Don’t delay — this is the year to visit the National Arboretum. Thanks to the long hours of sunlight we had this summer, followed by the cooler and shorter days of recent weeks, this autumn is going to be one to remember. Fruit, hops, hips and nuts hang heavy on the bough, but there is still much to look forward to.
Reserves of the green pigment chlorophyll in our deciduous trees and shrubs have been exhausted, allowing the hidden yellow pigments of xanthophyll and the orange of betacarotene to come to the fore. Although always present in the leaves, they are masked by the overriding green of the chlorophyll which is needed during the food producing months of summer, allowing plants to create reserves for winter. Last year was a washout, and who knows what will happen next, so book that train or fill up the tank and visit Westonbirt — the country’s greatest and most varied collection of trees that cover an astonishing 240 hectares (600 acres) of Gloucestershire.
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