Wakehurst Place in autumn

Seasons and flowering times can vary by up to three weeks so the periods below are only approximate.

Autumn colour is a huge draw at Wakehurst Place and it's possible for a reasonably fit visitor to go round the world of temperate zone trees in 80 minutes, taking in colourful foliage, bark and berries along the way. Walk through Bethlehem Wood, Coates Wood, through Bloomer's Valley to Horsebridge Wood and Westwood Valley in October and November, and that spectacular world is there to discover.

But it's not just trees - there is much to admire from September onwards in the form of herbaceous plants in the Mansion Borders and cottage plantings in the Sir Henry Price Walled Garden, and around October, the seed heads of giant Himalayan lilies and other plants in the Slips and Water Gardens show off their own sculptural forms.