OCTOBER AT CLUNY

Autumn is a wonderfully colourful time with loads of berries, hips, seed-heads, cones, and, of course, a spectacular leaf change, resulting in a myriad of hues and tints. 

TREES & SHRUBS

On the lawn there is a large example of Acer sieboldianum. In early October this small tree appears as if it is on fire with its wonderful orange and red hues. There are a number of other very colourful Acers or Japanese Maples throughout the garden, around the car park area and in the gravel in front of the house. The pale green leaves of Aralia chinensis or Devil’s Walking Stick are some of the first to change to bright yellow and orange and very strangely, once the leaves drop, the plant flowers at the top of the stick. There is a large clump of Aralia behind the plant stall and around the edges of the lawn. The beautiful red shaggy bark of Prunus serrula tibetica or Tibetan Cherry is unmistakable. Look out for the parent tree just before No 10. Enkianthus, Azaleas and Euonymus are three groups of large shrubs which have striking red, orange or yellow leaves as autumn progresses. Particularly interesting are the different types of ‘lantern’ seed heads found on all the species of Euonymus. As they ripen, they open to reveal colourful seeds surprisingly much loved food for robins. You may well smell a lovely sweet aroma between numbers 11 & 12. On your left hand side is a very large Cercidiphyllum japonicum, the Katsura Tree (from China & Japan) with ovate to rounded leaves which turn orange and yellow in autumn. In Germany this tree is aptly named THE PUDDING TREE due to the old fallen leaves smelling of burnt sugar or even popcorn! At the very bottom of the garden, with a marvellously intricate bark and needles similar to those of a larch turning yellow in autumn, is a Metasequoia glyptostroboides, the Dawn Redwood, a tree from China which until the 1940’s was only known to exist in fossils.  As the leaves fall, the colourful barks of different groups of trees such as the snake-bark maples, birches and cherries begin to stand out. 

CREEPERS

The magnificent scarlet creeper crawling over and up many trees and shrubs in the garden is Tropaeolum speciosum the ‘Flame Creeper’ from Chile. Although some flowers remain, during October it is covered in blue berries. The plant grows from tubers and is herbaceous, dying back in the winter, growing from May onwards. There is a number of unnamed mostly cream late-flowering Chinese Clematis growing over and through shrubs in the lawn area, much loved by insects. Chinese C. tangutica grows vigorously on the fence on the corner at the top of the road as you arrive or leave. It has yellow bell-shaped flowers and fluffy seed heads suitable for drying for flower arranging. Similar seed heads of the earlier flowered species C.macropetala & alpina are found in other parts of the garden.

BULBS & TUBERS

Although the Giant Himalayan Lily, Cardiocrinum giganteum, flowered in July, its green fig-like seed heads and stalks up to 3m high remain a structural feature throughout the garden. Some of last year’s “dead heads” also remain and appear very like Venus Flytraps. In early October you will still see a variety of different colours of Colchicum (Autumn crocus, Naked Ladies). Look out for the double-flowered ‘Waterlily’ and the white Colchicum speciosum. Delicate pink or white Cyclamen can be found ‘hidden’ under the trees in various spots. 

CONES, HIPS & BERRIES

This is an excellent year for cones and for some berries. From the lawn, look up and away from the house and see the large cones of species like Abies nobilis the Noble Fir. They are also easily viewed from the view-point between Nos 28 & 29. It is a good year for Cotoneaster, Hips & Berberis berries. Look out for the miniature S. reducta with pink berries on the lawn not far past No 1, then at No 2 the white-berried bush S forrestii, and S. hupehensis,  a tree with pink berries growing on the far edge of the gravel and throughout the garden. There are many different species of cotoneaster with different coloured berries including black, glossy red and orange.

HERBACEOUS PLANTS 

The tall white Anemone japonica and the elegant Japanese Kirengeshoma palmata with its tubular pale yellow flowers remain during early October. Underneath the Sequoiadendron is a clump of yellow Senecio tanguticus or Chinese Groundsel an excellent plant for invertebrates including butterflies but it is unfortunately rather invasive so not suitable for the small garden. In late autumn it has terrific fluffy seed heads.

WILDLIFE

If you are careful and quiet, you should see one of our Red Squirrels. They regularly feed on the various feeders but are also noticeable within the garden busy burying food or racing around the trees. This year there is large crop of beech mast which the squirrels are thoroughly enjoying. The garden is full of birds particularly blackbirds, tits, chaffinches, bullfinches and a few treecreepers. The raucous cries of Jays are frequently heard at this time of year and one or two Great Spotted Woodpeckers visit the garden regularly and are sometimes seen at the feeders.  Redwings and fieldfares should begin arriving early in October resulting in no more rowan berries! Geese (pinkfeet early in the month, mainly greylag thereafter) are regular overhead as well as buzzards and ravens. 

OCTOBER JOBS

There is still seed to collect; some will not be ready for picking until November. It has to be dried and cleaned ready for sowing or selling through our seed-list in mid-winter. Please leave your name and address in one of the boxes if you would like a copy. We leave seed heads on many plants to allow a more natural type of germination in the garden. Weeding and mulching are still being done and we are also preparing for the big winter jobs of leaf collection, tree extraction and path work.