acer pseudosieboldianum from Korea often does this. Shame it doesn’t have a more spellable common name!
Another rare maple, this time from Japan, is Acer nipponicum. The species is not particularly known for autumn colour but this one close to Victory Glade stood out from the green crowd.
And now for surprise of the day: The handkerchief tree (Davidia involucrata), best known for its spectacular late spring flowers can sometimes conjure-up an interesting combination of autumn tints. I can’t describe these adequately so I won’t try!
Useful links
Keep an eye on autumn colour at Westonbirt on our Facebook page
