Hydrangea – Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society

Autumn Colour in Members’ Gardens

This year’s ‘autumn colour’ seems to have developed quite suddenly and intensely, but may be short-lived. So we asked CABAHS members to share photographs of the colour they could find in their gardens this week. The weather has been dull and grey most of the time, yet these late flowers and glowing leaves shine out of the gloom. You can click on the images for more information and to see at full size.
Take a tour…

We tend to focus on brightly coloured leaves when we think of autumn colour, but several groups of flowers add plenty of zing to the October garden. Salvia really is ‘Plant of the Month‘!

First pomegranate! Among Salvia 'Pink Pong' in Kathy's garden, October 2025. — *Salvias* with pomegranate, *Hydrangea, Tithonia* and *Calamagrostis* by Kathy, Sharon, Georgie and Vija

Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight' and Salvia in Sharon's garden, October 2025 — *Salvias* with pomegranate, *Hydrangea, Tithonia* and *Calamagrostis* by Kathy, Sharon, Georgie and Vija

Salvia doesn’t get all the glory though – there’s competition from another richly-coloured group, the Dahlias.

Plants of the Month: The Whites! (July 2025)

My garden is looking past its best now, as the heat-waves and lack of rain having taken their toll, but these three plants are looking stunning and all worthy of the status of Plant of Month for July 2025.

Mandevilla laxa (Chilean jasmine), July 2025 — *Mandevilla laxa, Hydrangea quercifolia,* and *Clematis* ‘Kaiu’ (V): the whites for July

Hydrangea quercifolia (oakleaf Hydrangea), July 2025 — *Mandevilla laxa, Hydrangea quercifolia,* and *Clematis* ‘Kaiu’ (V): the whites for July

The Sunk Garden at Great Dixter House and Gardens, East Sussex

Christopher Lloyd loved colour, and as I stand on the upper pathway of the Sunk Garden, here at Great Dixter, I notice the pops of colour from the spires of pink-purple Lythrum and terracotta-orange Crocosmia all around me.

Designed by Nathaniel Lloyd, Christopher Lloyd’s father, after WW1, this south-facing and sheltered sunken garden is enclosed by two barns, a magnificent yew hedge and a wall on the southern boundary, thus creating its own micro-climate and the plants love it!

Rodgersia and a pink Hydrangea — A white and pink planting combination

OPG diary – October 2020

13 October
Heroic (and very wet) volunteers in the garden today. A lot of the plants from our shopping trip to Provender Nurseries are now in place. We really appreciated extra help from students from the University of Greenwich, who sportingly also got very wet. Donations of cinnamon buns from Charlton Bakehouse went down well. Thank you everyone. The picture below will be used as a ‘Before’ picture – so looking forward to taking some ‘After’ pictures next year!

CABAHS volunteers in the Old Pond Garden, Charlton House, October 2020

20 October
Another glorious Autumn day! Lots of volunteers and a bit of sun, what more do you want? We discovered the friendly Greenwich Carers café in the Stables next door. Bring your own cup/mug.

CABAHS volunteers, Charlton House gardens, October 2020

22 October
Our Oak-leaved Hydrangea is turning a lovely colour. Look what has taken up residence in it – a crab spider. Apparently they camouflage themselves but it takes a few days to change colour – this one must have been in a white flower recently!

Crab spider on Hydrangea quercifolia, Charlton House gardens, October 2020