Autumn came to a magnificent crescendo earlier this month as the sun broke through and lit up the trees in a breathtaking display of colours, helped by the warm spell that prolonged the leaf spectacle an extra bit longer. But that seems like ages ago - since then a barrage of wind, rain, frost and snow has sent the leaves flying and most trees are now bare skeletons. But some of them, such as oaks, are hanging on to some of their foliage to the bitter end, although now mostly brown and shrivelled. With more cold weather on the way, even these diehards are bound to fall.
The hedgerows are also becoming leafless, but decorated with some brightly coloured fruit. One familiar sight is the fruit of the rose bush - the red, oval-shaped rose hip. During the second world war tons of these were collected and turned into rose hip syrup, an incredibly rich source of vitamin C that was used to make up for the lack of oranges and other citrus fruits.
The bitter cold has withered and blackened most flowers, but some of their seeds now stand out in all their glory. Many hedges and bushes are draped in bundles of fluff called old man's beard. These are masses of feathery seeds of clematis, also known as traveller's joy, and make an especially impressive sight when frost covers them like icing sugar. Blasts of wind will launch the seeds into the air where they parachute off to new ground where they can overwinter and sprout next spring.