Autumn is here. Flowers are few and far between but in a sense "the fall" is even more vibrant than summer as the leaves change colour. The vine Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus  quinquefolia) is one of the first to go out in a blaze of glory.

 Introduced from the forests of North America it's rampant rather than creeping and way more vigorous than the domestic scale of the typical English garden. On a train journey into London last week I noticed numerous fiery swathes of P. quinquefolia where it has jumped back walls and fences and made a break for it.