Plant this
If you’re looking for autumn colour, the flat-stalked spindle tree, Euonymus planipes (above), is a canny choice. This shrub puts on quite a show in late summer and autumn, with leaves that turn pinky-red and ruby fruits that burst open to reveal orange seeds. ‘Sancho’ is a good cultivar to choose, for its fruit and colour. Spindle is unfussy about soil or aspect, but needs a sunny spot for the best colour. It’s a slow grower, but in time should reach up to 2.5m x 2.5m.
Refresh this
Now is the moment to call time on tired summer container displays, resign bedding plants to the compost heap and layer “spent” compost as a mulch on flower beds, vegetable patches or permanently planted containers. Replant pots in the sun with tulips and wallflowers, or snowdrops, evergreen ferns and heucheras in shade.
Hear this
If you can’t visit a garden in person this weekend, immerse yourself in the National Trust’s garden podcast instead. Presenter Alan Power, head gardener at Stourhead, tours the country exploring some of the Trust’s most spectacular settings, meeting the gardeners who work there and delving into their history.
