There has always been some discussion around what might produce good fall colours on the leaves. The basics are pretty easy. The tree figures it’s time, the leaves stop making food, and the chlorophyll in the leaves start to break down and cause other colours to appear. The chlorophyll is the green part. Once it starts to go away, other colours appear. Generally, those are some really nice oranges and reds and yellows. This year, the popular colour for fall leaves seems to be brown.
I’ve had people say we need frost for the colour to appear. Or we need a drier summer. Or a wetter summer. Or some combination of all of that.
It would seem that a wet summer does not produce good colour. At least from what I’ve been seeing this year. Or at least not around the areas I’ve been hanging out.
We have the occasional spot, maybe even just the odd tree, that had nice colour, but most of what we seem to be getting so far this year is brown.
In years past, Thanksgiving weekend was always the time for the family to take a drive to see then leaves. Not that as a child I ever really appreciated the fall colours that much, but if I went along there might be a stop for ice cream or some other treat along the way. This year the timing would seem off a bit.
I’m still not seeing much colour out there, and I’ll admit, I miss it. I also miss the ice cream along the drive, but I can fix that. The colours are a bit more out of my control.
I am told that inland there is far more colour to be seen, so maybe I just need to adjust my route. I’m pretty sure I can still find a place to stop for a treat.