For years, I’ve written about why leaves change colors in autumn and where to see the best foliage. But there’s much more than science and predictions when it comes to fall hues on the leaves of deciduous trees.
The annual event can bring out the child, artist and creative thinker in all of us if we take time to enjoy and imagine.
Most of you probably have learned that leaves are green in summer because of the abundance of chlorophyll. Trees use chlorophyll, a green pigment, to get energy from sunlight.
As temperatures decline and the amount of sunlight decreases at the end of summer, the trees lose the chlorophyll pigment, allowing other color pigments like reds and yellows to shine before they all turn brown and fall to the ground, adding nutrients to the soil.
You also may have heard that sunny days, plentiful moisture and freezing temperatures overnight often produce the best colors. But scientists also say leaves change colors even before the first frost, and cool nights above freezing temperatures produce the brightest hues.
Other factors include the amount of sunshine shining on a tree and the tree’s location. That’s why you’ll discover surprises in autumn. For example, our neighbor’s sugar maple was mostly green on a recent October day, but down the street, another sugar maple was glowing orange.
Some imagine Jack Frost with his palette of colors painting the trees at night while we sleep. Days pass by and the colors intensify as the sun shines its magic on the leaves.
I imagine a mythical goddess deciding humans need some brightness before winter. She waves a wand to color the leaves, not all at once, but in succession, to give us more time to enjoy them.
Native Americans believed that hunters in heaven shot a great bear in autumn and its blood dripped over the Earth’s woods changing leaf colors to red. Some of the leaves turned yellow from the drippings of the meat being cooked by the hunters.
When walking through a woods with red and yellow leaves covering trees and the forest floor and lawns, I can’t help but select a few of the best-looking leaves and press them into books to open later and rediscover the alchemy. It’s an autumn ritual both children and adults enjoy.
Memories also come of raking leaves, then diving into the pile, and having to rake the leaves again so they could be put on the curbside.
Decades ago, folks burned the leaves, but now we know that practice pollutes the air. So we use dropped leaves as mulch for gardens.
Autumn colors provide us with the perfect opportunity to get some outdoor exercise in the cooler weather. There are woods, prairies and shrub lands to explore. Look closely and you’ll find asters blooming in purple and white, native grasses gleaming in golden brown, and native hazelnut shrubs sporting yellow, red and orange, all on the same leaf. Even some of the diminutive woodland flowers that bloomed in spring, for example Solomon’s seal, have leaves that turn colors in autumn.
Today’s smartphones allow us to easily capture these images. Indeed, on a recent trip to Maine, I clicked photos of the varied hues seen on red maples, including scarlet leaves infused with green veins.
Then I put my camera in my pocket and took a deep breath. It was time to savor the magic, be in the moment, and whisper a “thank you” to whomever got the grand idea to create rainbows among the leaves of autumn.
Sheryl DeVore has worked as a full-time and freelance reporter, editor and photographer for the baiduhai and its subsidiaries. She’s the author of several books on nature and the environment. Send story ideas and thoughts to [email protected]
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