Autumn is the time of year when our collection of Acers are at their most spectacular, flaming in every shade of pink, orange and red. They are all superb but look out for Acer palmatum ‘Korean Gem’ which turns a particularly brilliant scarlet. 

Specimens of Cercis silaquastram or Judas Tree also glow an eye-catching shade of red. There are yellows too and by late October, the majestic pair of Gingko biloba by the Croquet Lawn glimmer gold, as does the splendid specimen of Cercidiphyllum japonicum near the top of the Maple Grove. You might well smell this tree before you see it: the leaves have a very high sugar content and in the autumn, they give off maltol which creates a burnt caramel smell. Strangely, the scent wafts across the vicinity of the tree but cannot actually be smelled when you sniff individual leaves.

The photos here were taken during October, November and December.