Cascade of colour

Autumn colour should be an essential part of any garden. But we usually have to wait until late October before those fiery reds, oranges and yellows begin to appear and liven up the scene.

The intensity of colour varies from year to year too. In some years, the colours are sensational, while in others they are disappointedly drab. However, certain shrubs will colour up much earlier than most and they do it reliably year after year. They deserve a place in your garden because they always light up autumn.

One of the finest is the spindle tree. This deciduous euonymus is more shrub than tree despite its name. The dense wood was widely used to make spindles and skewers, hence the common name, and there are light, vertical striations on the dark-brown branches and stems. These markings are highly attractive in winter light.

Spindle trees always colour up by mid-September, sometimes earlier, and their leaves turn a vivid crimson-pink. Their stems are also studded with clusters of vivid, day-glo orange and pink fruits held on wiry stems. These swing in the slightest breeze and compliment the foliage really well.

Our native species - Euonymus europaeus - has a tendency to grow on chalky soil and is often seen in hedgerows. However, in the garden setting, these deciduous euonymus seem to grow on any soil. They make perfect specimen shrubs set in the lawn.

They can also be incorporated into a boundary hedge or they can be used in a mixed border containing late-summer flowers. The best garden form of our native is called Red Cascade and this drips with hundreds of small fruits.

These peculiar fruits are very popular with the birds, particularly the robin, who will guard them fiercely against marauders. The robin isn't silly. The pulp of the spindle fruit is thought to have the highest nutritional value of any native wild fruit. Birds quickly discard or regurgitate the poisonous orange seeds.

There's also a fine oriental species found in Japan and China called Euonymus alatus. This slow-growing, multi-branched shrub is easily recognised by the corky ridged wings that develop on the sides of the stems. These look wonderful in winter light too and often attract moss and algae.

Compactus is a smaller, slower-growing variety sometimes used to form low hedges. All forms of E. alatus become crimson-pink and their fruits have a distinctive purple-red case.

I grew a very choice and handsome spindle from North-west Asia called E. planipes. It had large, almost pinnate leaves and much larger red fruits. The branches arched gently outwards to form a pleasing open shape and it was the one of my star performers in September.

The similar E.latifolius, a European species, is another handsome large-fruited spindle you could grow. You don't get a mass of fruits as with the others, but the ones you do get are very substantial.

The deciduous dogwoods also colour up early and the damson-red leaves of our native Cornus sanguinea have been shining out of hedgerows since mid-August. The best-known garden form is Winter Beauty.

Perhaps the most useful varieties are the Red-barked dogwoods bred from Cornus alba. These become orange-red in autumn and the leaves drop early to reveal bright-red stems. My favourite, Elegantissima, has green-leaves mottled with creamy white.