Bright and BEAUTIFUL

Let brightly coloured foliage, fruits and hips light up your garden in autumn

- CHRIS MORLEY

Embrace crisp autumn days with shrubs and trees that put on a stellar seasonal show. Now is a good time to buy because you can see them in all their glorious finery plus it’s a good time to plant). Place them where the sun will illuminate their leaves, and team with evergreens, sparkling grasses and late-flowering perennials, such as asters, for a textured display that will still look good as we move into winter.

Golden globes

Crab apples are doubly delightful in autumn, offering rich leaf colour and fruits in yellow, orange, red or purple. These mini apples often hang on the tree long after the leaves have fallen, providing extra eye candy and snacks for birds. Try 'Evereste' (7m high) for butter-yellow autumn leaves and copper-orange fruits flushed red. Or the compact 'Sun Rival' (2.5-4m high), a weeping form cloaked in golden leaves and scarlet fruits.

Berried treasures