First Fall Foliage Color Report for 2011 in North Carolina Mts

Weekly Report on Fall Foliage Color

Week of September 20th, 2011

With this report, your mountain fall foliage color reporters begin their tour of duty for Fall 2011. We have a suite of people prepared to bring you detailed reports of fall color changes from the northern part of the chain in Ashe County, down past Boone and Grandfather Mountain, past Mt. Mitchell to Asheville and Waynesville, then on down to Cullowhee and Franklin, and even including the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Each week we will summarize the state of fall foliage color here in the mountains so that you can better plan your trip up here.

As of this week, things are still predominantly green over the entire mountain range. However, we have noticed some isolated trees turning prematurely this year. Sugar maples began turning in late July in Boone, and there are isolated trees with substantial yellow and orange colors already. The same can be said for some red maples, but they are not quite as advanced as the sugar maples. Sourwood trees are turning a brilliant red, especially at lower elevations, although some are completely red along the Blue Ridge Parkway between Boone and Grandfather Mountain. Tulip poplars at lower elevations are turning yellow, and some leaves are browning up and falling off already. This is what happened last year, and is most likely a remnant of the summer drought.

At Grandfather, Mountain Ash have stunningly red berries, and the birches are starting to turn yellow. American Ash above 5,000’ are turning a deep purple color. Winged sumac are turning red along the roadsides, as are poison ivy and Virginia creeper. Dogwoods have turned early this year too, but are a dull purple at this point in time. From Asheville to Waynesville and Cullowhee, our reporters have noted much the same with regards to fall color development. A lot people will notice the buckeyes turning orange and brown now, but that is due to a fungus that hits the leaves at this time of year. The black locust have been attacked by a native leaf mining insect, and although it looks bad for the tree, they come back just fine year after year.

In Cullowhee, our reporter finds colors are more advanced at 2,100’ than higher up in Highlands, which is at 4,000’. That’s unusual, because color normally develops first at the higher elevations and then works its way downslope. Our hot summer and mild drought may be reversing that pattern! In the Cashiers-Highlands area, the forests are still mostly green.

Your fall foliage reporters for this year are: myself, Howie Neufeld, Department of Biology, Appalachian State University in Boone; Jesse Pope, Director of Education and Natural Resource Management at Grandfather Mountain; Jonathan Horton, Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Asheville; Susan Sachs, National Park Service Ranger, Highlands Learning Center, Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Waynesville; Kathy Mathews and Beverly Collins, Department of Biology, Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, although Beverly reports from Franklin, and finally, James Costa, Executive Director, Highlands Biological Station reporting from Highlands.

Follow us on this website, but you can also visit my ASU fall color website at: (http://biology.appstate.edu/fall-colors) and on Facebook at: (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fall-Color-Guy/222437294470967), plus engage us through our Twitter account (fallcolorguy) and my blog (http://www.fallcolorguy.blogspot.com/). Also, I will post an essay each week on my fall color page on the science of fall colors, so check those out too. Have a great time in the High Country this fall!