Along with royal purple (check out the Beautyberry), burnt orange has to be my next favourite colour. The slow metamorphosis of leaves turning from green to nut-brown is an annual spectacle to behold in the garden.
The Acer (maple) leaf is not unlike a snowflake, symmetrical perfection. It’s the one you see in those stunning photos showing ‘The Fall’ in Canada and the tree from which we get our maple syrup, drizzled over warm pancakes with a big knob of salted butter… yummy!
Whilst I’d agree that the term ‘Fall’ is more descriptive of the time of year, it’ll always be autumn for us on this side of the pond, it has a nicer ring to it too don’t you think? As for songs using the word ‘Autumn’ or ‘Fall,’ it’s not too difficult to work out which side of the pond the composer might hail from.
November is a time to put things to bed, get those tulip bulbs in the ground, store away the garden furniture, clean out pots, give the lawn its last cut and if you’re lucky, the last time you’ll need to rake up all those fallen leaves.
However, try to resist the temptation to rake up ‘all’ the leaves. The ones lying underneath shrubs and hedges can be left, as they’ll provide you with a free mulch (it may be a dry winter) and a home for bugs, insects, frogs and small mammals, who’ll need something warm and safe to hibernate beneath.
If the idea of scattered leaves lying about the garden sets your teeth on edge, then rake a heap into a corner and leave it alone till the spring, when you can then pop it into the compost bin… voila free compost! The little creatures living silently in your garden will thank you for it.
