Now for something different AUTUMN COLOURS

Post by **Grandad** » Fri Sep 30, 2011 4:15 pm

We have had this little Acer for around ten years. It is grown in a pot and is only 75 cm tall so a large Bonsai I suppose. It has been losing leaves for the last week or so but with all the sun of the last week has given up and will soon be leafless.

Nevertheless I thought it an opportunity to get a thread going on AUTUMN COLOUR. There should be plenty of opportunity to record the season from your various localities so please post them here and tell us where your pictures were taken.

Looking forward to seeing some crackers......Grandad.

Post by **LovelyLadyLux** » Sat Oct 01, 2011 5:41 am

Terrific idea Grandad - Autumn colours! Everything is just starting to turn here and once we have the first frost we'll glow oranges and reds.

Post by **Kiya** » Sat Oct 01, 2011 12:53 pm

Hopefully will upload some as & when I see any autumn colours.

I should jump on a plane & join you all down south basking in the sunshine

while its grey overcast, wet & miserable here

Post by **Horus** » Sat Oct 01, 2011 4:03 pm

Great idea Grandad

for the last couple of weeks I have been snapping away at the hedgerows, recording the nuts, berries and seeds and although the leaves were certainly falling sooner this year, the colours don't seem to be there, at least not in my neck of the woods.

I did nip out for a couple of hours just after your post to see if I could get some pictures, but there was still very little worth photographing.

However, to add something to the thread I have uploaded this macro that I did the other day and as it has received a few nice comments elsewhere on the web, I thought that I would upload it here for you all to look at.

Post by **Grandad** » Sat Oct 01, 2011 6:07 pm

What a super picture H......and very much in the spirit of Autumn.

My shade thermometer read 27 this afternoon (sorry Kiya

) so out with the loungers. First I was bombarded by these...

That's right, acorns that have been prolific this year.

So I moved. But my move was not successful because I was then belted with these from 40 feet.

At least the squirrells are happy.

Sorry Kiya, no clouds today, I know you like clouds.

Post by **Kiya** » Sat Oct 01, 2011 7:17 pm

Lovely colourful photos by you both

Grandad your out with the loungers

I must be living on a different
planet

No need to apologise either I love blue skies just as much

Post by **Grandad** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 9:35 pm

When I started this thread 2 weeks ago I had expected more autumn colour to be around. I have just spent a few days in the new forest and the colours are not yet showing very much down there....

I think the weather has been too nice and the sap is still rising. But I DID take the camera into town this afternoon and although not full of autumn colour, The Dane John Gardens were looking particularly nice with some young people enjoying the sunshine.......

This is one of my shots

Post by **Kiya** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 9:49 pm

Lovely pic Grandad

Post by **Horus** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 10:48 pm

Nice picture Grandad, but I doubt very much if we will get any real Autumn colours this year, the sap has already stopped rising, at least it had in my Silver Birches when I coppiced them a couple of weeks back.

Everywhere I go for a walk the trees all seem to be just dropping their leaves without much in the way of a colour change, most just have a mottled yellowish look to them like windfall apples, it has definately been a strange year in many ways.

Post by **BillH** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 6:46 pm

The trees do seem to be waiting longer than usual to turn this year Grandad, the tree's I can see from the bottom of my garden would normally be quite sparse regarding foliage, but they are still quite green. I think you will need to wait for few consequtive cold days before the colours turn properly..

I like that picture of the Mushrooms and berries Horus, you have an excellent eye and set that picturer up well. A very good mix, especially with the water being involved.
It remided me of my Art exam, the topic of which was "Fungi, Lichen and other woodland growth".

I had to provide my own subject matter, not too difficult for me living out in the sticks, and I drew a large beefstake mushroom.
I got top marks as recall, despite pointing out to the Art Teacher that the mushroom was decomposing before our very eyes after about an hour in the classroom !

If on your travels Horus, you come across any of those red toadstools with White spots on them please give me a shout

Post by **Horus** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 8:58 pm

If on your travels Horus, you come across any of those red toadstools with White spots on them please give me a shout

I think I know the ones you mean Bill

Post by **LovelyLadyLux** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:47 am

Great photos! I'LL be getting some good autumn colour photos pretty soon now that I'm back! I actually do quite like autumn colours. They're among my favs..........

Gimme 'til the weekend and I'll be out there with the camera and posting!

Post by **Grandad** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 4:59 pm

When I opened this thread I was expecting autumn to be just around the corner but not so. Trees seem to have lost their leaves gradually so there has not been a good display. In desperation I went to a local Forestry Commission wood this morning and have a few offerings before all the leaves fall....

These first three are typical of what was available, the oaks and any maple related trees are looking good although a bit sparse..

I DO like pictures to have some human interest and these include some walkers and a young woman with her 5 dogs who was happy for me to take her picture.

Here we go again

All these pictures looked good on my screen before uploading, now they have lost contrast and depth

Any suggestins H?????

Post by **Horus** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 5:08 pm

Lovely interesting pictures as usual Grandad

I dont think there is much you can do to improve what is displayed on here as the upload size is quite small so a lot gets lost.

I was out for several hours yesterday, but as you say there is really not a lot to look at leaf wise. Most are either just yellowing or turning brown without showing a lot in between, I think most will just drop their leaves this Autumn without much in the way of colour.

Post by **Kiya** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 10:13 pm

Lovely photos Grandad

not much of any colour in my corner of the woods

to show.

It is a shame that photos lose some of their contrast when loading to the forum, perhaps Keefy can do something about that while modifying the forum

Post by **LovelyLadyLux** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 12:10 am

I'm thrilled we don't have the huge scarab in the corner of all our photos now. We're starting to get some good colour around here now. Last night temperatures were down to freezing, my tomatoes got nipped but am sure the colour will now really start to burst forth.

I'm not sure if this is true but seems to me I read somewhere that the leaves on the trees change colour due to being hit by cold and frost. The colder it gets it bursts the cells in the leaves in the tree. The colder the more colour comes out.

I'm hoping to get out there this weekend. I think our clocks go back this weekend but if it isn't raining I'm going to be trying for some fall scenes.

Post by **Horus** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 9:28 am

Looking forward to seeing some from you LLL

Now as to your leaves theory, I always understood that it was the lack of Chlorophyll in the leaves which resulted in the leafs real colour being more visible due to the lack of green in the leaf, that and some dying off to go with it, anyone else got any theories?

It is a very overcast day here with little prospects of it getting much better, if it does brighten up later I may take my camera out for a stroll and check out the local colour.

Post by **Grandad** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 9:50 am

Thanks for your comments, as always folks.

I think you are correct about the leaf changes H. They need sunlight for the photosynthesis and certainly here in the south we have had prolonged sunshine right up to now which might have some bearing on the late autumn colour. You can see in my pictures that many deciduous trees are still very green.

We will see what happens with the first frost.

Post by **Horus** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 11:17 am

Just had a quick stroll around the garden and noticed this Acer (Palmatum) that is normally a dark reddish colour until the Autumn when it takes on a lighter red colour as seen in this picture.

This year it has turned the lighter red, but at the same time it has suddenly dropped half of its leaves as can be seen in this picture, although we have had no frost and it remains quite mild.

To support this, just look at this Nasturtium that is still flowering even though the main plant was taken out many weeks ago.

Even more surprising is this pot that contained Mimulas during the summer, they usually drop loads of tiny seeds that germinate the following year. As you can see, they have already germinated and some are even starting to flower, but unfortunately the first frost will kill them off.