GINA PARKINSON fights off the autumn gloom with some jobs outside and a view of the spindleberry, which comes into its own right now.

MID-November and the garden is damp and often misty. I have a confession: despite there being beauty everywhere out there, I am frustrated by this time of year.

The dark mornings and evenings make it impossible to get outside before or after work, so gardening is limited to weekends when it seems to rain or it's too cold or other commitments take over. Then there are the autumn snuffles and coughs that do the rounds. Roll on January.

That’s the moaning done and of course there is plenty to do and see in the garden. Even half an hour planting bulbs or putting sweet viola into containers is enough to lift the spirits.

We have a box under a window at the front of the house which was filled with viola last week. These pretty plants will flower for ages and can be encouraged to do so again by cutting them back once they begin to fade.

I like the cool blues and rich purples, but there are a good range of colours to suit any taste, from pure white to shades of mustard and bronze to deepest purple black.

It is good to have an interesting specimen that can be seen from the confines of the house in late autumn and winter and here in our garden the spindleberry is fulfilling this brief at the moment.

This large British native deciduous shrub is quite ordinary for most of the year with mid-green foliage and small clusters of tiny yellowish green flowers that open in late spring.

A member of the euonymus family, Euonymus europaeus can grow up to six metres tall with a spread of half that. Its long, slim stems and branches stop it becoming too overbearing and it seems to be reasonably adaptable, coping with most sites and growing quite happily even in a confined space.

The beauty of this shrub is its autumn coat as the leaves turn bright red and glow in the soft and misted autumn light. This lovely foliage will usually cling on through October, gradually becoming sparser so that by November arrives the stems are bare. Well not quite, because left behind are the amazing seedheads that are perhaps the most startling thing in the garden at the moment.

The small green pods left as the spring flowers fade swell unnoticed through the summer into four-lobed bright pink fruits which, despite their tropical hue, can get overlooked, as they are hidden among the brightening foliage.

Once this falls there they are dangling from bare stems and splitting to reveal their Jaffa orange seeds.

This year the spindleberry in our garden has been its best and the berries can easily be seen from the house. It is growing against a fence and a couple of winters ago was re-shaped and trimmed back, which meant it has been hidden from view for a while.

Luckily it is a fast-growing shrub and now the twiggy stems are a nice tangle that sits in a space between evergreen euonymus fortuneii and dark Portuguese laurel with Photinia davidiana ‘Palette’ to the front. This mix of variegated and plain dark foliage is the perfect November foil for the fruits of the spindleberry.

Euonymus europaeus can be grown in hedging, mixed with other large shrubs or as a specimen shrub. Its spring flowers attract a number of different insects including bees and are apparently pollinated by St Mark’s fly and species of black coloured fly which emerges from its larvae on April 25, St Marks Day.

The stems become very hard with age and in the past were used to make spindles, giving rise to the common name of the plant.

Spindleberry is fast growing and reasonably adaptable. Avoid touching the orange berries which are poisonous and also keep in mind that it is a host to beet and bean aphid, so shouldn’t be grown near areas where these crops are grown either in farmland or near veg plots and allotments.


Weekend catch-up

IT IS time to plant tulip bulbs. Like all bulb planting, this is a simple job. Just make a hole deep enough for the bulb to be covered in two to three times its height in soil. They prefer a sunny site in well-drained soil, but I have found that partial shade will also be suitable as long as the site is in sun for some of the day.

Tulips also look lovely in containers. Choose one deep enough for the bulb to be covered in sufficient compost, water well and place in a sunny spot by the house. Pack as many in as possible for a great display next spring.


Gardening talk

ASKHAM Bryan College Gardening Club will hold its Geoffrey Smith Memorial Lecture on Tuesday at Askham Bryan College, YO23 3FR.

This year the talk will be given by lecturer, broadcaster, tour guide and of course gardener Sarah Hopps who will look at ‘A Sensory Experience’. This illustrated lecture will discuss how to create, nourish and maintain a garden that delights all the senses.

The meeting be held in the Conference Hall and begins at 7.30pm. Complimentary teas and coffee will be served after the talk. Tickets are free to ABC Gardening Club members and £5 at the door for visitors. Further information from David Whiteman, publicity officer, 01904 707208.


Gardening TV and Radio

Tomorrow 6am, BBC2, Life in a Cottage Garden with Carol Klein. Planting the first seeds of the year.

6.30am, BBC2, Great British Garden Revival.

8am, BBC Radio Humberside, The Great Outdoors. With Blair Jacobs and Doug Stewart.

8.40am,BBC2, Glorious Gardens From Above. Cornwall is seen from a hot air balloon.

9am, BBC Radio York, Steve Bailey. Steve Bailey sits in for Julia Lewis to bring gardening news and features from around North Yorkshire.

9am, BBC Radio Leeds, Tim Crowther with Joe Maiden.

2pm, BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. A postbag edition from the potting shed at Sparsholt College in Hampshire. The chairman is Eric Robson.

Monday to Friday 3.45pm, BBC1, Glorious Gardens From Above. Christine Walkden views gardens around the country from a hot air balloon. Northumberland, Gloucestershire and Snowdonia are amongst the places she visits this week.

Friday 3pm, BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Chairman Peter Gibbs keeps order as panellists Matt Biggs, Bob Flowerdew and Matthew Wilson answer questions from an audience in Norwich.