Garden Centre

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Autumn colour

Suddenly everything has changed – it’s not just the weather but the effect that it has on the quality of light that signals the change of the seasons. Summer sunlight is usually ‘saturated’ Directionless sunlight provides vibrant, well-saturated colours while low, strongly-directed sunlight de-saturates colour. Photographers know this, which is why they work with the sun at their backs and wait for sunny days with high blue skies that refract back the light from all directions.

What does that mean for gardens? Well one thing is that some colours like hot pinks and whites can look either garish or grubby under autumnal light conditions. Warmer and deeper colours hold up better under directed light or almost no light, such as we get on a day with heavy grey clouds – and that’s why bronze, yellow and reds at the dark end of the spectrum please us in the autumn months.

It also means though, that we see more detail and less drama – lower levels of light require is to look for longer at our plants, in summer we glance, pick up the strong colours and don’t bother to focus on small details, but in spring and autumn we tend to look for longer (there’s been research done on this – many summer car accidents are caused by people who glance rather than look because the road is dazzling their eyes) and that means plants with more complex forms, multiple colours, or intricate shapes will come into their own. The Cotinus or smoke bush is a case in point. In summer it is covered with a haze of soft pinkish flower plumes, giving it a smoke-like appearance, and in autumn its nicely shaped burgundy leaves offer subtle shades to an otherwise bland garden while the remaining flower stalks give interesting structural contrasts to the leaves. It's also easy to grow - a real beginner's plant - and tolerates full sun to medium shade and heavy pruning.

Labels: all-year gardening, autumn colour, cotinus, garden plants

The All Seasons Gardener at 11:50 PM

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