Autumn is early as yo-yo weather leaves plants dazed and confused
‘We are certainly seeing some of the signs that typically suggest autumn is on the way earlier than usual’
AUTUMN is here, the Royal Horticultural Society has said, as red and brown colours are being seen in their gardens and apples are ripe two weeks early.
Many have noticed leaves falling from the trees in the last weeks of summer, and the temperature has dropped from the giddy heights of the heatwave.
The early spring heat gave many types of fruit, including greengages and apples, a head start to the growing season, resulting in early harvests. Trees and shrubs are turning their leaves as they have been confused and stressed by the recent erratic weather.
Guy Barter, the RHS chief horticulturist, explained: “This summer’s mixed bag of weather phenomena has had some surprising results in our gardens, both good and bad.
“The spring drought and heatwave, heavy rain in early summer and the recent prolonged scorching temperatures have made for an interesting growing season. We are certainly seeing some of the signs that typically suggest autumn is on the way earlier than usual, but it is still too early to say what long-term effect this might have.”
At RHS Garden Rosemoor in Devon, the early spring heat gave orchards a head start and early varieties are ready to harvest weeks ahead of schedule.
Peter Adams, the Rosemoor edibles team leader, said: “We seem to be in for a good harvest this year – not the bumper crop of 2018 but still a strong, healthy one given the extreme weather we’ve had!”
Autumn favourites such as pumpkin, squashes and kale are also flourishing.
At RHS Garden Harlow Carr, in North Yorkshire, Joe Lofthouse, a kitchen garden horticulturist, said apples were dropping a fortnight sooner than expected, while the heat meant a longer season for other plants.
“Globe artichokes are flowering again which is unusual for this time of the year,” he added. “Normally flowering stops around mid-july at the latest.”
Elsewhere in the garden, the autumnal colours of Persian ironwood and crimson glory vine are beginning to appear. One Viburnum bodnantense “Dawn”, which usually flowers in November, has begun to bloom more than two months ahead of schedule.
Ali Goding, the Harlow Carr garden manager, said some plants had been “very stressed with the fluctuating temperatures and erratic weather”.
At RHS Garden Hyde Hall in Chelmsford, which saw days of scorching temperatures in August followed by torrential rain, some silver birch trees have begun to shed leaves while a Virginia creeper is showing the first tints of its fiery autumnal colour.