Kitchen Garden Forum

Is this year better than usual for the autumn colours? The leaves seem to be hanging on for longer and the range of colours is simply stunning
I've just done a 70 mile round trip across Kent and found it hard to concentrate on the driving

Yes, they're beautiful around here too. The reds in some of the maples and acers are absolutely stunning. I don't know whether the recent mild weather and sunshine has anything to do with it but they do seems to be staying on the trees a little longer than some previous years.

I always try to judge whether global warming is advancing or not by the number of leaves on the trees on our village green by the War Memorial on Remembrance Sunday. Some years they are stripped bare. For the past couple of years there have still been plenty of leaves leaves bravely hanging on. The nights now seem to darken depressingly early but there's still plenty during the daytime to brighten the spirits.

we seem to have a lot of yellow leaves at the moment.

The Hazel at the bottom of my garden is a beautiful golden yellow right now, not seen much in the way of reds or browns yet though.

I think it might have had something to do with the early frosts catching the leaves while they were still very green, and then it turned milder very quickly again, so they are just hanging on enjoying it.

We also have some stunning colours this year, even including Peter's elusive browns and reds.

Noticed this morning that the Japanese flowering cherry at the entrance to our local park shows signs of blooming.

Autumn colour, and the garden inspires the poet in me, and I am wondering how many more gardener / poets we have here, I know of at least one other.

Autumn Gold

Gold leaf is draped over garden's bed
soon mud will turn the gold to brown.
The garden tools stacked in the shed
heavy dew lays soft as thistledown.

A robin is perched upon my spade
his sharp eye spies a big fat worm
where the tree's bare roots were laid,
in fertile soil, just trodden firm,

red breast replete, he perches, rests
where the tree stands bare on leafy floor;
a future promise of fine apple harvests
to swell our fruitful harvest store

I hear the buzz of busy bumble bees
thinking summers warmth will never die
while Canada geese scribe honking V's
through altostratus undulatus sky

Fat lambs bleat loud from far green hill.
The vines purple fruit is plump and sweet.
As sunshine brims over into winter's chill
and toad slips into a white-dream sleep.

Very nice Nature's Babe

Here is mine


Autumn Nature.


Dragonflies on final flight,
as early dusk turns into night.

Apples fall as rot begins,
to enter into soft bruised skins.

Dozy wasps enjoy the feast,
until with frost their frolics cease.

A bat glimpsed swooping very near,
nervous hearts full of fear.

Golden leaves, silent, falling,
a small mouse moves, hunger calling.

The owl watches from the trees,
silent wings he never sees!

Sunshine hazy, still and mute,
red admiral on rotting fruit.

Nectar seekers time has passed,
hibernation at the last.

Some survive, some succumb,
for winter's coming, cold and numb.

I remember this discussion cropping up on TV etc for the last two years and also remember the last couple of years delivering lovely autumn colour. Looking back at photos etc it really seems the same here as it was thee previous couple of years

Hi GL,

I seem to remember last year the leaves dropped really quickly around here. They are lasting well this year

PJ, i much enjoyed your poem, and the couplets work well. As you say, here the leaves are late dropping, there are deciduous trees in a natural strip behind us, usually by now we can see through them to the field beyond but it's still obscured by leaves at the moment.

I don't think ours dropped quickly last year but they tend to be blown of when the wind is string like today so I think it depends when the wind blows in your part of the country. This year it was the greening that seemd to last longer which seemed to move the colourful autumn display along a bit. We still seems to have plenty of green.

My carer was here to give me 4 hours respite from looking after Mum so despite the high winds I took the opportunity to take a bracing and very refreshing walk, The fungi were most interesting no real hard frost yet so there were many still in evidence, bright fly agaric, parasols, and a quite rare
very large specimen of what I believe was Macrolepiota konradii, huge, long stem with a frill and white gillls, it was in the mossy verge at the edge of some woodland, here is a pic -
http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/ ... efault.asp
I also returned with a few pounds of chestnuts, a bonus, as they are expensive in the shops now. Our farmers leave a nice wide margin around their fields and with all the different burrows it was fun guessing what lived where., two minute burrows about 1cm accross and little rolls of excavated soil at the entrance ? ground nesting bees?

Wind came - leaves gone!!!

Now in the compost bin.