A few people have mentioned the leaves over the past couple days. The fact that they are starting to turn colour. Since we’re in the last week of September, it’s really not a surprise.
I’ve been noticing trees starting to turn for the past two of three weeks. Not a lot. Just a few. And mostly trees that have their feet wet. Either they are close to water, or presently in the water, since the water levels are fairly high. But it’s like their roots got wet and since they got wet, they got cold toes or something and now they just want to throw their leaves away and say it’s fall.
Maybe if we all knit some nice warm wool socks for the trees they would keep their leaves all winter? Probably not. And while I’m a big fan of warm socks, warm socks for trees probably won’t work that well.
Leaves changing colour is a rather natural process. The leaves stop making food for the tree. Chemicals that used to make the food break down into other chemicals and make the leaves change colour. It’s just something that happens.
They say the big driving factor is when nights start to get longer. That’s when the tree knows it’s time to change. Temperature, rainfall and food supply all have small roles to play, but it is supposedly the amount of sun and dark in the day that is the real driving factor.
So while the tree with their roots in the water or close to it may seem to be changing quicker this year, the water is playing only a small part. It’s more the fact that the days are getting shorter.
Whatever the reason, hopefully we see some nice fall colour over the coming weeks.