Colour Without Flowers

Thank you - all looking great!

Your garden has so much interest Dawn. At this time of year the leaf textures and colours come into their own :)

Thanks Sheila.
Thanks Hywel, I do like to see autumn interest. After seeing yours years ago, I bought a cotoneaster cornuba but I never get berries :(. I saw blossom but the berries are very few and far between.

yes there is still plenty of colour to be found in the garden. I find many stems do a brilliant job and they would never normally be noticed. I must say I have been looking at plants for foliage interest too, other than obvious green and white variegation.

Seaburn, some of my Viburnum have good leaf colour before they fall as does Cornus midwinter fire. I love to see the shrubs with colourful stems through winter.

That's a shame Dawn, maybe next year there will be more pollinating insects around.

It looks great Dawn. You look to have as much wet as us. I managed to get out today and did loads of cutting back. It was really too wet, but I had to get some fresh air and sunshine!

Btw, I love that white-leaved lamium. :)

Hywel, is that what will have happened, the flowers weren't pollanted to create berries? I saw ones on the roadside today totally loaded with berries.

That's good Karen, I'm pleased you got outside, I have lots of cutting back to do but rain nearly all day here again.
I can need thank you enough for introducing me to M Evereste.
The lamium is White Nancy.

It's one cause Dawn, but if there are others nearby then it could be something else, although I don't know what.
Could it be dryness in the summer I wonder, causing the berries to fall ? or some insect eating the flowers before the fruit develops ?
Maybe you could put it as a question and someone might answer.

It's strange though, I have two Pyracanthas, planted about a yard apart, and the branches overlap. They are several years old, bought from the same place at the same time and planted at the same time too … yet one is always full of flowers and berries and the other produces few flowers and has never had any berries in its life. I don't know why that is.

That’s very odd about your pyracantha Hywel, very strange.
This summer I looked up at the Cotoneaster and it had lots of flowers and I thought yes, this year it’s going to be laden but no. There aren’t any nearby, the ones I saw when driving were on the side of the road, thriving on neglect. I usually get lots of pollinators, it’s not in a dry spot but it’s north facing and has been in part shade but the huge willow next door has gone recently, yes I could ask the question, thank you Hywel

I hope you get a satisfactory reply to your question Dawn.
Maybe now it has more light it might produce berries.
Mine is facing west but there's a hedgerow opposite it which casts shade after about 4 pm in the summer. The number of berries it gets seems to vary each year. Unfortunately this is not one of its best years although there are many berries, but on previous years it has had much more.

I love the reddish twigs in pic#2. That would be amazing against the snow. Is that dogwood?

It is Bathgate, I think Dawn said it was 'Midwinter fire.'

Thanks Hywel.
Bathgate, Seaburn - picture 2 is actually Salix britzensis.
Cornus midwinter fire is on the left of picture 4, still in leaf :-)

Thanks they both look really nice

A heart warming blog filled with such beautiful, bright, late autumn colours.
Your garden looks lovely.

I love this blog, you don't always need flowers, do you? We try and have plenty of winter colour, I think it is important for the garden to look good all year!

Thanks Wildrose.
Dotty, the winters are so long, I feel it's important too.

Lots of lovely foliage colour in your garden.

Thanks Siris, they help alot through the long winter

Could it be that wildlife has got to your berries first, D a ? My pyracantha was covered in berries gradually swelling and colouring up nicely but during the recent cold snap the top half of the plant has been decimated by hungry little critters.

Hi Xela, thanks but I don't think so as they didn't develop :-(

wow I didn't expect that id for pic 2. I have noticed some mature willows near us have beautifully coloured stems.

Yes Seaburn, nice willow, I coppice them.
It could be a cutting from Salix alba var. vitellina, not sure as when I bought it in 2011 they included 2 Britzensis cuttings and to confuse things further said-
There seems to be two (possibly more versions of Britzensis in the trade - one red (the pot) and the other yellow/orange. Wisley seems to have the yellow one whilst Hyde Hall has the red one. However, the mystery is also confounded by the fact that the stem colour produced can be as a result of the soil or the weather conditions.

Lovely & very interesting blog, Dawn! You have lots of great plants in your garden!

Our balcony is very dull though a few Pansies I've put in this year in all the pots & tubs & troughs I hope will change that soon!

Thank you. I like to see cyclamen in pots over winter, I’m sure your pots look lovely