In the red: nature's autumn fireworks

Over the last two weeks I've had to travel a lot, with time spent in East Anglia and northern England.

At times, the skies have been wonderfully aglow:

But the further north I went, so have the trees:

The Field Maples are the brightest yellows I can remember and the cherries flaming red.

So I thought, in a garden context, I'd pick out two native bushes of real merit, for wildlife and for their colour.

The first is Dogwood - this one was a stunner I photographed at RSPB St Aidan's near Leeds, but they are bursting with colour everywhere.

They have small white spring flowers and then black berries that are eaten by birds. And once the leaves have fallen, the stems are often bright red, too. If left, this will grow into a small tree, but it can be coppiced just like a Hazel, cut to ground level in spring every few years (or indeed just a few of the stems cut each year) to keep it a size fit for a garden.

It does sucker, sending up new stems from the roots often a metre or more from the parent tree, but these can be contained.

The second I've chosen is Guelder Rose, here on a fen I visited in Suffolk. It's name comes from 'Gelderland' which is a place in the Netherlands, but it is absolutely a UK native.

It is not only the leaves that turn red but also the dangling clusters of berries, beloved of Bullfinches. This really is a well behaved shrub, as long as its roots don't get too dry in summer. It will only grow to about 4m tall at most.

The leaves can get turned to lace by the Viburnum Leaf Beetle, which is a native species so is nature too! But if you avoid that, this is a plant that will put on a show in spring with its white flowers and then turn up the heat right now in autumn.

So look out for nature's fireworks - it is looking like it is going to be some show this year.