In the low autumn morning light, the Parc Martin Luther King (Paris 17eme) is looking magnificent. This new park was built for the 2012 Olympic bid, on old railway sidings, and was designed by Atelier Jaqueline Osty et associés. It is hugely popular and is loved by joggers, children and skaterboarders alike. The park was built along environmently friendly lines, with the spoil from the ponds used to create mounds and changes of level within the park. A wind powered pump draws water into a canal planted reeds and bulrushes. The whole park is planted in a naturalistic way and the autumn colour of the trees and grasses are looking particularly lovely this week.
The scarlet leaves of two oaks (probably Quercus palustris) are picked up in the reddish tinge of the bank of grasses which I think are Panicum virgatum.
This avenue of Fraxinus angustifolia ‘Raywood’ is just beginning to turn red, with a beautiful range of leaf colour from yellow to burgundy. The red tints are picked up in the Viburnum opulus planted in the mixed hedge behind. I think the hedge is a made up of Viburnum opulus, Carpinus betula and Prunus lusitanica.
The community allotments boast a fine scarecrow happy to be among the asters and a lovely yellow grapevine.
A field of pennisetum sets off a burnished yellow multistem Parrotia persica
A sheltered seat surrounded by persicaria species and Gaura lindheimeri as well as pennisetum, miscanthus and panicum grasses.
Just beyond the canal of marginals a bank of statuesque grasses shine out in green and silver.
A romantic avenue of Prunus (possibly P. Sargentii), complemented by red crab apples.