Colourful city: autumn has arrived!

Some people think I favour autumn over all other seasons. That isn't true as I like all seasons except winter... The magic of autumn is when all the leaves start turning and reveal their often bright goodbye-colouration. Streets, parks and gardens are suddenly, and only fleetingly, ablaze with colour. And then the leaves drop and litter the streets and lawns for a while before becoming worm food.

The colour spectacle of the autumn leaves draw people to the parks. Here they can see the Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quincefolia) with its big leaves turning pink hugging a tree trunk. The grass is littered with leaves in various shades. Some trees like the Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) have leaves that turn both red and yellow (middle).The crab-apples mostly hold on to their fruit, but underneath some trees the ground is littered with these small yellow apples.

A few gusts of wind are enough to send the leaves down from the canopy. These leaves on the pavement were shades of red whilst on the tree (Zelkova serrata) but quickly take on rusty tones when on the ground. A garden path is sprinkled with these deep red maple leaves (middle). The Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea) was named for its autumn leaves in shades of red. Here they have fallen on some steps in a park.

Maples are one of those trees that provide maximum interest this time of year. Especially the types from the far east combine interesting finely cut leaves with splendid autumn colours. The Japanese Maples have small leaves with many lobes. The leaves of Acer palmatum with their bright red tones litter the undergrowth. Acer japonicum 'Aconitifolium' has deeply cut lobes on leaves that are just turning a deep burgundy colour. Another Acer palmatum is almost on fire in the afternoon sun with leaves in yellow, and orange.

Although nature is winding down for winter some plant still produce flowers. Many late insect are very thankful for this late nectar as this group of Michaelmas Daisies is providing. Slower as a result of the lower ambient temperature this is the moment to photograph some butterflies feeding on these purple blooms. All species of butterfly are common in parks and gardens where I live: the Cabbage White (left), the Little Map (middle) in its summer colours (the autumn brood is typically black with white and brown markings) and Red Admiral (right).