This fall’s color surprises
November 12, 2007
The trees around Quincy, Illinois, went on strike this fall and refused to put on the kind of spectacular color display that we have come to expect. Right when we were ready to chalk up this year as a dud, colorwise, a few scab trees defied the National Federation of Deciduous Trees and defiantly displayed brilliant color anyway. One of those trees is in our front yard.
Epilogue: A few short hours after I took this morning shot, a front roared through with rain and wind. It triggered a cascade of falling leaves, and within a few short days the tree was bare. I am tempted to see a metaphor for our life in this world, but I’ll resist.
Dave, who sometimes feels his leaves are starting to fall.
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I was lucky enough to see that tree last month when about half of its leaves had fallen. I love the color contrast between the top and bottom surfaces of the leaves of that cultivar, which is probably Autumn Blaze, a cloned hybrid between Silver Maple and Red Maple.
Perhaps a better metaphorical tree would be Pin and Shingle oaks, A few leaves of these species stubbornly cling to the branches through the winter until the new spring growth pushes them off.