With each passing week, another plant seems to take its brief turn centre stage. And in the world of trees, right now there is one that is so acid green in colour that it leaps out a mile from mature gardens, parks and sometimes even woodlands.
Here is one (left) that I got up close to last weekend. Against a blue sky, it really is quite dramatic at this time of year.
And here is what causes the acid glow (right) - sprays of green-petalled flowers held up to the sky.
At the base of the posy, you can just see the bronzed leaves beginning to unfurl. In my best Rolf Harris voice, "Can you see what it is yet?"
It is the Norway Maple Acer platanoides. It is not native in the UK, but comes from eastern Europe and Scandinavia, and was first grown here maybe 400 years ago.
Nowadays, it is found throughout lowland UK, and often self-seeds into hedgerows and open woodlands.
The reason for including it in a blog about wildlife gardening is that it does have plenty of uses for wildlife. The flowers are actually an excellent nectar source, used especially by solitary bees, flies and wasps. See if you can find one in the next couple of weeks, get underneath it, look up, and watch it buzzing.
In addition, the bark is a good receptor for lichen, much like the oft-maligned Sycamore. And it also offers nest sites, aphids, and is used by some moth caterpillars.
And while Norway Maple in its natural form is a vigorous tree, growing to 30m, and so not really suitable for most gardens, there are several cultivars that you could try, some of which have injected extra fire tones into the normal bright yellow autumn leaf colour.
Personally I think it is a bit of a star. But I've just looked down and seen what T-shirt I'm wearing today - it's acid green, so perhaps that's why I'm such a fan!