Trees and shrubs for autumn colour

Enjoy all that the autumn season has to offer, especially when it comes to colourful autumn leaves. If you’re a bit of a leaf-peeper and want to add some of the season’s best to your own garden, you’d be hard pressed to beat shrubs such as Euonymus alatus or Amelanchier lamarckii. The choice can sometimes be bewildering. Below, we’ve singled out some of our favourite trees and shrubs – ones that really come into their own in a blaze of glory at this time of year.

Nandina domestica

While many plants with good autumn colour are often deciduous, this is an evergreen shrub that packs a colourful punch and also gives red berries. Both colour and berries last well into the winter months too. New leaves in spring are also tinged with red, and you get sprays of white flowers in July. A great, year-round doer.

Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’

Also known as the smoke bush, this purple variety has really good autumn colour, turning a vibrant red. Plant as a specimen in a sunny spot so you can fully appreciate its autumn glory. Kew Royal Botanic Gardens is home to the larger C. obovatus which is worth a visit just to see its breathtaking colour display.

Cornus alba ‘Sibirica’

Dogwoods are grown for their colourful autumn stems. Being a background shrub for most of the year, it would be hard to miss the dogwoods when they hit their stride in autumn. This one delivers the brightest of red stems and looks great alongside other varieties such as Cornus stolonifera ‘Flaviramea’, especially when planted in groups. Prune back hard in the spring to maintain best stem colour.

Amelanchier lamarckii

A great ornamental small tree or large shrub that provides year-round interest. The oval leaves at first emerge with a bronze tint, along with the starry, white flowers, before turning a lovely shade of green. In autumn they give a spectacular display turning red, orange and yellow.

Euonymus alatus

A must in the autumn garden, this easy-to-grow shrub has colourful leaves that last for several weeks. It also produces round, reddish-pink fruits which split open to form four-winged lobes with a bright orange seed at the centre. A real eye-catcher.

Liquidambar styraciflua

This medium-size ornamental tree has wonderful, large palmate leaves that look as good in summer as they do in autumn when they take on tints of red, orange and purple. The colour is long-lasting with the tree holding its colourful leaves for over a month.

Prunus sargentii

Considered by many to be loveliest of all cherries, this medium-size ornamental tree works well as a single specimen or planted in rows along a walk-way. Early each autumn, the foliage of this cherry takes on brilliant scarlet and red hues delivering a vivid display of colour. New leaves are bronze-red when young, turning green when mature.

Rhus typhina

This deciduous shrub has attractive, deep-green leaflets that colour a striking orange-red in autumn. Summer flowers of yellow-green are followed by eye-catching conical, crimson fruits. It tends to have a suckering habit but we think its foliar shape and seasonal colour make it worthy of inclusion.

Cercidiphyllum japonicum

This tree, also known as the Katsura tree, is grown for its outstanding autumn colour which ranges from pale yellow to smoky pink/apricot. Its leaves also give off a wonderful burnt sugar aroma which is accentuated when they are crushed. Young leaves emerge purple turning to bluish-green.

Acer palmatum ‘Osakazuki’

No list of plants for autumn colour would be complete without an Acer and this one is arguably the best of all Japanese maples for red autumn colour. An ideal tree for a small urban garden or courtyard, its deeply-lobed leaves turn shades of yellow, red and orange in autumn. Great as a specimen underplanted with low-growing, ground-covering perennials.