Berry good show

WE’RE set for a bountiful, beautiful autumn, say experts. Birds will be gladdened by a bumper berry haul this month and gardeners can hope to be delighted by a flotilla of butterflies.

The RHS says that many plants, including spindle bushes, firethorn and crab apple, have ripened early due to rains in July and August following a warm, dry spell in the spring. The fruit is therefore less susceptible to autumn rot, meaning we could experience a longer than normal display of seasonal colour.

‘Autumn raspberries are yielding lavishly and mulberries are still producing their luscious fruits,’ says Guy Barter, RHS chief horticulturalist. ‘All of the berries will mature in the predicted warm spells this September and contrast gloriously with autumn colour from October, before being consumed by birds, including blackbirds, finches, starlings, fieldfares (above right) and redwings, as well as other wildlife.’

Similarly, the warm spring meant that many butterfly species emerged and bred early, enabling more butterflies, such as the comma, red admiral and speckled wood, to fit in an extra generation, due to appear shortly. ‘Nectar, the flight fuel for most of our butterflies, is [usually] in short supply in the countryside as we move into autumn, yet many of our garden flowerbeds and borders are still full of colour,’ says Butterfly Conservation’s Richard Fox.

If the mild weather persists, summer species such as the peacock (above left), small tortoiseshell, painted lady, small copper, common blue and large and small whites may be seen into early November, as butterflies take advantage of the abundant blooms.

Wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation would like the public to keep butterfly spotting over the autumn and early winter and take part in its Garden Butterfly Survey (www.gardenbutterflysurvey.org).