Autumn’s bounty beckons at RHS Partner Gardens
Some of nature’s finest displays are to be found in autumn when a blaze of gloriously colourful foliage lights up the landscape
Many RHS Partner Gardens have carefully curated collections of trees planted with spectacular seasonal displays in mind. Alongside are beautiful shrubs and plants with attractive foliage and late-flowering blooms.
Here are some of the best ones to admire in autumn.
Sheffield Park and Garden, East Sussex
Garden and lake views reveal themselves from every path in this cleverly designed landscape
Some of the outstanding colour comes from Cercidiphyllum japonicum (katsura tree). In early autumn, the foliage turns pale yellow to smoky dark pink, with the aroma of burnt sugar or caramel when crushed; and Nyssa sylvatica (tupelo) of which Sheffield Park boasts the largest collection on one site. Nyssa sylvatica ‘Sheffield Park’ comes into autumn colour about 10 days earlier than others of the genus. There are 25 species of Acer in the garden, and 240 specimens in total. Leaf colours range from lime green to bright red.
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Free days out for RHS members: open every day, except for 24 and 25 December
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Find out more at Sheffield Park and Garden
Bluebell Arboretum & Nursery, South Derbyshire
The planting in the beautiful woodland garden started in 1992 and now covers nine acres
Bluebell Arboretum is a relatively new garden – established in 1992 on a former pony paddock. The nine acres of woodland garden and arboretum include rare trees and shrubs, many of which have been planted for autumn colour and interest.
Among the collection are more than 70 Japanese maples, plenty of Liquidambar cultivars, a comprehensive range of Cercidiphyllum (katsura trees), five varieties of Parrotia persica (Persian ironwood) and several American red oaks, many of which colour spectacularly in autumn.
There’s also a fine collection of Acer rubrum and A. x freemanii cultivars along with six named Liriodendron (tulip trees) and many other uncommon tree species, which are at their best in autumn.
- Free days out for RHS members: when open – please see website for more details
- Find out more at Bluebell Arboretum & Nursery
The Garden House, Devon
This garden has been built with exquisite attention to detail and colour
The Garden House is a 10-acre garden situated in a beautiful valley on the western edge of Dartmoor, benefiting from fertile, acid and free-draining soil. Some of the most eagerly-awaited and spectacular months of the year in the garden are in autumn, when visitors delight in the startling display of colour produced by more than 40 varieties of Japanese maple that form the renowned Acer Glade. The glade, which winds down the valley, gives the impression of New England in the ‘fall’ and offers magnificent views of stunning crimson, scarlet and gold foliage.
The autumn months also bring colour from a wide variety of other trees and shrubs throughout the garden, with Liriodendron tulipifera a highlight, along with selections of Prunus and Cercidiphylum japonicum within the Jubilee Arboretum.
- Free days out for RHS members: Friday to Sunday, between November and March
- Find out more at The Garden House
Japanese Garden at Cowden, Scotland
This is a stunning historic Japanese garden created by renowned explorer Ella Christie
As the temperatures diminish at Cowden, the fiery tones of acers come to the fore throughout the garden. From the rich red-purple of Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’ and ‘Osakazuki’, the vivid oranges of the aptly named A. ‘Orange Dream’, through to the buttery yellows of the A. shirasawanum ‘Autumn Moon’, there’s intense and spectacular colour to be seen.
In the north-west of the garden, the large
Trees are arguably the biggest contributor to the colour at Cowden in autumn. Against a background of ancient beech burning deep orange, the prehistoric Ginkgo biloba and the Metasequoia ‘Goldrush’ provide golden hues, while on the north-east bank of the pond, the Quercus rubra turns pink and then red before covering the ground with its 20cm-long leaves.
- Free days out for RHS members: Thursdays, please see website for more details
- Find out more at The Japanese Gardens at Cowden
Lullingstone Castle and The World Garden, Kent
The World Garden is laid out in the shape of a miniature map of the world
Autumn is a fabulous time at The World Garden with so many delightful plants still in flower. Dozens of salvias are still flowering profusely but the most beautiful is surely Salvia ‘Phyllis Fancy’ – throwing up wondrous arching spikes of fluffy purple-white flowers that overhang the path. Colletia hystrix (barbed wire bush) from North Argentina is in full bloom with thousands of small white-pink, honey-scented flowers that are dangerously interlaced with razor-sharp, dagger-like stems – a truly bizarre member of the plant world.
Nearby in Chile, Escallonia resinosa (vindaloo shrub) exudes a sumptuous curry scent from its leaves and flowers, teasing the taste buds. The most floriferous bed is the North America bed with Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ punching through an enormous range of asters and rudbeckias with a delightful backdrop of herbaceous Phytolacca decandra (pokeweed), which boasts salubrious bright pink stems.
The garden’s National Plant Collection of Eucalyptus, representing dozens of species, looks glorious in the autumnal light, the foliage delightfully showing off varied hues of green and silver. It’s a great time of year with bountifully bold colouring foliage and plenty of plants still blooming.
- Free days out for RHS members: Thursday to Sunday, between April and 27 October
- Find out more at Lullingstone Castle and The World Garden
Tatton Park, Cheshire
The Japanese Garden
Laid out between 1910 and 1913, it is considered the best of its kind in Europe
Tatton Park’s Japanese Garden is one of the finest examples of its kind in Europe. Autumn is the time when it puts on a spectacular show of colour, thanks to the collection of Japanese acers. Their leaves transition from green to yellow, gold and red, and provide an explosion of colour in what is usually the most serene corner of the garden.
- Free days out for RHS members: when open, 23 March to 27 October
- Find out more at Tatton Park
The Dorothy Clive Garden, Shropshire
Throughout the year, interest and colour can be found in the glasshouse, opened in 2016
Set amidst the rolling borders of Staffordshire, Shropshire, and Cheshire, The Dorothy Clive Garden offers a wealth of interest throughout the seasons. Highlights include a maturing Winter Garden, edible woodland, the striking Quarry Garden with its waterfall, and an alpine scree. As autumn arrives, the garden transforms into a vivid display of reds, oranges, and golds.
Japanese maples steal the show with their fiery hues of crimson and amber. In the Quarry Garden, the deep burgundy of Cotinus pairs beautifully with the vibrant berries of Euonymus. Ornamental grasses and late-flowering asters and anemones add movement and colour, making this the perfect autumn retreat.
- Free days out for RHS members: open until 31 December, opening times vary according to month – please see website for more details
- Find out more at The Dorothy Clive Garden
