Tuesday 18 September 2012

Leaf watch

Ash


When does autumn start to happen? Apparently, it's officially the autumn equinox - September 22.
But isn't it more about what's happening in the garden and further afield - dew on spider's webs, swallows checking out and  acorns under foot. And leaves turning, of course.
I spent some time today in the garden looking for leaf colour changes and, as yet, not much is going on. Leaves on the grapevine are yellowing fast, but - sadly - the bunches of grapes don't show any sign of ripening.
Vine
But in the hedge the willow, blackthorn, hawthorn and ash are all still pretty much as they have been all summer. My watched tree, an ash, has leaves that are beginning to go crispy around the edges, but only a few.
The only native tree that is beginning to change colour is elder, which now has lots of lemon yellow leaves in among the green ones. It's also one of the first of the hedgerow trees to come into leaf, so I reckon it rates as the leader of the pack.

Elder



4 comments:

  1. Round here, it's hard to tell whether it's autumn beginning or the leaves giving up because they've been so weather stressed this year.

    If you do a post about your ash, do let me know and I'll put a link on Loose and Leafy.

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    1. Yes, I should give the watched ash but there's a wall of nettles guarding it. I'll give it a visit and then let you know.

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  2. The horse chestnuts round here are just turning. It's quite sad really.

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    1. Especially sad this year given that summer never really seemed to happen. Maybe '13 will be better.

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