November 7, 2017

Autumn Color

Our trees are late in changing color this year. Autumn color is usually an October event, but we're just getting it now. Curious how it can be so different every year. Back before television went digital and we could get the local stations, the fall color season was newsworthy every year, because folks like to take a drive into the mountains for the color and fall festivals. Every year the prediction was for great color, "Experts say the color will be spectacular this year because of the high rainfall amounts this summer," or "Experts say the color will be spectacular this year because of the summer drought." I used to wonder about those experts, until I finally figured out that the media is full of baloney.

Anyway, while not sweepingly spectacular, we have spots of color to enjoy.

The view across the neighbor's field.

Dogwoods, for example. We have several around and they can always be counted on for lovely deep reds.

Dogwood in the woods.

Dogwood between the pastures

Near the house is our biggest dogwood.

Then there are the yellows.

I don't even know what kind of tree this is. Likely some
escaped ornamental, but it always gives a respectable yellow.

I have a few wild muscadine vines sporting some yellow. The
green is pecan leaves. They never offer much in the way of color.

Neither do our white oaks, of which we have a lot.
These usually range from brown to yellow.

Our maples are mostly silver maples.

Silver maple leaves turn mostly yellow with an occasional red.

Crepe myrtles offer orange.

Our crepe myrtles are at different stages of color
change. This one is just beginning to turn orange.

In the front yard we have an ornamental called a "burning bush."

When we first bought the place we tried to get rid of this
bush. But it was persistent and now I'm glad it won.

Back on the wild side, even the poison ivy is making a showing!

Poison ivy sports either red or yellow.

Our first frost was the last week of October. Now the turning leaves, shorter days, and rain storms coming out of the northwest all signal autumn. More-so than the calendar, anyway. Then there's the time change, which is just a nuisance. The critters don't care what the clock says, they just know they're hungry and want to eat!

How about you? Are you experiencing a change of season? Spring? Summer? Winter? Fall?

Autumn Color © Nov 2017 by Leigh

24 comments:

Dawn said...

We are in the full throws of Autumn here and leaves are dropping at a rate of knots, I have just bought 2 Burnt Toffee trees, the leaves turn a lovely toffee colour in Autumn and when crushed smell of burnt toffee.

Leigh said...

Dawn, that intrigues me and I had to look it up. Is it also called Katsura?

Gorges Smythe said...

Ours are late, too, but it hasn't been that great a year color-wise.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Beautiful! I have lots of colors around our place, including the poison ivy.

Sam I Am...... said...

Beautiful colors and I too thought it was quite late this year in AR and then overnight they seemed to change and I can tell it will be short. Rain is predicted for the next weeks on and off. I am hoping to get some windows washed today. I used to have a burning bush in front of my house on the farm and I loved it!
Yes, don't get me started on the time change! LOL!

Leigh said...

Gorges, no, certainly not as brilliant as other years. Makes me wonder what winter will be like, but on the other hand, I doubt any connection is more than speculation. :)

Kristina, and nobody ever shows off their poison ivy! LOL

Sam, those rains usually knock the leaves off the trees and that will bring an end to it. November is usually when all our leaves fall anyway, so I suppose we'll be on schedule there.

Nina said...

We were supposed to have brillant colours, again due to the rain, but it dried out and it was just normal colour. Our leaves have pretty much fallen though and they are threatening snow next week! I'm so not ready for that. Your colours are beautiful though.

Leigh said...

Nina, it seems the colors aren't very exciting anywhere this fall. Little spots here and there though. Can't say I envy your forecast for snow! Good weather for staying indoors and fibernating.

Michelle said...

We have had SUCH a gorgeous fall, between the colors and the weather in which to enjoy them. The meteorologist was showing recent October stats, and last year we had ZERO sunny days in October, compared to 10(?) this year.

Ed said...

It seems like to me that our falls are pretty consistently less than spectacular. Every once in a while, perhaps once in ten years, we get a fall that I would consider the leaf color to be spectacular. Not sure what causes it but I'm guessing it is an early cold snap that causes all the trees to start losing their chlorophyll at the same time. This year it was a fairly warm fall with some yoyo-ing and the leaf color is sporadic at best.

Unknown said...

Lovely Autumnal photos. Thank you for sharing. We've been enjoying some lovely colour here in the south east in England. Best wishes

MaryContrary said...

As we went on our grocery shopping rounds this morning I commented that our trees have finally gotten the message about Fall having arrived. Beautiful!.

Mrs Shoes said...

3" of snow & -12* this morning (that's 10*F) & I wish our weather were more like yours. As for the time change? I actually like it because it is still light when I go out to do supper chores now; come deep winter it'll be dark too early, but right now I'm pleased to be feeding all the critters their meals in daylight.

Leigh said...

Michelle, you must be enjoying your fall season! I hope November is sunnier than October for you.

Ed, you may be right about the cold snap. Although we had one early in October, but maybe it was too early(?) There's no understanding the weather!

Shirley, thanks! Glad to hear that lovely big Island across the Pond is make an autumn showing.

Mary, it's a real treat to have the color, isn't it?

Mrs. Shoes, snow! Oh no! Sounds like you skipped fall and went straight to winter. :( I have to agree about doing chores while it's still light. Even so, I'm glad to have a solar light in the barn.

Chris said...

I think our limited spans of time, for seasons, don't gel with what the climate is doing, presently. We had summer temps, in the middle of winter, a wet winter and dry spring - which is not the way it's supposed to happen, here. Climate weirding, for certain!

Since the rain arrived at the tail-end of Spring, it's lovely here now. I've been planting potatoes, herbs and fruit trees. I hope Summer is cooler, but you never know what you're going to get.

The autumn leaves on your trees look beautiful.

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

Yes, we are experiencing color change also. So pretty. The Burning Bushes are gorgeous that we see around. I hate the time change! Nancy

Anonymous said...

Hello. Thank you for sharing your fall colors this year. Fall and winter are my favorite seasons, though there is joy in each they are my favorite. *smile* When we took our two week trip down to California from Idaho over to Oregon and then down in October, the colors and smells were starting and looked beautiful! *smile* Have a great day and thanks again for sharing your fall colors. Sincerely, Mommy of two growing blessings & so much more!

Rain said...

I fully agree that the media is full of "baloney"...nice polite way of saying it lol...I love the photos, especially the dogwood! Our trees are nearly bare now because of the big Halloween wind storm, but there are still a few holdouts with bright yellows and reds! It's funny that you mentioned now that tv is digital you can't get the old stations anymore...another piece of history, antenna television.

M.K. said...

Your leaves are lovely! We don't have that much color here, and don't have some of those trees, esp. maples. Today is cold with a north wind, and lots of pecan leaves on the ground. Stay warm!

Mama Pea said...

Here in northern Minnesota, we had lovely fall weather for longer than usual, I think. And yet our color display was on the "meh" side this year. The leaves are all gone now because of a wind/rain storm just as they had reached their peak color. (Happens every year, doesn't it?)

There's a columnist in a local paper who is touting "autwin" . . . a fifth season he says he's come to love which is between autumn and winter. The leaves are gone which makes the landscape so much more visible, hiking is easy, days are crisp but not frigid, there's no snow to shovel or plow, nights are chilly but bring a coziness with them. He may have something going, and I think I'm going to appreciate "autwin" as he does!

Leigh said...

Chris, a lot of people think that way too. I grew up in a different part of the country than where I live now, so it's hard to compare. I always hope for a cooler summer too, and hope you get your wish!

Nancy, it's just all too quick, isn't it?

Blessings Mommy, you're welcome! I have to say that our summers are so hot that I always welcome cooler weather. Sounds like your trip was lovely. :)

Rain, LOL. We never went with digital TV. For Dan it was a sign of rebellion :). But in fact it meant having to spend money on either a converter or a new TV, plus pay for a television service. There's nothing worth paying for on television, however, so we do without. We watch DVDs on our old analogue and that's been just fine for us.

M.K., when we first bought our place I thought about planting sugar maples. But I figured that by the time they'd be ready for sugaring, we'd be too old. Now I kinda wish I'd gotten some anyway, even if just for their brilliant fall red.

Mama Pea, is his autwin the same as Indian Summer? That was a treat when I was a kid, but we really don't have anything like that here in the South. It's just up and down as usual!

tpals said...

Our leaves were very pretty while they lasted. I especially enjoyed the orange cottonwoods. Now it's back to winter scenes. :(

Mama Pea said...

Nope, the way I understand his explanation of autwin is the time after all the colors have disappeared along with the leaves and we no longer have "summerish" days. The days are getting cold with the promise of real winter time in the air, but before the snow comes to cover everything with its blanket. In the past, I've tended to call this period the blah time of year with no color just gray and bleak, but in my efforts to become more grateful for all times of the year, I'm learning to see autwin with new eyes . . . and enjoy it as a true fifth season.

Leigh said...

tpals, I didn't realize cottonwoods turned orange - nice! Winter is definitely more subdued. We've had some rain over the past few days so we're seeing more and more leaves knocked off the trees. Have to enjoy our last little bit of color while we can.

Mama Pea, so many nuances to the seasons! Very true about perspective and learning to see with new eyes. That in itself makes a huge difference in life.