We had been promised 20C (68F) and bright sunshine. We got 17C (63F) and dull grey skies. We went anyway, en masse, 9 adults and two small boys. We all love Westonbirt Arboretum, and the autumn colours are famous world-wide. This trip, however, was more about playing hide-and-seek in the undergrowth, kicking up leaves, and picking up conkers than it was about photographing trees, but I wanted to share a little of the beauty. Apologies for the lack of correct nomenclature, I was snatching photographs in between pretending to be a lion and glugging champagne…
It was too early for the full drama of the Japanese Acer collection, but there was still plenty of colour.
The planting is such that you tend to round a corner and get ambushed by a burst of fire.
It isn’t all “in your face”, I loved the delicacy of the above, it reminded me of a Christmas tree, the branches made of light.
I love the way that clusters of leaves are at different stages of colour change.
The filigree waterfall of fire of the Acer palmatum is stunning.
And it’s not all about the leaves. The dark branches offer a wonderful contrast, in colour and form.
Together the effect can be magical.
But nothing beats your first conker…
8 Comments
Amazing colours! If you saw these in a painting rather than a photograph, you would say they were artificial.
Just beautiful. Who needs the names! thank you. Christina
I love that picture of the maple with it’s branches exposed! It’s like one of those you would see in a garden design book or magazine. Beautiful stuff!
Thanks Dave. As I waited for the other people with cameras to move so that I had a clear shot I found myself wondering how many hundreds of photos had been taken of that tree just that day… Genius planting.
This is a perfect fall color post! I keep trying to figure out how to make mine nice and this one is perfect. Can I borrow it?:)
Borrow away, Tina!!
Even if you will say there is not much color yet, to us who don’t have 4 seasons, that is already great. We only have 2 seasons, dry and wet, everything is green with occassional yellows during death of leaves. And the flowers are always there all year round, come rain come shine! We just depend on photos to see your awesome Autumn, which i still hope to see in this lifetime. thanks.
Thank you for visiting Andrea! And yes, we are very lucky to have the changing seasons, something I try to remind myself of when it is cold, wet and dark in the middle of February and Spring seems years away…