Autumn can be a magical time of year if you live in a cold climate. Reds, golds and orange make for spectacular street scenes. However, most (if not all) indigenous Australian trees are evergreen. They stay the same green all year round. They may have bright spring blossoms but their leaves don’t change. (Except to fall off during droughts!) I’m glad to say my new home town of Armidale has bucked that trend.
Many gardeners have planted deciduous trees especially for their displays of brilliant autumn colour. The University Of New England’s campus has corridors of elm trees which change at every season. Thank you to the far sighted grounds people who did this! The council have also been proactive in planting colourful street trees. Right now we are getting close to the end of the autumn and the leaves are beginning to fall. The street sweepers are out in force on these late autumn mornings munching up the scattered leaves. Hopefully they get added to the compost pile at the tip.
A few years ago I made a trip down to Bright in Victoria to join an Instameet photography weekend. The whole purpose of the weekend was to capture the Autumn displays. I’m not sure Armidale is at the same standard and Bright certainly has more mass plantings than here, but it’s still lovely to see the colours as they change.
If you’d like to add some autumn colour to your garden these articles from Burke’s Backyard and Better Homes and Gardens give you some suggestions. However, you need cold weather to bring out the best results!
Love a good blaze of autumn colour. It’s my favourite time of the year- the leaves, the light and that tiny bit of warmth in the sun.