Early November in the Gliffaes Garden

As I went to let my ducks out a couple of mornings ago I saw the first snow on the Brecon Beacons. It seems very early to see a sprinkling of icing on my favourite hills, but it was a beautiful crisp Autumn morning and the trees looked magnificent lit by the November sun against such a pretty backdrop.

It's no wonder most of the leaves have now fallen from the Gliffaes trees. It has been chilly and wet here and we have had a few frosts already. The large Red Maple in the upper field has lost all of its leaves but we are left with a spectacular show of mistletoe. Unfortunately, it won't do this tree much good in the long term, but it is interesting to see it like this.

Red Maple  

Gingko biloba

The garden begins to get rather bare in places now but there is still colour in the brilliant golden, curious shaped leaves of the Gingko biloba (Maidenhair tree). It continues to keep us waiting for the shower of fluttering gold that it seems to promise. 

There is warm colour too in the Cotoneasters, Skimmias and the Harlequin glorybower (Clerodendrum trichotomum) the fruits of which are now fuchsia and blue. I adore this tree and it has such a wonderful name too. My friend Adele, the forager, suggested it would be a good name for a James Bond girl!

Cotoneaster tree

Clerodendrum trichotomum (Harlequin glorybower)

Skimmia japonica

Lastly, I have included a photo of our Lucombe Oak (Quercus x hispanica) which is a hybrid between Turkey Oak and Cork Oak. It is a big, semi-evergreen tree and gives us a beautiful green back drop to the Gingko at this time of year.

Lucombe Oak