This will most likely be that last of the fall color posts for this year, even though many of the oaks are still beautiful. We’ve had freezing temps and even snow and pretty much all of the maple leaves have now fallen. And that’s what you see in the above photo, which shows one of my favorite fall scenes. It’s one of my favorites because it always reminds me of swishing through the leaves on the way to school as a boy and smelling that sweet, earthy, caramel and burned sugar fragrance. That fragrance never leaves you; it returns every fall, and so do all of the memories associated with it.
The maples were so beautiful this year.
But I’m guessing this view of one of the hillsides surrounding Keene doesn’t have a maple leaf in it. Most of what you see are oaks but I’m not sure about the bright yellows. They could be beech, poplar or birch. Some oaks do turn yellow but I’m not sure they get quite that bright.
Here is the other end of that hillside. Hickories also turn yellow and so do chestnuts, but of course the American chestnut has been all but wiped out. Elms also turn yellow but they’re not usually quite so bright as these trees are. Ash is another tree with yellow leaves in the fall but most ash leaves fell a month ago, so it’s anyone’s guess.
Here was a beautiful oak.
An in this overlook of the city of Keene you can see many more oaks. I didn’t know there were so many in the town center.
The ferns have also been beautiful this year. I can’t remember another year when they’ve been so colorful. You’d think it was a bouquet of flowers.
Here is another hillside up in Surry, which is north of Keene. It’s usually a good place to see fall color.
Here’s a closer look. My camera didn’t seem to like some of the colors.
And another close look at some oaks and what looks like a poplar in yellow.
I went to see Mount Monadnock in Jaffrey back when the maples still had leaves.
There were lots of people up there on this day. Mount Monadnock is one of the most climbed mountains on earth, second only to Mount Fuji in Japan. Even Henry David Thoreau found too many people on the summit when he climbed it in the 1800s. He, like myself, found the view of the mountain much more pleasing than the view from it. He said “Those who climb to the peak of Monadnock have seen but little of the mountain. It is remarkable what haste the visitors make to get to the top of the mountain and then look away from it. I came not to look off from it but to look at it. The view of the pinnacle itself surpasses any view which you get from the summit.” I agree.
I saw some bright yellow plants off on a hillside but I couldn’t tell what they were. Since the spot where they grew had been mowed I’m guessing that they were invasive oriental bittersweet vines. They grow very fast.
These were poplars in the sun.
Birch leaves usually turn bright yellow but sometimes a tree will have hints of orange.
I took so many photos of the forest at Willard Pond when I was there I still have some to show. This beautiful forest is mostly made up of beech, oak, and maple.
Here is another look. It’s one of the most beautiful forests I’ve ever been in.
Here is what the Ashuelot River in Swanzey looked like one recent evening when the setting sun made the light beautiful. The trees there on the right are oaks.
The burning bushes (Euonymus alatus) along the Ashuelot River in Swanzey have changed to their pink / magenta color. Just before the leaves fall they’ll turn a soft, very pale pastel pink but when this was taken they were still quite dark. The leaves on the trees above them seem to help regulate how quickly the burning bush leaves change color by keeping frost from touching them. In years when the overhanging branches lose their leaves early there is a good chance that the burning bushes will also lose theirs quickly. There have been years when I’ve seen hundreds of bushes all lose their leaves overnight.
And we have had some frosty mornings, and cold days and nights.
I loved the way the sun shined through this frosty silky dogwood leaf.
And the beautiful symmetry of these multiflora rose leaves.
And then of course, it snowed. But only three or four inches, and after a couple of days it was gone. Lately we’ve been enjoying sunshine and 70 degree F. weather, so we’re still on the weather roller coaster.
Why is it that so many of us persist in thinking that autumn is a sad season? Nature has merely fallen asleep, and her dreams must be beautiful if we are to judge by her countenance. ~Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Thanks for coming by.
Catching up. Such painterly photos. I am going to try my hand at Poplars in the Sun with watercolors. It has a very Wolf Kahn feel to it. Love the frost-edged leaves as well. Thank you for sharing your gifts of observation. Greatly appreciated. I suspect you will make Thanksgiving a lovely day, no matter what. I hope it is, at any rate. Yours, Melinda
On Wed, Nov 11, 2020 at 3:54 AM New Hampshire Garden Solutions wrote:
> New Hampshire Garden Solutions posted: ” This will most likely be that > last of the fall color posts for this year, even though many of the oaks > are still beautiful. We’ve had freezing temps and even snow and pretty much > all of the maple leaves have now fallen. And that’s what you see in the” >
Thank you Melinda. Feel free to paint any photo you see here!
I’ll be having a great time in the woods on Thanksgiving.
Such beautiful fall colors! Thanks for sharing them. It would be great to be able to post the scent of the woods in autumn.
You’re welcome Chris. I’ve wished that many times!
The autumn scenes are beautiful! The annual carpeting of leaves is a wonderful thing. I never minded raking.
I remember looking up at Monadnock myself and seeing too many people up top.
Thank you Lavinia. Yes, Mount Monadnock can be very busy, especially in the fall. I prefer less popular spots myself.
It was a glorious fall foliage season. I wonder if the drought helped create that effect? Also, I think the bright yellow, almost orange trees that come along with the oaks might be Bigleaf Aspen, Populus grandidentata?
It was indeed! I’ve wondered if the drought made the colors more intense also but I haven’t seen anything scientific about it yet.
Yes, you could be right about the aspens. Unfortunately I was just too far away to tell. They were very bright yellow, whatever they were!
We have them on the hillsides around here. Their leaves are several inches large, roundish, with wavy edges. Their bright color in the fall marks their spot.
We have a few species of poplar here too. I know the ones you speak of. The leaves are huge!
Thank you for the show, and what a show it was. I didn’t know that oaks could be so colourful.
Thank you. They seem more colorful this year than I’ve ever seen them.
Mrs Tootlepedal was absolutely bowled over by your pictures.
Too bad you don’t have relatives in Canada so you’d have a good excuse to come and see them for yourselves someday.
It would have to be by boat as I don’t like flying for many reasons.
Magical, what a beautiful place to live.
Thank you Susan, It sure is!
The SPNHF is working with several other organizations to bring back the American chestnut. They have set up several plots and seem to having some luck. One odd, but interesting fact is the leaves on trees don’t change color. During the growing seasons the leaves are green because of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is a key chemical in photosynthesis. As the leaves die, the chlorophyll is the first chemical to go. The colors we see in the fall are in the leaves all the time, by are masked by the chlorophyll.
Thank you Bart. I’ve heard that they’ve crossed an American and Chinese chestnut that is supposed to be disease resistant but I’ve never seen one.
I’ve told readers about leaves not really changing color in the past but it wasn’t a big hit, I don’t think. Probably because I’m long winded! I try to keep it simple whenever I can.
I know where one site is, but I’m not going to it broadcast on social media. We’re seeing a big increases in vandalism. You might try looking on the FS web site to see if they have posted anything.
Thank you I will. I know where there are a couple of young American chestnuts but I doubt they’ll ever get old.
All the vibrant colors this year have been such a pleasure, especially after fall 2019 was pretty much a washout (at least where I am). The Norway maples seemed to turn and drop most of their leaves within the last week or so in my area. How pretty are those leaves with frosted edges!? And I don’t recall ever seeing a “town” picture in your posts – perhaps I haven’t followed your blog long enough?
Thanks Ginny. I think we had a fairly good year last year but this year was a surprise to everyone because of the drought.
I have one or two other shots of Keene that have appeared on the blog in the past but none lately. It’s a small town of only about 25,000.
Living on the Seacoast, I miss the Monadnocks! Got over there much more when I lived in Manchester, especially for contradances in Nelson and Peterborough and the magnificent chamber music concerts all summer. Your photos bring back so much of that.
Thank you very much Jnana, I’m glad they do. I hope you’ll have a chance to get back over here again sometime!