April 27, 2005

November 2003

Hamamelis mollis 'Pallida' starting to colour	General view towards Acers and Betula	Corylopsis excelling itself	Ginko biloba Autumn colours	Enkianthus cernuus f. rubens Autumn colours
Fothergilla major Autumn colours	Metasequoia Autumn colours	Metasequoia leaf detail	Acer davidii leaf detail	Acer leaves - Autumn colours
Autumn colours	Hamamelis leaf Autumn colours	Hamamelis leaf detail	Hamamelis continuing to colour	Acer japonicum Autumn colours
Camellia sasanqua 'Narumigata'	Prunus x subhirtella 'Autumnalis Rosea'	Cyclamen hederifolium	Viburnum x bodnantense	Mahonia x media 'Charity'
This month has so far been one of contrasts, rain, storms, cold, mild, take your choice. At the moment it is very mild, night time temperatures up to 16°Centigrade! Lower pool is now flowing with vigour showing that the water table has at long last returned to normality - perhaps. One minute the leaves were on the trees, then they coloured so well and most have now dropped. The Mahonia and Viburnum are almost at their best. The Prunus 'Autumnalis' is also throwing some of its flowers, a wonderful small tree for today's modern gardens as opposed to Gertrude Jeckyll's small woodland garden (10 acres)! Camellia sasanqua has also started flowering early, beautiful white single large flowers tinged with pink, is hardier than one might imagine and the bees seem to work it as well.     Skimmia japonica 'Scarlet Dwarf' Skimmia japonica 'Kew White' Skimmia japonica 'Bowles Dwarf'     Again towards the end of the month the weather is so variable. Quite a hard frost occurred on the night of the 23rd November 03, with surface water in water butts and bird bath frozen to about a quarter of an inch. No frost damage noted, but the following days we are back to a real mixture from sunshine, strong winds (gales) through to torrential rain, but relatively mild. Skimmias look good planted around the Acacia and Metasequoia. The scent from the Viburnum hits you as you walk past, but the bees don't take any notice of this plant. However, if there is a sunny warm spell even though the general ambient temperature might be quite low, the Mahonia buzzes with honey bees. There are still quite a few "rogue" plants flowering e.g. Rhododendrons 'Elisabeth' and 'Ethel', Fuchsia, Clematis armandii and Red Campions.
"A few days ago I walked along the edge of the lake and was treated to the crunch and rustle of leaves with each step I made. The acoustics of this season are different and all sounds, no matter how hushed, are crisp as autumn air." - Eric Sloane.