Well, the last of fall foliage colors have just about faded. With the initial colorful burst of all the different maples over it is up to the oaks and beeches to end the show and they’ve been doing so in spectacular fashion, as the huge oak in the above photo shows.
Oak trees come in many colors; reds, yellows and oranges mostly but also occasionally deep purple and even pink. This photo of one of our hillsides shows most of their colors fairly well but I think the brightest yellows might belong to beeches.
It’s funny but at the start of the foliage season you either don’t see or don’t pay attention to the oaks because they’re still green. It’s only when they start to turn color that you begin to notice them and I was surprised that there were so many around this local pond. I’ve visited this place literally thousands of times since I was a boy but apparently I’ve never been here when the oaks were at their most colorful. I’ve obviously short changed myself because they were very beautiful.
I think there were a few maples that still had leaves and there is a beech or two in this photo as well. I thought it was a beautiful scene.
Beeches go from green to yellow and then to an orangey brown. By spring they’ll be white and papery, and finally ready to fall.
There are some really big old trees around the pond.
This young oak wore some beautiful colors, I thought.
These oaks were as beautiful from behind as they were from the other side of the pond. This pond has a trail that goes all the way around it, so it’s a great place for fall foliage hikes.
We have many oak trees where I work and they’ve shown me just how much “stuff” falls from an oak. It isn’t just leaves that fall from oaks and other trees but branches too; some quite big, and everything living on the branches like lichens and fungi fall with them. There is an incredible amount of material falling to the forest floor each day, and the forest simply absorbs all of it.
This scene along the Branch River in Marlborough was of mostly bare maples so the oaks stole the show. I’m going to have to remember to come back here next year to see all those maples. They must be beautiful when they’re wearing their fall colors.
Lake sedge (Carex lacustris) grows in large colonies near lakes, ponds and wetlands and is pretty in the fall. It is native to Canada and the northern United States and can often be found growing in water. At times it can be the dominant plant in swamps and wetlands. Waterfowl and songbirds eat the seeds.
Virginia creepers (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) have lost all their leaves now but the deep purple berries remain on their bright pink stalks. The berries are poisonous to humans but many birds and small animals eat them.
I never knew that the leaves of the broad leaved helleborine orchid (Epipactis helleborine) turned such a pretty shade of deep purple until I saw this one. This orchid is originally from Europe and Asia and was first seen in 1879 in New York. Since then it has spread to all but 19 of the lower 48 states. It is actually considered an invasive weed, but I’ve never heard anyone complain about its being here. The nectar of broad leaved helleborine contains the strongest narcotic compound found in nature, and insects line up to sip it.
The bare stalks of Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) glowed red in the setting sun. It’s a terribly invasive plant but it does have its moments. The new shoots are also beautiful in the spring just as they start to unfurl their new leaves. They’re supposed to be very tasty at that stage too, but I’ve never tried them.
Orange crust fungus (Stereum complicatum) is a common sight in the fall. It grows high up on tree limbs of deciduous trees and comes to earth when the branches do. The complicatum part of the scientific name means “folded back on itself” because that is often what it does, as the above photo shows.
Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) is a native holly that grows in wet, swampy areas and gets its name from the way its bright red berries persist through most of the winter. They persist because birds don’t eat them right away and the reason they don’t is thought to be because the levels of toxicity or unpalatable chemicals in the berries decline with time. Many birds will eat them eventually, including robins, catbirds, mockingbirds, eastern bluebirds and cedar waxwings. Native Americans used the berries medicinally to treat fevers, so another name for it is fever bush.
The maple leaf viburnums (Viburnum acerifolium) have grown closer to the light, pastel pink shade they become just before the leaves fall, but they aren’t quite there yet. Some still have their plum purple leaves. This is one of our most beautiful native shrubs in the fall, in my opinion.
Birches are usually among the first trees to change color in the fall but this year they seem quite late. A grove of hundreds of them grows near a local highway and even on this cloudy day they were brilliant enough to be seen from quite far away.
I had a hard time not taking photos of the oaks because they’ve been very beautiful this fall. They really brought the season to a close with a bang this year.
But as they say, all good things must come to an end, and right now I’m spending more time raking leaves than admiring their colors. It’s gotten cold and the cold combined with strong winds have stripped all but the most stubborn trees. It is all to be expected of course, seasons change and now it is winter’s turn. The above photo is just a hint of the changes to come; just the tip of the iceberg.
Autumn asks that we prepare for the future—that we be wise in the ways of garnering and keeping. But it also asks that we learn to let go—to acknowledge the beauty of sparseness. ~Bonaro W. Overstreet
Thanks for stopping in.
Lovely post, wonderful quotation. While spring, summer, and fall all have their glories, I like the starkness of winter when you can really see the trees and the sky. Spoken like someone who lives in the woods, don’t you think?
Yes!
What beautiful photos at the beginning of the post, I loved the colors and reflections in them! Of course, the rest of the photos are very good also.
Thanks Jerry! If only we had another month of colors like those!
Just lovely!!
Thank you!
I’m raking too for compost and mulch so it makes it easier when all the leaves don’t fall at the same time – it gives me more time. Your beautiful kaléidoscope change of colours in the forest is a much less prosaic advantage. Amelia
Thank you Amelia. I agree. I’m glad the oaks wait until the maple leaves have all been raked before dropping their leaves. It would be a bit overwhelming if they didn’t.
You certainly had a beautiful, colorful Fall this year! And it lasted quite awhile too!
Thanks Montucky! Yes, it was great this year and I can’t remember the colors ever lasting this long!
Beautiful oak leaves! Ours have been good this year but they don’t have the variety of colour yours do. Thank-you for the first ice photo of the season and the ‘tip of the iceberg’ quip!
Thank you Clare. I wish I knew why oaks were so colorful one year and not the next. I don’t remember them being as colorful as they’ve been for the past two or three years.
If you like ice you’re in luck, because there will be plenty more to come, I’m afraid!
I suspected as much!
Your autumn went out with a bang. A great set of pictures.
Thank you, we’ve had a great fall.
So you’re telling me the fields and forests are full of insects boozed up on the narcotic from that wild hellebore? Goodness, gracious. The things I learn from you. And the pix are gorgeous, by the way, especially the orange-leafed oak.
Thank you Cynthia. Not all the insects visit that orchid but a few wasps do, if I remember correctly, and I’ve read that they get quite stoned from its nectar. It keeps them coming back!
Beautiful. Never seen such intense color on an oak.
Thanks! They don’t do it every year but now and then the oaks can be just as colorful as the maples.
A lovely journey though late autumn!
Thank you. It was just a perfect fall this year.
Still plenty of colours where you are. Not so here, I’m afraid. Lots of interesting things to see remain though.
Thank you Ben. No, we’re done with fall color for now but as you say, there’s still plenty to see!
Enjoy! (As I’m sure you will.)
With Autumn colors as you have displayed here, it is easy to understand how there are times when I do miss life in the North. Awesome photos!
Thank you Eddie. Maybe you could take a vacation up here some October for a reminder of what fall is really like. This year was amazing.
What a treat seeing all those colours we miss here in London. I particularly enjoyed the first one you took of the colours reflected in wind brushed water.
Thank you Susan. We had a great season this year for colors and the warmth made it go on and on.
Reblogged this on Poltrack Pix and commented:
A great farewell posting for my favorite season, thanks.
Thank you John!