Autumnal beauty in the garden during October

It is the time of year for a change in the colour of our countryside and gardens. Russet tones are gradually taking over from the greens of summer as leaves begin to take on their autumn colours. Fruit and berries become important for two reasons: firstly, as food for us and the wildlife around us and secondly for colour in the absence of flowers. In the garden the plums have come and gone, but apples and pears should still be looking and tasting good – if the wind hasn’t blown them all off the trees, that is. Late, overripe blackberries are important food for insects on warm days. Wasps, flies and butterflies all feast upon them. Crab apples, rowan and hawthorn berries and rosehips all glow with colour and provide food for blackbirds and winter thrushes.

Seed heads become striking features in borders as the number of flowers diminishes. Eryngium and Teasel spiky seedheads among soft, daisy flowers of Asters look fantastic, and the silver pennies of Honesty standing above diminutive hardy cyclamen can light up a corner of your garden.

If you take a walk around your garden in autumn and find it lacking in colour, this means you can enjoy planning some changes next year! It is easy to stuff your borders with summer-flowering bedding or perennials, but it takes more thought and planning to keep the interest going all year. Dahlias, chrysanthemums and asters all keep flowering until the first frosts, as do hardy salvias if they are in a sheltered position. Treating yourself to some autumn-flowering bulbs is something you will never regret. When the colchicums and nerines pop up in September it always feels slightly surprising, and so much more exciting than daffodils in the spring, which we all expect.

October is perhaps the best time to take stock of your garden and begin dreaming about additions and changes you could make next year.