Quote of the day: “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” — Albert Camus
Shy Basswood Tree – Reluctant to Undress for Winter
Every fall I am mystified by the vagaries of leaves turning colors and falling. This year, many predicted that the colors would be dull because of the dry summer we had. But instead the colors have been magnificent.
I always wonder, what makes a “good fall color” year and have heard many theories, but I am not convinced that anyone really knows, except maybe the trees.
This morning I parked my car on a street in Minneapolis and walked 2 blocks to church. When I returned to my car I noticed that I had parked under an elm tree with bright golden leaves. It looked like the tree had suddenly decided, “Time to undress for winter!” All around and on my car were golden elm leaves. The leaves rained down with every breeze. I sat and gazed with delight at the sight of the leaves falling all around me. Soon the tree will be bare and gray, hunkered down for a long Minnesota winter.
It makes me wonder, does the tree decide one day, “Today is the day – I’m going to get naked. Woo Hoo!” I understand when there is a heavy freeze and immediately after the freeze, many trees lose their leaves. But today was a beautiful warm fall day after a relatively mild night. There were no storms, no rain, nothing perceptible that signaled the tree to drop its leaves today. Yet, from the fresh pile of leaves that it had dropped in barely two hours, clearly, this tree was dropping most of its leaves in a short period of time. It’s a mystery to me.
Another mystery is, not all trees lose their leaves at the same time, even among the same species of trees growing in the same place.
We have several basswood trees in our back yard. Most of them have shed all their leaves. But one big tree in the center of the backyard hangs on to its leaves for dear life. Every year we wait for it to drop its leaves so that we only need to rake the back yard once. And every year it feels like a race between the first snowfall and the reluctant-to-undress basswood tree.
Look around and notice how some of the trees are bare and gray and others cling to their leaves giving us splashes of color that last into early November. Isn’t it marvelous? What a magnificent, mysterious world.
Most of the Trees Are Bare
A Silver Maple Drops Its Leaves All At Once
This Little Maple Tree Looks Like Its Hanging On To Its Leaves
Leaf-strewn Path
Beauty in What Remains
Not sure what this plant is, but my first thought upon seeing it’s bright buds was, “Somebody’s confused about the season!”
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