Autumn Fruits

Autumn fruits in the garden

Lots of birds depend upon the fruit in the garden and the countryside in the autumn. Plus other animals too, squirrels for example, store acorns for the winter.  It appears to be a bumper year for most autumn fruits.  Here are some seen recently.

Acorns

This photograph was taken on a morning walk a few weeks ago. The acorns are a lot more advanced now and lots of them have fallen already. I believe the red part is called a knopper gall. This is caused by a wasp laying an egg in the acorn cup.

 

Apples

I came across a tree which had lots of small windfalls on the ground. I don’t think it is a crab apple as the fruit is the wrong colour but all the fruit seemed very small.

Blackberries

It’s been a great year for blackberries this year. Loads of fruit and still some flowers and fruit to come.

 

 

 

 

Rowan (Mountain Ash)

Every Rowan tree I have seen this autumn has been covered with berries. They don’t have many leaves so the berries are easy to see.

 

 

 

 

Hawthorn

Lots of lovely red berries for the birds here. Plants are either male or female so one tree may have fruit and its neighbour may not. It makes a good hedging plant.

 

 

 

 

Honeysuckle

Plenty of bright red berries on the honeysuckle this year. They are very ripe now and starting to drop off. Honeysuckle can be fitted into most gardens. It likes to run up into trees where possible. It mostly flowers in the spring/summer so great for nectar and with the bonus of autumn fruit for the birds.

Raspberries

However my raspberries have been a bit of a disappointment this year. They are an autumn fruiting variety (Autumn Bliss) and in previous years I have had loads but hardly any so far. There are lots of flowers/fruit just starting so hopefully they will go on until the frosts get them.