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About the middle of October, spectacular fall colors favored our eyes this year in Appalachia. Some areas are still going strong, but those that had hard freezes and strong breezes may by this point be looking at the pretty colors on the forest floor or the yard. In fact, a dusting of frozen precipitation covered some for a short time.

 

Cool and dry conditions fostered the early and very colorful displays this autumn. A very early Sibrian air mass halted the display in some areas, but in our neck of the woods, we may get to enjoy an extended display of nature’s best. Reds, maroons, oranges and lemon colors gleam in glory. I recently took a little trip and I got to see some really nice ‘postcard quality’ vistas. 

 

So, are you curious about the trees and plants producing those amazing color displays?

 

Sometimes they are orange or pink, but this year sourwood trees turned to crimson and blood in the mountains.

 

Hickory trees display lovely golden hues. Ginkgo is yet to color up. Sometimes sugar maples are in the same class, either orange or gold. Other maples are crimson, or light gold. Some big leaved maples in the mountains probably took first prize.

 

Sumac, black gum, and burning bushes are firey red. Add an evergreen tree to the mix and you have something special.

 

Scarlet oaks are beginning to be scarlet. Numerous gum trees are lemon-colored. Even the Callery pears are red in some places—but still green in others. Crape myrtles look good also.

 

It is the time to look at your surroundings, or the nearby forest, and get some ideas for adding similar glory to your landscape. 

 

A leaf-peeping drive might do you good, or you may prefer to holler at a professional. No matter, this season there have been some exceptionally colorful displays. It’s my hope you get to enjoy some of the 

glory before it turns loose or loses color.

 

The author is a landscaper. Rockcastles.net