Autumn coming

As a new season looms on the horizon, Charlie Wilkins exults in some garden delights

They seem to sense the shortening days and try to produce as much seed as possible in the hope that their off-spring will be as bountiful as ever, but during another season, in another year.

The first indication of autumn’s arrival is a chilling of the air and a dampness which creeps up from the soil, alerting the gardener to quite a few new, yet oddly familiar scents.