September already. Thoughts turn to shorter days, no more alfresco lunches out of doors … but I really love Autumn and embrace this season like no other and hope I can encourage you too. For years, we would head off to the forest of Compiègne, in northern France, for a five-day autumn break. We’d buy a baguette, pâté and cheese each day and picnic in the forest with russet leaves falling from the trees around us. We still eat alfresco like this whenever we can in autumn … even at the bottom of our garden, with a few lanterns and logs in a brazier.

The lovely autumn colours of Liquidamber styraciflua

It’s a great time for colour in your garden. This is when yellow, amber, orange and red plants look at their best in the low autumn light, with a backdrop of swaying grasses. And if your pots and windowboxes are looking a bit tired, be ruthless – on to the compost with the low performers, and refresh them with something cheerful.

Here are some autumn favourites:

Late summer/autumn flowering Heleniums

Sedum specatabile ‘Autumn Joy’ with Monarda and Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’

Helenium ‘Moorheim Beauty’

Helianthus

Colourful autumn borders of Cannas, Heleniums, Rudbeckias and Nasturtiums.

Pennisetum with Verbena bonariensis

It’s the time of year to order your bulbs and get them planted whilst the soil is warm. You wont regret the effort when Spring comes around, the anticipation of waiting for new green shoots after a long winter. Just wait until after the first frost (November) to plant tulip bulbs.

Having invested in new hiking boots, I can’t wait for the days ahead. The smell of woodsmoke, long walks in russet woodlands, hillside hikes and home for hearty dinners.

What’s not to like about Autumn?

You can read more about  using  Colour in the Garden  at this time of year :

Red        here.    Orange  here.     Yellow   here.