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Hoswick, Shetland: With few trees to provide autumn colour, we rely on signs in the seas and the sky
How to describe autumn coming on without mentioning leaves falling or changing colour? The point being that there aren’t many trees in Shetland. There are some, in sheltered spots. But other signs come far more readily to mind. Equinoctial gales on the North Sea, delaying the ferries. Migrating greylag geese in numbers, settling on the fields. Birds of passage, trying to migrate and blown off-course. Birders in woolly hats, following the migrants, peering over the garden wall and alarming the cats (who I’m always afraid may present them with a rare specimen in a poor state of repair).
Autumn colours are provided by marigolds and montbretia, both of which bloom later than they do down south and make September as flame-coloured as you could wish, at least in my garden. Continue reading...