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Buds are miraculous things. Their outer scales are modified leaves whose function is to protect the delicate contents. Inside each mature bud is a tightly packed shoot, complete with its first few leaves, the apical bud and even embryonic axillary buds.

A bud looks just like the inside of a cabbage, if it were cut in half vertically. Imagine the intricacy of an elm bud with all those elements packed into something the size of a pinhead. Buds vary in character as much as leaves do. In the winter months, buds provide a reliable means of identifying deciduous trees even without any leaves to go by.

New shoots also vary. Pines, for example, produce vertical shoots, known as candles, which extend rapidly with their tiny needles pressed flat against them. Once they have reached their fullest extent, the needles begin to elongate and peel away from the shoot. Spruce and larch buds open to reveal tufts of tightly packed, soft needles, which look for all the world like miniature shaving brushes.

During the summer months, leaves make sugars, and when eventually they become redundant, they turn brown and fall. In the case of deciduous trees, by their first autumn, the leaves are worn out, whereas the needles (or leaves) of conifers often last for two years, or even longer.

The joint between the petiole (leaf stalk) and the shoot seals off in deciduous trees, and the chlorophyll breaks down, allowing the residual pigments to show.

A cabbage is a perfect illustration of a giant bud which contains a partially developed central shoot, tightly packed leaves and even embryonic axillary buds.

This is what causes that brilliant blaze of autumn colour that people who live in temperate zones are privileged to enjoy. Spectacular autumn colour cannot always be relied upon. It will depend upon the health and vigour of the individual trees, and the feeding programme that was followed in the preceding summer.

Weather also plays a part: in wet years the autumn colours are poor. However, when the autumn is clear with sunny days and frosty nights, colours produced will be intense.

While nothing can be done about the weather, it is possible to enhance the chance of your achieving a show of the best possible colour by maintaining control over the feeding and watering of your plants.