Visit the gardens at Dyffryn

Top garden features during autumn

Dyffryn Gardens is simply spectacular in autumn. After the lush abundance of the summer, the Arboretum transitions into a rich rainbow of warming colours. The acers look their best at this time of year, showing off their reddish gold hues. Follow your nose and discover the scent of toffee apples from the Katsura trees as their leaves fall and start to decay.

Throughout the turn and shift of the seasons the Garden Rooms remain full of texture and colour and from late summer until the first frost you can still see our spectacular Dahlias and Ginger Lilies in the Exotics Garden.

There is also a unique and magical gourd display in the Glass House, which is a must-see on an autumnal visit to Dyffryn.

Waxcaps start popping-up in the damp but warmer weather of the autumn months. We have regular waxcap surveys and some beautiful examples of rare and colourful waxcaps all throughout the gardens. It's well worth coming to Dyffryn on a waxcap hunt.

We have lots of migratory birds stopping off at Dyffryn in the autumn to stock-up on nutrients on their way to warmer climates for the winter - there are Mistle Thrushes, Fieldfares and the occasional Waxwing. We also grow late forage plants as nectar sources for Queen Bees so they too can stock-up on nutrients ahead of their hibernation period.

Autumn walks

Every season we have a free self-guided walk which showcases seasonal beauty spots at Dyffryn Gardens. Pick-up your Autumn Walk map from the Welcome Centre when you arrive, it will take you round the gardens highlighting which areas look best during this lovely time of year.

As autumn progresses, what you’ll see on your walk will change depending on how the weather has been and when in the season you come - keep your trail leaflet and return throughout autumn to see how the gardens change as the year wends its way to a close.

The small plant labels which indicate you've reached a spot marked on the map will give information about the plant collection at Dyffryn Gardens. This year's Autumn Walk will be like strolling round an outdoor museum, with a beautiful living collection, marked for your notice with the species name and facts about why each plant is of special note.

Autumn in the Arboretum

The Arboretum is one of the best places at Dyffryn Gardens to experience the changing colours of autumn. Mature trees from around the world fill this part of the garden with layers of crimson, burnt orange, copper and gold.

With trees planted across different periods in Dyffryn’s history, the autumn display doesn’t arrive all at once. Different trees reach their peak at different times carrying the colour through the season. Visit in early autumn, then return later in the season to see how the Arboretum has changed.

 

Look out for the paperbark maples (Acer griseum)

Paperbark maples (Acer griseum) have a long connection with Dyffryn Gardens. Reginald Cory planted an original tree grown from seed collected in China by plant collector Ernest Henry Wilson in 1901. Although that tree was lost to honey fungus a few years ago, its story remains part of Dyffryn’s rich plant-collecting history.

Today, you can still find several fine paperbark maples around the garden. Look out for some of the best on the North Lawn in front of the house, where their warm, cinnamon-coloured bark peels away in delicate layers, adding colour and texture through autumn and into winter.

A collection with roots from around the world

Reginald Cory’s passion for horticulture helped shape the Arboretum into the collection we see today. A keen plant collector and experimenter, he also supported plant-hunting expeditions, bringing back seeds and plants gathered from around the world.

That spirit of collecting continued beyond Cory’s lifetime, with further rare trees planted in later decades. Today, the Arboretum brings together historic specimens, later planting and Champion Trees recognised for their exceptional size.

Come back in winter

As autumn gives way to winter, the silhouettes of the trees look dramatic against a wintry sky, while snowdrops and crocuses bring the first pops of new colour to the garden below.

Pick up a Winter Wander map from the Welcome Centre and explore Dyffryn Gardens as the season changes