Fall Color

Fall Color Report for Oct 31 2011

2011-10-31T09:25:00.002-04:00

Well, nothing lasts forever, and that includes fall leaf colors. If they did, we’d get so used to them that they would cease to be a source of wonderment and beauty. So, take heart that at least in the High Country, we have had a great fall color season, and we are already looking forward to next spring when the leaves come out, hoping that the fall of 2012 is even better than this year!

That all being said don’t get the idea that there are no colors to be seen! Our fearless fall color prognosticators have been hard at work viewing the colors for you, and there is still some to be found, albeit at much lower elevations now. Jim Renfro, from Great Smoky Mountains National Park, says there is still very good color below 3,000’ in the Park, so if you hoof it over there, you can see some great foliage displays. They did have snow high up in the peaks last week, but the trees down lower are still showing nicely.

Just down the road, Beverly Collins says that the colors have been coming in waves around the Franklin area, with no well-defined peak. Most of the early turners, including some maples, dogwood, sourwood and tulip poplar, have lost most of their leaves now. The oaks are peaking though, so you get that rust-red color standing out amongst the other barren trees, which is quite striking when the light hits the trees. We even have a good number of oaks still showing in the Boone/Blowing Rock area, although the majority of the trees are now leafless. However, leaf fall is progressing quickly, so the leaves may not last the full week.

Down around the Cullowhee/Sylva area, Kathy Mathews and Jim Costa report there are beautiful oranges, copper-reds and rust-reds, mainly due to the various oak species, such as red, black, and scarlet, but also because of the remaining sourwoods, red maples and some yellow hickories. Cashiers and Highlands, though, have passed their peak, and many trees are now leafless. The oak species tend to hold on to their leaves for relatively long time, so their colors, highlighted against the remaining yellow maples and birches, make for a nice contrast on the landscape. Japanese red maples are displaying vibrant red colors now and the Bradford pears are just starting to turn (both of these are ornamentals, so don’t look for them in the woods). Bradford pears are about the last of the trees to turn colors (a deep red) and often highlight parking lots and downtown streets with their color throughout the month of November.

Jonathan Horton says that there are still great colors in the city of Asheville and just along the Parkway before it goes up high in elevation. However, he reports that the leaves are falling fast, so there is no guarantee they will be around the entire week.

For your best viewing now, you should concentrate in the foothills around places like Wilkesboro, Lenoir, Hickory, Morganton, and Hendersonville, perhaps down to Murphy, for good color. And also try the state parks located along this band, where the colors should be peaking this week.

As always, you can see my comments and photos on my fall color facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fall-Color-Guy/222437294470967) and on my own fall color page (http://biology.appstate.edu/fall-colors). Happy Foliage Viewing!

Reply to Andrew

2011-10-28T16:10:00.000-04:00

Andrew - It's wet and cold here today, but supposed to start clearing up and becoming sunny Sat afternoon. Sunday should be nice. Most of the leaves are gone up here - just a few trees still showing (isolated red maples, some pin and scarlet oaks - red, and Bradford pears, which are starting to turn maroon). Lower down, there is more color. So, if you can stay over, or come up later on Sat, you should have a good time in the mountains.

Reply to Anonymous

2011-10-28T07:08:00.000-04:00

Most of the color in the High Country has left the scene. At the date you want to travel (first week of Nov), most of the color will be lower down, below 2,500', or in northern Georgia. You could travel along the foothills where the color should still be good. It's supposed to be a mix of rain and snow in the High Country today, so that will take out more leaves. But below 2,500', the colors should still be around. Have a good trip.

Reply to Andrew

2011-10-26T17:08:00.000-04:00

That is quite a round-about trip. There is good color around Wilkesboro now, and as you come up the mountain to Blowing Rock, you'll go through the band of peak color. Once in Blowing Rock, there is some residual colors left (mostly dark bronze, red from the oaks, and a few yellow poplars) but most of the other trees have dropped their leaves. I've heard that colors are better north of 421, into Virginia (lower elevations). So, I think you'll see patches of color, but if you stop at the overlooks on the Parkway, and look down, you should see nice colors at the lower elevations. Have a great trip!

Reply to Susan

2011-10-25T11:20:00.000-04:00

Susan - I just came from Highlands this past weekend. Colors were good in the valleys and lower areas, and even in Highlands, although just starting to get past peak. However, it's supposed to get cold and rainy (even snowy!) starting Thursday/Friday, so that could take down a lot of leaves by the weekend. Northern Georgia is peaking now, including Brasstown Bald, which is just below Highlands (it has a 360 degree view from a platform built by the US Forest Service). Jocasse Gorges State Park would probably have good color, and the entrance is just east of Cashiers off of Highway 64.
Good places to view foliage: Sunset Rocks in Highland; Satulah Mt in Highlands. Whiteface Mt just east of Highlands (you can drive most of the way there). Brasstown Bald in northern Georgia; Gorges State Park.
Enjoy!

Go North!

2011-10-24T15:37:00.002-04:00

I suspect that you could find really good color by getting on the Parkway at US 421 just after crossing into Watauga County, and going north into Virginia. My mother says that colors are peaking up in Maryland, where the mountains are much lower in elevation. Even though they are far north, the colors are delayed due to the lower elevation. So, if you're thinking of coming up for fall colors now, you might want to consider going north on up to Roanoke and even up to Shenandoah National Park on Skyline Drive (even if that is not in NC!). Enjoy!

Fall Color Report for October 22, 2011

2011-10-23T17:48:00.000-04:00

I’ve just come back from a weekend trip down to the Highlands Biological Station in Highlands, NC where I, along with several others (Kathy Mathews from WCU, Robert Warren from Yale School of Forestry (where I received my Masters), Jim Costa (Director of the Lab) held a workshop on the environment for secondary school teachers. Among the things we discussed were climate change and fall color displays! Thanks to Dana Haine from UNC-Chapel Hill for organizing this and thanks also to the teachers, who took time from their busy schedules to come all the way out to the Lab to learn about climate change and plants. And thanks also to NASA for providing the funding that made this workshop possible.

Well, there are still great colors in the Highlands/Cashiers area. You can view them by hiking out on Sunset Rock in Highlands or taking the short hike to the summit of Satulah Mt (also in Highlands). The colors are shifting from bright yellows, oranges and reds, to more yellows and browns highlighted by the oaks and sourwoods. The oaks tend to have much darker, deeper reds, or light brown colors, which gives the landscape a burnished look.

In addition to the yellow maples, there are witch hazels with yellow leaves (and yellow flowers), huckleberries with deep red leaves, and magnolias with their unusually large leaves that briefly turn yellow/green before shifting over to a nice chocolate brown. Your best colors are going to be in valleys and protected areas because high winds took out many of the leaves on the more exposed trees on high ridges.

Good color can be viewed on Highway 64 between Highlands and Cashiers. Just east of Cashiers is the turn off for Gorges State Park and the leaf display should be quite nice there this coming week. Continuing east, the colors fade out after Lake Toxaway and are not that spectacular in the Brevard area, although if you go into the Pisgah Forest adjacent to Brevard, the colors pick up again. Prior to arriving in Brevard, you can take a drive and see good colors off of Highway 64 by taking either 215 or 107 north to Cullowhee or Canton. Once you get to Asheville, that’s where the fall colors are really at their peak. They should last through the week and into next weekend, but be advised that this was the peak weekend for the city. If you take the Blue Ridge Parkway north of Asheville, the colors are nice until you get above 3,000’, at which point, most of the trees are bare, although the bright red fruits of the Mountain ash trees are truly spectacular. Although the leaves are gone at Craggy Gardens the views downslope are nice and if you continue into the Asheville Watershed, there are pockets of bright color to be seen in the valleys and on the slopes. Again, the best viewing times are either early or late in the day when the sun is low on the horizon, which accents the colors.

Leaf color picks up again on the Parkway just north of Little Switzerland up to the Chestoa Overlook area, at which point they fade again. The Boone/Blowing Rock area has passed the peak and now the best colors can be seen downslope in the Wilson Creek drainage and toward Wilkesboro and Morganton. So, for those of you heading out this week or this coming weekend, you can still find some color, particularly with the oaks, but it looks like we’re done for most of the higher elevations.

As always, you can see my comments and photos on my fall color facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fall-Color-Guy/222437294470967) and on my own fall color page (http://biology.appstate.edu/fall-colors). Happy Foliage Viewing!

Fall Color Report for the Week of October 16, 2011

2011-10-17T08:48:00.000-04:00

Some of you may have seen my facebook post a few days ago mentioning the 90 mph wind gusts on top of Grandfather Mt. Well, it was pretty windy all over the High Country this past week, and that did knock down a lot of leaves. Here in the Boone/Grandfather area, most of the leaves on exposed slopes have now come down, with only the isolated protected valleys, like Valle Crucis, still showing good color. The oaks, though, are turning their deep rust reds, which are providing some accent against the yellow tulip poplars in Watauga County.

Elk Knob, which I hiked on Sunday, is mostly bare at the top, with the valleys showing color off in the distance. Along the trail, though, are abundant yellow/brown beech leaves that add a pleasing yellow hue to the otherwise barren treescape. The views from this Park are stunning: I saw Mt. Mitchell, Grandfather, and other peaks from the top. Along the Parkway, the best foliage color is in the forests below the roadway. Good views can be found off to the east from the Grandfather area, e.g. the Wilson Creek drainage. Jesse Pope, from Grandfather Mt, reports that between Highway 421 and Grandfather, there are still great views of fall color from the frequent overlooks.

Susan Sachs, from Great Smoky Mountains National Park reports that leaves have peaked between 4,000’ and 5,000’, and the winds have taken down many leaves from those high elevations. However, the views of the colors at lower elevations are still very good, so driving the Parkway from Maggie Valley into the Smokies should provide good views of the leaves. Kathy Mathews reports the loss of many leaves in and around Cullowhee/Sylva due to wind, but the trees still haven’t peaked in that area, and more and more pockets of colorful leaves are showing up each day.

Farther over in the Cashiers/Highlands area, Jim Costa says the colors are “stunningly beautiful” right now. The maples, especially red maple, are a vibrant red, and have never been as colorful as this year! They are highlighted by bright yellow buckeyes, birches, multi-colored sassafras, while sourwoods and sumacs accentuate those hues with their deep reds. Burning bush (Euonymus alatus) is providing vivid red accents in peoples’ yards and along roads. The oaks, one of the set of later turning trees, are now adding deep burgundy, orange/reds, and browns. This will be the peak week there and the coming weekend should be excellent if you’re in these parts of the North Carolina Mountains.

So, folks, we’re getting to the latter half of the fall foliage season in the mountains. Colors are progressing downslope, heading towards Wilkesboro, Morganton, Hendersonville and Brevard, Franklin, and Murphy. So if you’re planning drives in the next two weeks to see the colors, be aware that you’ll be seeing them from the overlooks of the Parkway, but not on the Parkway itself. There is still plenty of color out there, so come on up! As always, you can see my comments and photos on my fall color facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fall-Color-Guy/222437294470967) and on my own fall color page (http://biology.appstate.edu/fall-colors). Happy Foliage Viewing!

Fall Color Report for the Week of October 9, 2011

2011-10-10T11:50:00.000-04:00

Foliage color peaked this past weekend for the Grandfather to Boone/Blowing Rock area of the North Carolina Mountains for areas above 3,000’ in elevation. Above 4,500’, colors have actually passed their peak. However, don’t despair if you haven’t yet made it to the mountains. There is still plenty of color throughout the mountains which should persist through next weekend. In fact, some areas haven’t yet peaked, and this coming weekend should be their time to show off. This year has been a real guessing game with respect to how brilliant and intense the colors will be, but based on the drive I took on Saturday, I’d say this year’s colors rank 9 on a scale of 10, where 10 is the best it can be. So, if you want to see some great fall foliage, this is the year to do it!

Colors are still peaking in some areas below 4,000’, especially south of Grandfather Mountain in the Linville to Little Switzerland area on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I believe those areas will show their best color this coming weekend, assuming the oncoming rains, which will be here Tuesday through Thursday, don’t knock a lot of leaves down (and I don’t think they will, since there is no forecast for high winds). Jesse Pope reports that views from Grandfather off to the south and east are spectacular. Crowds were so high at the Park on Saturday that traffic was backed up on U.S. 221. If you want to avoid those crowds, come up during the week, or, early in day. Mornings and evenings are great times to view the fall foliage and take pictures because colors appear more intense when the sun is low on the horizon.

Jonathan Horton reports colors are still building up in the city of Asheville (mainly dogwoods, Virginia creeper, sourwoods and maples), but up on the Blue Ridge Parkway toward Pisgah, there is much more color, including a lot of trees that turn yellow (magnolias, birches, hickories, striped maple). The sourwoods are at their showiest right now as are the maples and dogwoods, and that pertains all up and down the Parkway. This year there are plenty of bright reds mixed in with the yellows and oranges, making for a very vibrant color scene. Leaves on the Parkway around Asheville should peak this coming weekend.

Jim Costa reports that the colors in Highlands are spectacular - still a fair bit of green, but healthy doses of bright oranges, reds, and yellows mixed in. Birches, red maples, dogwoods, buckeyes, and sassafras are all lovely! Virginia Creepers are highlighting bare rock faces and numerous tree trunks with their deep red leaves. Jim thinks colors will persist near their peak right through this coming weekend. Lower down, around Cullowhee, Kathy Mathews reports that colors are still moving toward their peak. Down by Franklin, Beverly Collins notes that the hills are still mostly green, but are turning color rapidly, especially high up. However, oaks and many hickories aren't turning much yet, which means most hillslopes are still mostly green with some spots and strips of color.

For some drives and hikes, I suggest U.S. 221 to Mt. Jefferson State Natural Area in Ashe County. You can drive to the top and there are some nice short hikes with good views. Around Highlands there are a number of hikes to take, including one to Satulah Mountain. Highway 64 from Highlands to Franklin offers great color along the twenty-some mile drive. This is also North Carolina apple season, and the mountains, which produce 90% of North Carolina’s apples, have plenty of roadside stands selling juice, cider, apples of course, as well as my favorite, apple butter. As always, you can see my comments and photos on my fall color facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fall-Color-Guy/222437294470967) and on my own fall color page (http://biology.appstate.edu/fall-colors). Happy Foliage Viewing!

U.S. Forest Service Fall Color Site

2011-10-06T12:35:00.000-04:00

The U.S. Forest Service has a nice link to explain fall foliage colors, plus maps of where colors are peaking all around the country. The link on my fall color page doesn't work, because the USFS changed the URL. The working link is given here: http://www.fs.fed.us/fallcolors/

This is a great website, so make use of it if you're planning a trip somewhere outside NC (but then, why would you?).

Also, here is a link to a story on how climate change may affect fall colors. Note that I published a science essay on this very topic a while back, and you can read my essay by going to related links on my fall color page. Here is the link to that AP story:http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_LATER_FALL_COLORS?SITE=NCWIN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Enjoy!

Two recent comments

2011-10-03T18:17:00.000-04:00

Dear Mike D and persons from MN: Glad to help you make your decisions regarding coming to the NC mountains to see the fall color. For the people going to Asheville, I think the weekend after this coming one will be around the peak there, since they are slightly lower in elevation than Boone. However, as with all things weather related, we have to hope for good weather between now and then. But anytime in the NC mountains is worth it, no matter when the season or quality of the fall colors. Lots to do. Have a safe trip up and enjoy!

To Mike D - I think you'll like Elk Knob. They just completed the last part of the trail to the top, so the climb is easier than it used to be. Bring a camera!

Fall Color Report for Week of Oct 2, 2011

2011-10-03T09:42:00.000-04:00

Fall Color Report for the Mountains for the Week of 10-2-11

from
Howie Neufeld

This has been an interesting week in the mountains. Beginning on Friday, the temperatures dropped, and the winds picked up. Jesse Pope, chief naturalist up on Grandfather Mountain, reports that on Saturday winds reached 60 mph with gusts up to 74 mph. Luckily, for most trees, they were still holding on to their leaves quite tightly, so even though some were blown off, most are still there, and if we don’t get more wind storms like that one, they should turn color quite nicely in the next two weeks.

Color is progressing, but it slowed somewhat this last week, perhaps because of the relatively cloudy weather. Remember, abundant sunshine and cool temperatures bring out the best foliage colors. I would say that right now, most of the slopes in the High Country and on down to Highlands, are still mainly green, with about 30-40% color development now showing on the hills. Of course, good foliage color also depends on the intensity of the color, and that is lagging behind right now, at perhaps 20% of what it could be. But the sun came out Sunday, and is sticking around today, Monday, October 3rd, so this may speed up color development this week.

There are patches of good color throughout the mountains now, although somewhat limited in extent. Jesse reports that the heath balds on the ridges above the Blue Ridge Parkway and below the Black Rock parking area are showing nicely now. You can see the sugar and red maples continuing to turn yellow-orange and red , and the mountain ashes, dogwoods, sourwoods and huckleberries are also adding a nice red to burgundy hue to the forests. Birch, green ash, and Fraser and cucumber magnolias are also turning a golden yellow laced with some brown, and the tulip poplars are just starting to yellow. Oaks are generally among the last to turn, so there will still be more red colors to come from the red and scarlet species.

Emily Darling, at Purchase Knob in the Smokies, reports a similar state of development for fall foliage colors, even with their higher elevations that reach 5,000’. For those of you who don’t know Purchase Knob, it is right outside Waynesville and Maggie Valley. And finally, Kathy Mathews, from Western Carolina University, reports that the forests there are still mostly green, but changing rapidly.

So, it seems that this coming weekend should be the front end of the fall foliage peak, at least at 3,000’ and higher, while the next weekend will encompass areas slightly lower down. For some good drives, I recommend the Blue Ridge Parkway, Rt. 194 north in Watauga County, and of course, the turn off at Meat Camp to Elk Knob State Park, with its 360o views at the top of its 5,000’ summit. Further south, the drive to Mt. Mitchell State Park is spectacular, as is a drive through the Pisgah Forest just west of Brevard to the Cradle of Forestry. As always, you can see updates and science essays on my fall color page (http://biology.appstate.edu/fall-colors) and my fall color facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fall-Color-Guy/222437294470967). Have a safe and fun trip to the mountains this fall!

Reply to Anonymous

2011-09-27T13:59:00.000-04:00

I think that Oct. 14 will be just fine for seeing fall color in the areas you mentioned. Colors will peak at different times depending on elevation, with higher elevations being more advanced than lower ones. But throughout that area, I think you'll find good color still around (if not peaking) at that time.

Have a safe drive and hope the weather stays good (like today!).

Reply to Snehal

2011-09-27T11:53:00.002-04:00

Dear Snehal - Thanks for your post on the blog about when to come up. I think that colors this year will peak slightly early in the Boone / Grandfather Mt. area. The usual peak is around October 14th. I think this year it will be closer to Oct 10th. There will still be color on the 21st, but in this area, that will probably be past the peak. By then, most of the red leaves will have fallen off and the landscape will be mostly yellow/orange. So, you'll have to make the decision when to come, but earlier is probably better than later.

Fall Color Report for Week of 9-25-11

2011-09-26T11:15:00.000-04:00

Fall Color Report for the Week of 9-25-11

From
Howie Neufeld, The Fall Color Guy

This marks the first official week of fall, and between our last report and this one, the trees have responded dramatically, with very noticeable color changes occurring here in the mountains. I took a drive this weekend down to Linville Falls and Grandfather Mountain State Park, and there is a significant increase in color on the hills, although I must emphasize that the forests are still about 80% green, so the peak is yet to come.

On Grandfather Mountain, color is very pronounced on the heath balds and rock outcrops. Above 4,500’ color is quite advanced, and on the eastern and lower flanks of Grandfather (the side facing the Blue Ridge Parkway) there are one or two ridges with excellent color already. You can get a great view of this from the Beacon Heights parking lot, and also on the rock outcrops at Beacon Heights (take the short trail to the top for spectacular views).

Species displaying the most right now include sugar and red maples. Sugar maples turn yellow initially, then convert to an orange/red hue, while the red maples turn a brilliant red. Particularly interesting is how many red maples are showing flagging, which means that only certain branches are turning red, while the rest of the tree is still green. Eventually, the entire tree will turn red though. This has been an unusual year with respect to maples, which are turning about two weeks ahead of their usual time, for reasons we do not fully understand.

Sourwoods are coloring up rapidly also, and turn a deep burgundy red. Huckleberries and high bush blueberries in exposed areas are also turning a nice red now. Sassafras trees are putting on a nice display, with leaves turning yellow, orange and finally red (sometimes all on one tree!). Serviceberries and mountain ashes are also beginning to turn, and black and yellow birches are providing a nice yellow highlight along roads and trails. Fraser magnolias are losing their green and turning either yellow or brown now. Some of you may notice the Rhododendron maximum (the most common rhododendron) losing leaves now, but no worry. This is normal for this species, which holds onto its leaves for up to seven years before they turn a bright yellow and drop off. A related species, R. catawbiense, which grows in the Linville Gorge among other places, has leaves that become deep orange-red at this time of the year, and you can see them from the outlooks at Linville Falls, off the Blue Ridge Parkway.

If I had to make a guess right now, I would predict a slightly earlier peak to the fall foliage colors this year in the mountains, with perhaps the weekend of October 7-9 being the peak in the Boone/Grandfather area, and maybe the next weekend further south around Asheville. In the Highlands/Cashiers area, you can often expect colors to peak at around the same time as in Boone, or just slightly afterwards. In the Smokies, colors will peak in early October at the higher elevations, and then work their way downslope, with a delay of about 5 days for every 1,000’ drop in elevation.

If you’re looking for good fall foliage drives, of course try the Blue Ridge Parkway from Virginia down to the Smokies, as well as the Cherohala Skyway from Robbinsville, NC to Tellico Plains, TN. If you want to avoid the crowds, try the back roads of the High Country, which afford great viewing with few distractions. As usual, you can check out my fall color page (http://biology.appstate.edu/fall-colors) and the fall color facebook site (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fall-Color-Guy/222437294470967). You can leave comments on the fallcolorguy blog (http://www.fallcolorguy.blogspot.com/) and on Twitter. Wish for sunny cool weather and have a great trip up to the mountains this fall!

Updated Reply to Anonymous

2011-09-24T20:21:00.000-04:00

Dear Anonymous - In reply to whether you should move up your visit to Boone to catch the fall colors, Oct 28th is usually past the peak by a good bit. So, to get better color, it would be best to move it up to at least the 21st, if not earlier. The 14th is the average date of best color here. It might be a few days early this year. But colors persist for a week to ten days on either side of the peak if the weather is good, so you can see something if you miss the peak. But by Oct 28 here in Boone, it's pretty bare most years.
Hope this helps.

Reply to Anonymous

2011-09-20T16:19:00.000-04:00

Dear Anonymous - Our best fall color is usually from Oct 10-20th, with a peak around the 14th. So, the second and third weeks should be ok, although by the end of the third week, the peak may have passed. Colors will turn sooner (maybe a week earlier) at Beech, which is up at 5,000', compared to 3,300' in Boone. However, this year, some trees are turning usually early (sugar and red maples, sourwoods, dogwoods), so I'm wondering what that will mean for peak color in October. As we get closer to the peak time, we'll have a better idea of just what kind of a fall foliage color year we'll have. This predicting is as much art as it is science!
Thanks for your comment, and hope this helps.

First Fall Foliage Color Report for 2011 in North Carolina Mts

2011-09-20T10:39:00.000-04:00

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!

Weekly Update on Fall Color - September 15, 2011

2011-09-15T15:28:00.000-04:00

It's still fairly early for fall color here in the High Country, but starting soon leaves will begin to change. Already fall colors are underway in the northeast, in Maine and Minnesota, and working their way south. Our fall color times correspond closely with those in New York State, and so will swing into gear at the end of this month, and reach their peak in mid-October. This week's essay is on this past summer's weather and whether that will affect fall color this season. I hope you enjoy reading it.

You can get to the essay on my fall color page at: http://biology.appstate.edu/fall-colors

First Posting for Fall 2011

2011-08-29T19:44:00.000-04:00

Fall Color for the Week of August 28, 2010 This week begins the first of many weekly postings on the status of fall foliage colors for fall 2011 in the High Country. Of course, most trees are still green right now, but as I reported in my blog last week, sugar maples up and down the east coast are changing early this year for some unknown reason. It could be that our unusually warm summer had something to do with that, but no one knows for sure. Next week, I'll report on some official weather statistics in the High Country in order to put this summer into perspective. Each week, starting in mid-September, my fellow fall color prognosticators and I will report on the development of fall color, its timing, its quality, and where to go to see the best foliage displays. Our "Fall Color Prognostication Society" as we call ourselves, consists of naturalists and academics scattered along the North Carolina mountains from Grandfather Mountain down to Franklin, in the southwest portion of the state. As of this point in time, it is our collective opinion that there will be good fall color this autumn, especially if the weather cooperates over the next month (sunny days, cool nights). The lack of a major drought this summer (despite the heat) also favors good fall colors this year.

Most weeks, I will also post an essay devoted to some aspect of fall foliage. This week's essay is on the Economics of Fall Foliage Tourism in North Carolina and you can view it on my fall color page (see link below). Previous essays on the science of fall color are archived on my fall color website, which has moved this year to the Department of Biology website (http://biology.appstate.edu/fall-colors). I also have a Facebook site and Twitter account, all of which are devoted to fall foliage color (see links on my fall color page). You can use these tools to send me comments on my postings, to send me your comments on where to find great fall foliage displays, and to send me your photos of great fall color which we can post (we may get a Flickr account for this). As always, please send me any questions you may have about the science of fall foliage color (or any aspect of tree biology for that matter). My colleagues and I look forward to serving you as your fall color predictors, and if you are coming to the mountains to enjoy the foliage, we wish you and your family a safe and enjoyable trip.

Best wishes for good fall color,
Howie Neufeld, The Fall Color Guy

Late Response to Posting on Interveinal Chlorosis

2011-08-29T19:37:00.000-04:00

A reader asked me back in March about other papers on interveinal chlorosis, after reading my essay on why veins stay green longer than the rest of the leaf as it senesces. I only saw the comment this week, and sorry to say, I don't know of any other papers on this subject. I would suggest starting with the paper I cited, and then searching the reference list for papers they cite, and then, searching forward to see if you can find any papers that have cited this one. That's how I do it.
Best wishes on your literature search!

Getting Ready for 2011 Fall Colors

2011-08-25T13:34:00.001-04:00

Dear Everyone - Well, after a 10 month hiatus, I'm back predicting fall foliage colors for the North Carolina mountains for this fall. As I have done for the past several years, I will be posting weekly updates on the status of fall color development for the mountains of western North Carolina, with the help of my fellow fall color prognosticators, who range from Grandfather Mountain, just south of Boone (where I reside), all the way down to Franklin in the southwestern portion of the mountain chain. This way, we'll have nearly all the mountains covered, and those of you who are considering coming up for leaf peeping as it is known, should have a good idea of where the best colors are, and when they will peak. We are looking for a good fall color season, so plan ahead - motels get totally booked up during peak leaf color here in the High Country. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me (neufeldhs@appstate.edu) and don't forget to visit my fall color page at: http://biology.appstate.edu/fall-colors/. The first official posting (which will also be on the NC Tourism page (http://www.VisitNC.com/) should be in about two weeks. Ciao!

On the Significance of Autumn Coloring - In 1898

2010-11-02T18:32:00.000-04:00

The quote below is from the work of Dr. Marion Newbigin and was published in 1898 by John Murray in London, the same publisher who gave us On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin in 1859. Newbigin's work was titled Colour in Nature and is available for free download online (you can get it by following the links on the website below). Dr. Newbigin was a Scottish geographer with an ecological perspective. She is best known for her work on Animal Geography, but published widely. She lived from 1869 until 1934. This website provides additional details about her life: http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/chronob/NEWB1869.htm

Here is what she said about fall colors:
“Autumn colouring is of great interest in a comparative study of coloration. There is no reason to suppose that the colouring is of the slightest use to the trees, and yet it often displays to an extraordinary degree that beauty and perfectness which we are accustomed to regard as the result of the action of Natural Selection.”

Note how this selection presents a conundrum to Newbigin. She admits that fall colors are beautiful and have a degree of "perfectness" which suggests they are the result of Natural Selection, yet in the previous clause, suggests that they confer no benefit to the tree. Both cannot be true, because if there is no adaptive value, or if fall colors are selectively neutral, there can be no strong selection either for or against them.

However, if they do provide a benefit, and if there are metabolic costs associated with them, it is likely they are the subject of selection and that fall colors represent an evolutionary adaptation to some environmental stress (perhaps high light). In my fall color science essays, both current and past, I have suggested that indeed, some colors, especially the red ones, are the result of natural selection. Red colors most likely act as sunscreens to protect leaves against high light as they senesce and withdraw nutrients back into the twigs. The same might be said for the kyurenic acid that ginkgos produce late in the season and which colors their leaves a bright yellow. We are less sure of the adaptive value in the fall for the carotenoids, which color the leaves orange and yellow, but it is possible they too protect the leaf from high light stress as it senesces. In their case, they may act more to detoxify dangerous reactive oxygen species, and less so as a light screen, like the red anthocyanins.

Thus, we might want to ponder the fact that the beauty we see in fall colors is the result of a fierce competition among individual plants, one that results in the death of those less well adapted, and the success of those with better adaptations (i.e., more color!): the struggle for existence, visualized in living color by the fall foliage of trees!

Fall Color Report for the Week of November 1, 2010

2010-11-02T18:00:00.000-04:00

Well folks, we are nearing the end of this year's fall color leaf season in the mountains. Here in the High Country of Boone, Blowing Rock and Jefferson, most of the leaves have fallen off. Some red maples are still turning brilliant red, but they are mostly restricted to urban trees. The oaks peaked last week, and went from burgundy-red to their more typical brown. The only tree yet to peak, and which is consistently the last tree to turn each year, is the ubiquitous street tree, the Bradford Pear (Pyrus calleryana). This tree, which is planted both for its abundant white flowers in the spring and its deep gorgeous red foliage in the autumn, is generally the last tree to turn color each fall.

If the mountain, in the foothills around Kerr Scott Lake outside of Wilkesboro, the colors should still be pretty this coming week. If you travel down Highway 181 from Pineola to Morganton, you can see a great panorama of colors as you descend in elevation. The Pisgah National Forest in this area has some good color which should hold up for the beginning part of the week (but see forecast below!!). A lot of oaks, hickories, sourwoods, some maples, and sassafras are showing nicely. For long range views, the Blue Ridge Parkway still can't be beat, although the colors will be at lower elevations and not along the roadway itself.

Down toward Asheville, colors are also past their peak at the high elevations on the Parkway, but in the metro area, there is still plenty of color, mostly yellows with a smattering of reds with oaks are reaching their peak this week. So if you still haven't made it to the mountains, this will probably be your last week to see good fall color. The same can be said further south toward Brevard, and I have been told by park personnel at Gorges State Park that even though the peak has passed there, the maples and oaks are still making a good color show along the roads.

If you go farther south towards Cullowhee and Highlands, the situation is also very similar. At the higher elevations, the trees have passed their peak, while at lower elevations there is still some color, with the oaks contributing more this week, and the maples fading.

Everyone should be aware that this week's forecast is for cold rainy weather towards the end of the week, with a strong possibility of snow (yes snow!) by Thursday afternoon in the Boone area, and by Friday in the Asheville region. This weather system could spell the end of fall color in some areas, especially if accompanied by high winds. So, get out now and enjoy the last of this season's fall colors in the mountains.

For more information on fall leaf color, including the science behind fall color, you can check out my fall color page at http://today.appstate.edu/fall-colors and my blog at http://www.fallcolorguy.blogspot.com/.

We Have a Winner!

2010-11-02T15:57:00.002-04:00

Dear All - A reader has correctly identified the quote I posted last week as from Rudyard Kipling. Kipling lived for a while in Vermont, and was enthralled by the fall colors there. I find it most interesting how well he knew the temporal pattern of colors for his trees. It means he must have been a keen observer of nature.

Thanks, and I'll post another interesting quote about fall color soon, as well as this week's predictions. We're about done with fall color for this year!! More later, but now off to teach statistics to graduate students!

See if you can identify the author of this quote on fall color

2010-10-27T20:55:00.001-04:00

The following quote eloquently describes the beauty of fall colors, and how delicate they can be. Here is that quote:

"A little maple began it, flaming blood-red of a sudden where he stood against the dark green of a pine-belt. Next morning there was an answering signal from the swamp where the sumacs grow. Three days later, the hill-sides as fast as the eye could range were afire, and the roads paved, with crimson and gold. Then a wet wind blew, and ruined all the uniforms of that gorgeous army; and the oaks who had held themselves in reserve, buckled on their dull and bronzed cuirasses and stood it out stiffly to the last blown leaf, till nothing remained but pencil-shadings of bare boughs, and one could see into the most private heart of the woods."

^{Can you identify the author? Hint: he did win the Nobel Prize for literature.}
^{Good luck!}

Fall Color Report for the Week of October 25th, 2010

2010-10-25T08:47:00.000-04:00

Fall Color Report

October 25, 2010

Howard S. Neufeld

As we move into the last week of October, I am impressed that there is still some fall leaf color to be seen in the Boone area. Even though the peak colors came and went with unprecedented rapidity, other colors have gradually built up and are persisting, giving the landscape a more orange-yellow perspective. Although the upper ridges above 3,500’ are now mostly defoliated, there are still splashes of color in protected coves, and on the lower slopes. There are still the occasional patches of red, particularly a developing deep burgundy from the abundant oak species. Reaching their peak display this week are the many different oak species, including scarlet, white and black oaks (Quercus coccinea, alba and velutina), which turn a deep burgundy red, plus pin oaks (Q. palustris) where planted (they are not indigenous the High Country but they grow well and turn a deep rusty red) and red oaks (Q. rubra), whose leaves also turn red, but then change over to brown and persist throughout the winter on the branches. Chestnut oaks (Q. prinus), which are most common on dry, rocky ridges, tend to turn more yellow, sometimes red, but then quickly change over to brown.

Sugar maples (Acer saccharum) are dominating much of the landscape now, with their bright yellow which can meld into an intense orange-red in high light. We can still see red from the long persisting sourwoods (Oxydendrum arboreum) and red maples (A. rubrum), but now add in winged and common sumacs (Rhus coppalinum and R. glabra) in the lower strata along the roadways. At lower elevations, you might also find the occasional sweetgum tree (Liquidambar styraciflua), which can turn a myriad of colors, from orange to red to purple, sometimes all on one tree!

Other trees that are showing nicely now include the mockernut and bitternut hickories (Carya alba and C. cordiformis), striped maples (A. pensylvanicum), yellow and black birches (Betula allegheniensis and B. lenta) and some Fraser magnolias (Magnolia fraseri), all of which are predominantly yellow, although the magnolias quickly turn a chocolate brown. Burning bushes (Euonymus alatus) are prominently planted all around the area, and are reaching their peak bright red color this week. Finally, with the loss of most of the leaves at higher elevations, beech leaves (Fagus grandifolia) which turn from yellow to tan, and the oak leaves mentioned above, add some texture to an otherwise leafless forest. It is an ecological and evolutionary mystery why members of this family retain their leaves throughout most of the winter.

A fall delight now making its appearance in the Boone area, and soon to spread southward along the mountain chain, is witch hazel (Hamamelis virginia). The leaves of this common shrub turn yellow, but the most amazing feature is the yellow and fragrant spidery flowers, which are in full bloom right now. This is one of our only fall flowering woody plants, and they add a touch of color to an otherwise barren understory. Even more interestingly, they are pollinated by a moth! Must be a very cold tolerant moth species!!

The forecast this week calls for rain and thunderstorms in the mountains Monday through Wednesday which may knock many of the leaves off the trees at mid- to higher elevations. Trees below 2,500’ should survive the rain, so colors towards the end of this week, when the weather is supposed to be sunny and cool, and perfect for fall foliage viewing, should be good.

Jonathan Horton, from UNC-A, thinks the peak in the Asheville metro area will be this week and persist into the coming weekend. Surprisingly, the peak is now past on the highest ridges even as far south as Highlands and Murphy. James Costa, Director of the Highlands Biological Station, reports that the maples, sourwoods, sumacs and oaks are all peaking this week in that area, although there are spots on higher slopes that have lost many leaves already. And as in Boone, the hickories, beeches, birches are bright yellow now.

A drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway or along the escarpment on Rt. 64 from Brevard to Highlands will still allow you to see some nice colors. I took a drive Sunday on Clark’s Creek Road in Watauga County, which connects Rt. 194 in Valle Crucis with Rt. 105 in Foscoe, and it is a spectacular drive up and over the mountains, and into rural farm areas with great vistas of fall colors. What’s nice is that you can get away from the crowds on this approximately 4 mile drive yet still see great fall color. And if you go from Rt. 105 to Valle Crucis, you’ll end up at the historic Mast Store, which is a treat. I highly recommend this drive, if not this year, then next.

For more information on fall leaf color, including the science behind fall color, you can check out my fall color page at http://today.appstate.edu/fall-colors/ and my blog at http://www.fallcolorguy.blogspot.com/.

Hiking in mountains of NC

2010-10-21T10:07:00.000-04:00

Gaby - Thanks for your note. I have heard of Panthertown Valley, but not hiked it yet. So, I'll add that one to my list too. I have a lot of places I need to visit!!

Now, if I can only find a cure for my plantar faciitis, I will be able to do longer hikes! Boy is that a painful and annoying condition. And no one seems to know what to do about it - and I've been to all sorts of doctors and podiatrists.

Just so you all know - I do not go to chiropracters or acupuncturists, and I do not subscribe to alternative medicines (read the book Trick or Treatment to get the lowdown on those things). There is no superior form of medicine than traditional western medicine, which is fully supported by scientific studies. If one doesn't agree with my views, just remember that our lifespans increased by nearly 30 years after the advent of anti-biotics alone, which came from traditional scientific studies. Acupuncture, chiropracty and alternative medicines have been around for a long time, but they have never achieved anything near the success that antibiotics have. Plus, most have not been subject to critical scientific testing. Why do you think they always have disclaimers that their products are not be used to treat disease or other symptoms? That's because the FDA has not certified them - rather, they call themselves dietary supplements. What a crock!

We humans sometimes get deluded into thinking that something is better simply because it sounds exotic, or because someone makes a personal claim about the efficacy of some drug or treatment. In reality, most of these anecdotal effects that people report are placebo effects. That is, it's all in their head (although that can affect your physiology too!) and not a result of the drug or treatment itself. If people want something to work, they will believe it does work, even if scientific studies show no effects.

When double-blind studies are done, most of these claims fall by the wayside. In the U.S. people spend billions of dollars on alternative medicines that don't work, are poorly regulated for quality and which can even cause harm when used injudiciously (ephedra products for example). I could go on and on, and in fact have in the recent past, when I taught my course on Science and Reason. I guess I should revive that course.

Take care.

Jack's Photos from Looking Glass Rock

2010-10-20T12:28:00.000-04:00

Dear All - Jack sends a website with pictures of fall colors from his hike to Looking Glass Rock last year. Thanks! The photos look great. Definitely a place to go to experience the views and fall colors.

Response to Soon to Be Hiker Gaby

2010-10-20T08:51:00.000-04:00

Dear Gaby - I admit to not having been to Looking Glass Rock yet. I'll have to put that on my "to hike" list. As you may see this morning, it is raining quite extensively throughout the mountains, although with little or no wind. This will knock down a lot of leaves at the higher to mid-elevations (sorry leaf lookers, we can complain about the weather, but we still can't do anything about it!!). However, if trees are still mostly green, then this rain won't affect them as much - only the leaves that have already started to turn color are likely to fall off. And since the lower elevations have not yet reached their peak colors, they may still keep their leaves and the colors should be fine in those regions.

The Looking Glass Hike in the Pisgah National Forest is 6.5 miles roundtrip, and rises 1,700' in elevation to the top of the pluton (the rock dome, which is of volcanic origin). It does offer spectacular (my favorite word for describing the NC mountains!) views. A very informative website for this hike is: http://www.romanticasheville.com/looking_glass.htm

Another great place to hike, also along the escarpment near Cashiers/Highlands, is Whiteside Mountain, in the Nantahala National Forest. It boasts the highest sheer cliffs in eastern North America (400' to 750') and is a favorite of rock climbers, although there is an easy trail to the summit. Here is a website describing that hike (http://www.localhikes.com/Hikes/WhitesideMtn_0000.asp), which is short (2 miles roundtrip), but which offers "spectacular" views again. It is closed in the spring sometimes when the native peregrine falcons are nesting, but it's open now. This one is high on my list of "to hike"!

As for preferring Rabun Bald to Looking Glass, the main difference is that the hike to Rabun Bald is so much easier and shorter. But both offer great views. If you want a long hike (roundtrip can be up to 4 or 5 hrs to Looking Glass), then that is your hike. If you want a more leisurely afternoon, go to Rabun Bald. Also, just southwest of Rabun Bald is Brasstown Bald, a GA state park, with great views also. Note that you have to pay to get into some state parks in Georgia (and even NC too).

Happy Hiking!!

Randy's Picture - Adjusted for Comparison

2010-10-19T15:55:00.000-04:00

Below is Randy's picture from the previous post, but this time adjusted by the computer automatically for brightness. It's interesting to compare the two images. The previous picture was unadjusted, for the purists out there. I just post this to show what computers can do to digital images!
Which image do you like best?

Great Fall Color Photo at Graveyard Fields on Blue Ridge Parkway

2010-10-19T15:41:00.001-04:00

Randy Beard, from Virginia, sends us this beautiful shot of fall color looking over Graveyard Fields on the Blue Ridge Parkway, taken just as it started to rain, on October 12, 2010 (milepost 418.8). Thanks to Randy for a really pretty photo!

Photo by Randy Beard at Graveyard Fields, Milepost 418.8
on Blue Ridge Parkway. Photo taken on October 12, 2010
just before it rained.

Further Comments Regarding Timing of Fall Colors This Year

2010-10-19T08:55:00.000-04:00

I've received a nice photo of some spectacular colors along the Blue Ridge Parkway, and if the photographer grants permission, I will post it for all to see. Very nice intermixing of yellows, oranges and reds.

Another reader wants to know if fall colors will persist as late as Oct 28th in the Boone area. I think by that time the peak will be passed, but the oaks and a few maples should still be showing, so there will be some color, just not as much as the past week or two. However, it will definitely be post-peak.

However, if you go south, and down a bit in elevation (2,500') in and around Asheville, or, just off the mountain below Grandfather Mt., you should see some good color at that time. This would mean getting off the Parkway and taking one of the myriad country roads that wind through the mid-elevation forests, which is good because you get away from the crowds and see some really nice forests. Of course, driving along the Parkway, you can stop at the overlooks and see the colors below, which is a great way to experience them.

Also, the farther south you go, the later the fall colors. One really nice hike, but which is quite far from here, is to the summit of Rabun Bald, in very northern Georgia, just below the NC/GA border. It is on U.S. Forest Service land, and there is a wooden platform at the top with a 360 degree view. The hike is not difficult, about a mile or so from where you park your car. I love the views up there. And just across the border back in NC, there is some good hiking in and around the Highlands area.

I haven't yet made it to the new Gorges State Park in Transylvania County along the NC/SC border, but in speaking to the superintendent there, Steve Pagano, he says that fall colors there are about 50% along at the higher elevations (~3,000'), with maples just starting to turn. At 4,000' in that area, colors are probably at their peak now, with lots of reds (maples, sourwoods, black gums) out, and birches and maples too (yellows). This new park now has several trails open for hiking (one can hike and see Rainbow Falls, a popular destination), or, for those who prefer the comfort of their car, you can drive the four mile loop road, which offers spectacular views of Lake Jocassee and the escarpment, and is a great way to see the fall colors. Steve thinks that at the lower elevations, they will have peak color there this coming weekend, and into that following week. So, if you want a really unique place to see fall colors, you might check this park out!

Finally, closer to Boone is Stone Mountain State Park (no, not THE Stone Mt. Park, which is in Georgia, but yes, it does have a stone dome at the top!). This park, which is in Roaring Gap, NC about an hour's drive from Boone, offers a six mile loop road with scenic views, and a 4.5 mile loop hiking trail. You can also hike to the top of the dome (about 3/4 mile one way) to see the views. Right now, colors are only partially developed there (they are at a lower elevation of about 2,000 to 2,500'). Denise Marquez, who works in the Park, says she thinks colors will peak next weekend and then through that following week also. However, as with other places this year, the tulip poplars have crapped out this year (pardon my blunt language, but that's the best word to describe them this year!), but oaks and maples should come on in the next two weeks.

Enjoy!

Colors at Lake Lure and Chimney Rock State Park

2010-10-18T08:55:00.000-04:00

To the person getting married later this month who requested an update on Lake Lure and Chimney Rock, I have good news. I just spoke with a Ranger at the Park named Mary, and she says that color is beginning to show up nicely there, and should peak this week on into the coming weekend. She says they have about 50% green right now, but the maples are really starting to show color, both the red and sugar (which would mean red and orange/yellow colors). The sourwoods (red) and dogwoods (burgundy) are also prominent right now. The tulip poplars took it somewhat on the chin from last week's rain, and are yellowing, but they have lost a lot of leaves, or they are turning brown. Oaks are just starting to show, and they will finish out the fall color season with a mixture of deep rust red and brown, depending on species.
So, if you're heading to this new state park this week and weekend, you should be in luck!!

Comments on the Comments on Fall Color by Leaf Dan

2010-10-18T08:39:00.000-04:00

Leaf Dan from Greensboro says he traveled to the Franklin area, with side trips to Hayesville and Lake Nantahala in Macon and Swain counties (lucky him!). He says the colors were great, even at the higher elevations, and would be reaching their peak in that area this week. As we have noted here also, most of the colors this year are golden yellow to orange and the oaks (which often turn red or brown) are just starting to turn.

Interesting Leaf Dan feels that perhaps western and southern slopes may be more vibrant than eastern and northern ones. That could well be so, but I haven't made a study of that, so I can't comment as to whether it is generally true. I could think of two reasons for this - either dry, sunny conditions on southern/western slopes favor better color development in the trees, or, and this is not mutually exclusive either, there are different species present on those slopes, with those on the western/southern exposures the ones that develop better color. There was a study by an undergraduate at UNC-Charlotte several years ago that noted better color on sites that were deficient in nitrogen (more reds), and controlled studies have shown that when sugar maples are stressed by low nitrogen, they turn a more intense red.

Thanks to Leaf Dan for his comments! The Fire Tower at the top of Coweeta Hydrologic Lab offers great views in that area of the mountains, right on the Appalachian Trail, so maybe this week would be a great time to hike that portion.

Happy Leaf Looking!

Fall Colors Around Lake Lure and Chimney Rock

2010-10-17T21:57:00.000-04:00

A reader is getting married later this month and wants to know about the fall colors that will be at Lake Lure and Chimney Rock. I will find out more details and write back on what I find sometime on Monday the 18th. Congratulations to whomever is getting married (most people don't reveal who they are when they comment, which is fine. It is because of this that I don't mention specific names of those who comment on this blog!). Also, thanks to the lucky reader who is getting married for your positive comments about my blog. Glad to hear we're reaching people and that we're informative and entertaining also!

My weekly assessment of the fall color situation for the NC mountains will be posted on VisitNC.com tomorrow, as well as here on this blog, and on my fall color page hosted by my university. I will note that the rain and winds did take a large proportion of leaves off this week, but in protected coves, there is still good color (see report below of my hike on the Boone Fork Trail today).

I hope to keep up my science of fall color essays to about once a week (they do take a lot of time to compose), so for this coming week, I will talk about what those orange and yellow pigments in maples and other plants do during the year when they are covered up by the green chlorophyll. Later columns will discuss why plants leaf out when they do, why some plants remain evergreen while others are deciduous, even though both may be growing right next to each other. I might even discuss such topics as why leaves have serrated edges and others are smooth, the phenomenon of "drip tips", why some plants have compound leaves versus simple, i.e., hickories and ashes vs dogwoods and tulip poplars, and why white but not red oaks are good for making wine casks. There are a lot of other neat topics, and each week, I'll try to distill the science down for you (not dumb down, but distill, which means bring you the essence without too much distracting detail).

If YOU have a tree physiology/ecology question, or a fall color question, please don't hesitate to send it in to me and I'll try to get an answer back to you within a week. I'm always interested in hearing from you, so please write in!

Today I went on a 5 mile hike with my daughter and our dog, Hanna. We didnt' know we were going to do the entire Boone Fork Trail, but we did, and we're both proud we made it (and without water too!). Hanna our dog rebelled at going up a log ladder, but once my daughter and I did, she decided not to be left behind, and came right up. After that long hike (and it was beautiful, with great fall colors, even if slightly past peak!) we headed to McDonald's and treated ourselves to Wild Berry Smoothies, one of the truly better items they have ever offered for sale! And no, I do not own any stock in McDs! I just like their smoothies!

See you!!

Color in Boone at End of October

2010-10-16T11:38:00.000-04:00

A reader has written and asked what the fall colors will be like at the end of this month in the Boone area. I believe the colors will be mostly passed by that time. We peaked last weekend, and had some rain and wind this week, which took a number of leaves off the trees. Right now, colors are still good here, with maples turning brilliant orange, and tulip poplars, birches, ashes, hickories and magnolias turning yellow, although the tulip poplars are browning up this year, and are not as yellow as in past years.

The Asheville area along the high ridges is showing good color, but the city won't peak until this weekend.
Hope this helps.

Why the Veins in Leaves Stay Green Longer than the Blades During Fall Senescence

2010-10-14T19:06:00.001-04:00

Introduction to the Situation
Check out this photo of a senescing oak leaf that I took last Saturday, October 8th along the Blue Ridge Parkway in western North Carolina.

Photo of Red Oak Seedlings at Sims Lake, Blue Ridge Parkway, October 9, 2010
Photo by Howard S. Neufeld

Note the unique coloration pattern whereby the veins have remained quite green, but the leaf blade has turned yellow. This is a common occurrence as leaves turn colors in the fall, yet is rarely commented upon, and, as we shall see, the mechanisms responsible for this pattern are still poorly understood.

Why Do Leaves Appear Green?
The green color in leaves results from the production of a compound called chlorophyll (chl). We see the leaf as green because this compound is most efficient in absorbing red and blue wavelengths of light, and relatively inefficient in absorbing the green wavelengths. This means that the light reflected from the leaf back to our eyes is enriched in the green spectrum, making it appear green to us.

There are Many Different Kinds of Chlorophyll
There are several different types of chl, each specific to a different class of organism. For example, there are six different bacteriochlorophylls, which are found only in bacteria. Brown algae have chl a and chl c, as do diatoms, but red algae contain chl a and chl d. Green algae, like all higher plants, contain chl a and chl b, with chl a being the most abundant form. In fact, one line of evidence that higher plants are evolutionarily descended from green algae, and not the red or brown algae, is the fact that both groups contain the same two forms of chl molecules. Chlorophyll molecules absorb various wavelengths of light which begins the process of converting solar energy into chemical energy, which is the basis for most of life on earth.

How Much Chlorophyll is Out There?
Each year, about 1.2 billion metric tons of chlorophyll are produced and degraded worldwide, with 75% of this amount occurring in aquatic ecosystems, even though visually, we see the ocean as blue, and the land green. This is because the small photosynthetic organisms in water generally have shorter life spans than land plants, resulting in much higher turnover rates (148 times as high in fact!).

The Synthesis and Breakdown of Chlorophyll can be Seen from Outer Space
This synthesis and degradation of chl is one of the most important biological events on earth, and easily observable from space. With satellite imagery we can easily see the earth green up in the summer, and turn brown in the winter. On a more local scale, we can even follow the fall leaf color front as it moves southward, by using high resolution images obtained by NASA and other governmental agencies. Based on these photos, it is estimated that fall colors tend to move south at rates between 28 and 47 miles per day, depending on longitude. At those speeds, the fall color front would move from the NC-VA border to the NC-GA border, a distance of about 150 miles directly north-south, in about 3-5 days, which is what we usually experience each year.

Why Green Veins and Yellow Leaf Blades?
It’s time to get back to our original question of why leaf veins stay green longer than the leaf blade when leaves senesce in the fall. Obviously, chl is being lost from the leaf blade more than it is from the veins. The question we need to ask then, is how is this being accomplished, and why? Something must be happening to the relative rates of synthesis and degradation in the leaf blade that differ from that in the veins.

Plants That Grow on Alkaline Soils can Develop Interveinal Chlorosis
Plants that grow on calcareous soils (those high in calcium, with a high pH, i.e., alkaline soils) often suffer from the phenomenon which we call interveinal chlorosis, or IVC. Interveinal means between the veins, and chlorosis means a lack of chlorophyll. Often, leaves that lack chlorophyll are yellow. The yellow comes from accessory pigments in the leaf called carotenoids, which assist chl molecules in the process of capturing light. They also help dissipate excess light energy if too much light strikes the leaf. These pigments are often yellow, which is why a leaf with IVC appears yellow between the veins.

So, why does growing on calcareous soil induce the phenomenon of IVC? Soils that are alkaline and have a high pH prevent the absorption and metabolism of iron (Fe). Iron becomes insoluble at high pH, and plants have trouble taking it up from the soil. Iron is a necessary nutrient for plants and required for the plant to synthesize chl. Without it, the plant will become chlorotic, mainly on the new leaves, since Fe is not very mobile within the plant.

To Understand IVC Requires a Lesson on the Structure of a Chlorophyll Molecule
The figure below shows the chemical structure of a chlorophyll molecule. While it may look very complicated, it is actually fairly simply constructed. The bottom part, which looks like a long tail, is used just like it was a tail - to hold the molecule in place on the membranes inside of a chloroplast. A chloroplast is a small structure about the size of a bacterium in a leaf cell in which the chl is contained and where the process of photosynthesis occurs.

The top part of the chl molecule has a ring of carbon and hydrogen containing units, and on the inside there are four atoms of nitrogen (N), to which is bonded one magnesium (Mg) atom.

What do We Mean by OIL RIG?
It is the Mg atom that donates an electron to another molecule when light strikes the chl. When a photon (a packet of light energy in the quantum sense) strikes the chl molecule, it adds its energy to the molecule, causing an electron on the Mg atom to jump to a higher energy state. This is a very unstable condition, and if another molecule is nearby, that electron can be grabbed by that molecule. When one molecule accepts an electron from another molecule, it is said to be reduced. If it gives one up, it is said to be oxidized. One way to remember which is whch is to use the phrase OIL RIG, which stands for Oxidation is Loss, Reduction is Gain.

In a leaf, there are a series of molecules that transfer electrons (these are called oxidation-reduction reactions) until they are finally captured at the end of the electron transport chain in a molecule known as NADPH. This molecule is eventually used to make sugars in another part of the photosynthetic process, something we will not get into in this essay.

Where does the Oxygen come from in Photosynthesis?
Meanwhile, our chl molecule is still missing an electron, which is also a very unstable state. The only way to get back to the original state prior to absorbing that photon is to replace the missing electron. But where can the leaf find a ready source of available electrons? Turns out that water is a great source of electrons, but only if you can split it apart into its components of hydrogen and oxygen. And leaves have developed a powerful molecular water splitting complex that can achieve just that. Once the missing electron is replaced by one from water, the chl is ready to accept its next photon. By removing the two H from the water molecule, free oxygen is liberated. This is how plants provide much of the oxygen with which you and I breathe every day. So, don’t forget to thank a plant for the work they do to make your life possible!

What does Iron have to do with all this?
But prior to all this light absorbing and photosynthesis, the leaf had to make the chl molecule from scratch. In one of the last stages in this process, an Fe atom was inserted into the top section of the chl to hold a place for the Mg atom that was added later. If the leaf can’t access enough Fe, then it also can’t make chl molecules, and it will appear chlorotic.

Now We Finally Get to Interveinal Chlorosis and Fall Leaf Colors!
Based on what we know about chl and Fe metabolism, this suggests that perhaps as these oak leaves senesce in the fall, their Fe metabolism goes awry, and the ability to synthesize new chl molecules is diminished. This means that degradation processes dominant over synthetic processes: more chl is degraded than made, and the amount of chl in the leaf declines over time. Remember, the amount of chl in a leaf at any one time is a function of how rapidly it is made, compared to how rapidly it is destroyed, i.e., it is dependent on the turnover rate. When the rate at which it is made is greatly reduced, but the rate at which it is destroyed remains the same, then the amount in the leaf will go down. This is the same as if you deposited money in your bank at a rate of $1/day, but withdrew $2/day. Eventually, your bank account will drop to zero!

But why do Degradation Processes Dominate in the Fall, and in Particular, in the Leaf Blade?
One answer may have to do with the fact that as leaves senesce in the fall, they begin withdrawing nutrients back into their stems (a process called retranslocation) so they can use them next year when the new leaves come out. This creates nutrient deficiency conditions in the leaf. Studies have shown that in citrus leaves, if the Mg, Zn, or K content is depleted (and these nutrients are among those that are commonly retranslocated) that this causes IVC. Perhaps the veins remain green because these nutrients are traveling through them on their way out of the leaf, which keeps the concentrations high enough to avoid chlorosis in the cells surrounding those veins.

Maybe Leaves Just Say NO
Another study implicates the compound nitric oxide (NO) in IVC. The authors of this study found that NO may be involved in the regulation of the oxidative state of the leaf, and that it might function as an anti-oxidant. As chl is degraded, it can become dangerous to the leaf, because if light strikes the partially degraded molecule, it can create reactive oxygen species (called ROS), such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), or something even nastier called superoxide (oxygen with an extra electron: O2-), among others, which can severely damage cellular membranes, resulting in the death of leaf cells. In this particular study, NO was able to donate an electron to an Fe atom (that is, reduce it!). This converted the Fe atom into a form that the leaf could take up and use to make chl. So, we could speculate that if there is more NO surrounding the veins, then the veins will stay green, whereas the leaf blade will bleach yellow.

Nitrogen Nutrition May be Involved Also
Part of this effect could also arise from differences in the pH between the veins and the leaf blade. In a study of sunflower plants, researchers found that plants fed high levels of nitrate (NO3-) developed IVC. When leaves are given NO3- as their sole source of N, they can only move it into their cells if they also move in a hydrogen ion (H+). When that happens, it removes these ions from the spaces outside the cells, which makes that area alkaline. Under these conditions the leaf cannot move Fe into its cells. This is because the Fe is oxidized (Fe+3, which is rust by the way), and plants can only move reduced Fe (Fe+2) into their cells. The area around the leaf veins has a lower pH, and so these cells can metabolize Fe more readily, and they retain their chl and remain green. But the pH in the leaf blade is higher (more alkaline) which interferes with Fe metabolism, and chl synthesis, so this portion of the leaf becomes chlorotic.

So, does that mean that leaves in the fall are suffering from NO3- induced IVC? Maybe, maybe not. These same researchers also found that mature leaves did not exhibit this response, but since they did not check senescing leaves, it is still possible that changes in leaf metabolism during the fall, especially with respect to NO3- nutrition, could be a factor also in causing IVC.

Conclusion: Nothing is Ever as Simple as it Looks!
Considering how long it took me to explain this, you can see that the simple pattern of green veins and yellow leaf blades has a very complicated origin, one that is not yet fully understood. Mineral nutrition, pH, retranslocation, turnover rates, hormones and other factors are all involved.

In closing, I’d like to emphasize that while birth and development are highly ordered processes, so too are the phenomena of senescence and death. When leaves begin to die in the fall, environmental and physiological cues result in genes being turned on in a highly regulated manner, biochemical reactions proceeding in a sophisticated and orderly sequence, resulting in the destruction of chl in a way that minimizes damage to the leaf. The adaptive result is that the leaf can recover vital nutrients and other useful metabolites before it falls off the tree, to be used to assist in the growth of next year’s leaves. And when you think about all this, you have to admit that even death can be a beautiful journey if you just take the time to appreciate it in all its complexities. After all, death is a part of life, is it not?

Latest Update

2010-10-13T17:15:00.000-04:00

A reader has commented that my last "weekly update" was 10 days ago. Actually, the latest update was Monday, but it only got posted on VisitNC.com because I had another committment on campus. I am posting it below, and will get it up on my fall color webpage soon. Sorry! Too many things going on at once! Thanks though, to the reader for reminding me to post here.

Fall Color Update

October 11, 2010

Howie Neufeld

For the last two weeks, we’ve been lamenting how slow leaf colors were changing. Well, forget that! Over the past five days, colors have, how shall I say, exploded, popped, erupted, or whatever word you want use! Between Boone and Linville, all along the Blue Ridge Parkway, the trees are nearing their peak color. This week up to the coming weekend should be the peak display for the northern section of the mountains.

The most vibrant displays are coming from sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum) which is a deep, rich red, as are most of the flowering dogwoods (Cornus florida). Red maples (Acer rubrum) are also turning a rich, burgundy color. I saw two trees in Blowing Rock where the top third of the canopies were bright red, and the lower two thirds still green. This is most likely a light effect, but it made the trees look like someone had spray painted them red from the top. Sugar maples (Acer saccharum) are developing their brilliant orange colors now, and those along King Street in downtown Boone, usually look like they are on fire when they peak, which should be later this week.

I do think that the summer heat and moderate drought may have done in the foliage display for our tulip poplars (Liriodendron tulipifera). Most of the leaves on these trees are simply drying up and turning brown or black. Usually, this species is a beacon of yellow on the landscape which persists until late in the fall foliage color display: but not this year I’m afraid.

Other species with notable color include beech (Fagus americana) which is turning yellow but will eventually end up tan, and striped maple (Acer pennsylvanicum), a common understory tree with large leaves that are now a bright yellow. You can see lots of these trees along the paved portion of Linn Cove Viaduct Trail just past the parking lot. Black and scarlet oaks (Quercus velutina and Q. coccinea) are also turning a nice red color, though most of these have just started, and should peak in the coming week or so.

Farther south, colors are slightly behind the Boone area. Kathy Matthews, from Western Carolina University, reports that the sourwoods and dogwoods are well along, while the maples are just starting to show color. The oaks haven’t really kicked in yet. Beverly Collins, from Franklin, and Jonathan Horton, from UNC-Asheville, also report the same for their areas, but add that some of the hickories (Carya sp.) are yellowing up. However, I hear that in the Highlands area, the colors have really come on in the last few days (just like in Boone) and they say that down in that area, the peak will be this week up to the weekend. So, plan accordingly if you’re going to that part of the mountains. [recent addendum: Jonathan Horton adds today that just in the past few days the colors have started coming on quite well in the Asheville area too!].

These record or near-record temperatures this week may play havoc with fall color, leading to either duller reds, and/or a shorter duration of peak color display. Hard to believe that it snowed 3” a week ago at the top of Mt. Leconte in the Smokies! However, these sunny days and cool nights are helping the colors to come out, but we could use lower maximum afternoon temperatures to maximize the display this year. In any event, if the colors around the Boone/Grandfather Mt. area are any sign, we may yet have an excellent fall color display this year from Asheville on down to Murphy and Robbinsville.

As always, there are excellent drives to see fall color. Highway 80 from Marion up to Mt. Mitchell is a pretty drive and you get to see the spruce-fir forests, which are among our rarest forest type in the southern Appalachians. As many of you may know, Mt. Mitchell is the highest peak east of the Mississippi at 6,684’ elevation. Another nice drive is Highway 64 from Hendersonville to Black Mt, which parallels I-40 to the south. It goes through some apple orchard growing areas, and you can usually find an apple stand along the road somewhere and get fresh North Carolina cider. And finally, Highway 19 from Crossnore to Mars Hill offers good views of fall color as it crosses through the midsection of the mountains.

For more information on fall leaf color, including the science behind fall color, you can check out my fall color page at http://today.appstate.edu/fall-colors/ and my blog at http://www.fallcolorguy.blogspot.com/.

Why Did I Make Comments on Politics on a Fall Color Blog Site?

2010-10-13T08:56:00.000-04:00

Dear All - A reader has asked why I made comments about politics on my fall color blog site, which is quite a reasonable question. Well, it's the season! Both politically and fall colorly! And I guess I got caught up in all the hoopla. But since this is a fall color blog, and I have made all the political points needing making, I will stick to fall color topics here on out. Coming up later today or tomorrow - why the veins in leaves remain green long after the leaf blade has turned yellow! Watch for that soon!
Also, I would make the observation that this year, especially here in Boone, the fall colors last week came out the fastest I can remember! One person remarked that the colors got better even within one day (last Saturday), and I certainly noticed improvement from Sat to Sun, and from Sun to Mon! I wonder if the hot summer has induced an increase in the rate of color development in leaves? As fast as the colors are developing, and with rain and thunderstorms in the forecast for today and tomorrow, I would expect that now is the peak color time for the northern stretch of the NC mountains. Those of you farther (further?) south should still be waiting for the peak, and I don't think the rain that is coming today will cause much leaf fall, so colors should still be good.
More on leaf vein coloration coming up!
Howie Neufeld

Response to Les About my Political Comments

2010-10-09T15:16:00.000-04:00

First, I would like to thank Les for his comments. I should mention I included them to raise a few hackles, so it looks like that worked. Second, I would like to say that I am a died-in-the-wool-progressive, liberal, democrat who has only voted for one Republican in his entire life (Senator Mac Mathais, from Maryland, a family personal friend of my father's and a thoughtful, moderate Republican, something sorely missed by that party these days). In fact, Mathias, who once was a VP candidate who was hated by Nixon for his moderate views. Today, I do not think Mathias would have stayed within the Republican party because of its shift to the far right, but more importantly, it's pandering to far-right extremists just to get votes. Consider the reversal of points of view by Kantor and Boehner when Rush Limbaugh chastised them. That was a sorry sight to see.

But back to Les' comments on government. I do not believe the answer to governing is "less government" all the time. There are times when it does things right. We have cleaner air and water BECAUSE of the EPA, not despite it. The Cuyahoga River no longer catches on fire, and ozone and sulfur dioxide levels have come down despite the GDP going up. California has cleaner air now than in the 50s and 60s, despite a threefold increase in population. All due to clean air laws. Voluntary emissions controls don't work - when Bush tried it in Texas, that state moved up to become one of the most polluted in the country.

I agree with Les about his comments on totalitarian governments. But I disagree that conservative governments do no harm to science. The Bush Administration routinely disregarded scientific findings if they went against their philosophy, they doctored documents to reflect their ideology, often going against the recommendations of scientists. The FDA went against its own science advisory committee due to ideological conflicts. Finally, the Bush Administration was obfuscating the causesof global warming, now known to be largely anthropogenic. They attempted to muzzle James Hansen, from NASA, who was brining these issues to the public. More shenanigans took place in the US Fish and Wildlife Service. All of this diminishes science, which in turn diminishes democracy. A positive step has been taken by Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, who has issued new ethical guidelines for science in his department. No longer will policy be driven by ideology but rather, by the science. No longer will scientific facts be ignored if they present results that differ from what administrators want. And so on - you can read them on the web. So, that's my argument there.

Lastly, I do not favor huge socialistic, totalitarian governments when I say I support government efforts in certain areas. But ALWAYS reducing the size of government is wrong. When I hear Tea Party extremists wanting to eliminate the Education Department, the IRS, lowering taxes without finding sources of new revenues (or going to war and lowering taxes at the same time, resulting in our largest deficits in history), or when I see people complaining about Democrats in the upcoming election because the economy isn't where they want it, or that jobs haven't come back in the 2 yrs since Obama was elected, it makes me sad that they have such a blinkered view of the world. Bush had 8 years to destroy the economy, and now people are complaining because Obama can't fix those mistakes in less than 2? A completely ridiculous point of view in my opinion. And of course, I can't leave my ranting without mentioning universal health care. This was the greatest step forward for the United States in 50 years, and people complain. In fact, we didn't go far enough - we should have single pay complete health coverage. We currently sit way down on the list of providers of good health care for our people, especially those without means, and any truly civilized people would care as much for those at the bottom as those at the top, rather than meet out health care according to your ability to pay for it. We should be a more caring people than we are.

But since this is supposed to be a blog on fall color and trees, I'll end with tree/leaf stuff!! We all watch how leaves change colors, to yellow, red, orange, tan, bronze, and brown. One of the most brilliant yellows is produced by the Ginkgo tree (Ginkgo biloba). Turns out, through the work of Phillipe Matile, from Switzerland, that this tree produces a unique compound, called kyurenic acid, which causes the leaves to brighten up (like a brightener in a detergent!). The leaf actually begins to synthesize this compound as the leaf senesces: as chlorophyll content drops, the kyurenic acid levels rise. That means the leaf is actually expending metabolic energy to make this compound just before the leaf falls off. That seems wasteful in one sense, but the fact that the leaf is doing it suggests there may be an evolutionary benefit. What that benefit is no one at this time knows. I could speculate that it might act to reflect excess light from the leaf, to protect the internal biochemical machinery from photo-oxidative damage, thus allowing the leaf to withdraw nutrients back into the twigs prior to falling off. This is one explanation for why leaves produce anthocyanins, the red pigments in the fall. So, does Ginkgo do the same thing? If so, why is its pigment yellow instead? What wavelengths of light might this protect against? By the way, kyurenic acid also colors dog pee yellow. Interesting!!

Well, I'm off to scout out fall leaf colors today along the Blue Ridge Parkway - a gorgeous day here in the southern Appalachians.

Take care, and keep writing!
Howie Neufeld

ET & WNC Railroad Fall Color Excursions from Long Ago

2010-10-04T09:52:00.001-04:00

The other night I gave a talk on the interacting roles of science and democracy to teachers in the ASU Math & Science Center. My thesis, derived from an extensive reading list but centered on the great new book by Timothy Ferris called The Science of Liberty, was that science promotes democratic principles, while a strong democracy is necessary for the advancement of science and technology. Dictatorships, and totalitarian governments generally stifle scientific and technological innovation, leading to a decrease in the quality of life for the people in those countries. In the United States, one might argue that conservatives, who generally are against change and want to preserve the past (that's why they're called conservatives!) are also bad for science. It is not without some irony that the majority of climate change deniers, and evolution deniers (creationists/intelligent design advocates) are right-wing conservatives.

Anyway, attending my talk (which if you're interested, is available in powerpoint format) was one J.P. Greene. J.P.'s cousin, Edgar, was a well known biologist at ASU, and was featured in Noah Adams' (from NPR) book about the area that came out a number of years ago. The Greene family has been in the Boone/Watauga area for nearly 200 or more years, and they have a strong sense of the history of this region.

J.P. told me that before the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad (sometimes called the Tweetsie RR) was flooded out in the 1940s, people used to take excursions from Boone over the mountains to Johnson City, TN. One of the more popular times for rides was in the fall, when the leaf colors were changing. If you go to this website, you can see some pictures of the railroad, and the train as it passes over and through the mountains (http://www.johnsonsdepot.com/crumley/tour6a.htm). Imagine the scenery then when the area was significantly less populated - those rides must have been a great thrill! Seeing the close cuts through the passes (with cliffs you could probably touch from the train cars) and the sharp drop offs on the other side to the rivers, I think I might have been a little bit nervous on those rides!

Thanks to J.P. for bringing this piece of history to life for me. I wonder if anyone out there remembers riding the Tweetsie in the fall to see the leaf colors? If so, write in and tell us about it.

Best wishes.

Fall Color Report for the Week of October 4th, 2010

2010-10-04T09:33:00.000-04:00

Fall Color Report

October 4, 2010

Howie Neufeld

Have you ever felt sometimes that time has stood still? That’s what seems to have happened this past week with respect to fall color change in the mountains. Your fall color prognosticators are all in agreement that leaf color is in about the same stage this week as last week. This is probably attributable to that warm period we had (which tends to delay color development) and to the rains. Remember, the best color development occurs when we have sunny days and cool nights, and the upcoming forecast seems favorable for good fall leaf color: most of the rest of the week is supposed to be cool and sunny.

There is some leaf color showing, mostly above 3,500’ elevation. Around Boone, yellows and oranges are slowly revealing themselves against a still mostly green background, but below this elevation the dominant color is still green. There has been some premature leaf loss by several species, such as buckeyes, black locusts, tulip poplars and sugar maples. But many other species are waiting to change and they still have their full complement of leaves. Therefore, at this time we are still predicting a good fall color show this year in the mountains.

At Grandfather Mountain, Jesse Pope reports that color is beginning to appear nicely at the higher elevations, although the rains did remove the huckleberry leaves. But remarkably, the canopy trees were mostly unaffected, so we are hopeful for good fall color from them. The hike along the Grandfather Trail to MacRae Peak is still providing good views at fall color, and the upcoming cold front passing through early this week will really help move fall color along. This coming weekend should be very good. The first areas to expect seeing good color will be from the Swinging Bridge area, the Black Rock Trail, Sheer Bluff overlook, and several good spots along the flanks of the mountain on the Blue Ridge Parkway side. And speaking of the Parkway, colors should be changing rapidly this week between milepost 305 north to the Lynn Cove Viaduct and on up into Virginia.

Most tree species seem to be holding up well despite the hot and dry summer. This includes maples, oaks, sassafras, ash, sourwoods, Fraser magnolias, and others. If you are planning a trip to the High Country to see fall color, this coming weekend should be the best to catch the peak color at the higher elevations, and the following weekend at elevations around 3,000’. If you can squeeze in a weekday trip you may be rewarded with less traffic and more solitude. If the weekend is the only time you can make the trip, then come early so you can avoid the heaviest traffic.

Finally, from Asheville on down to Robbinsville, colors have also stalled, but should start becoming more prominent next weekend and the two weekends thereafter. One of the best ways to see the elevational dependence of fall leaf colors is to take U.S. Highway 441 from Cherokee, NC up to Newfound Gap in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and then on to Clingman’s Dome (a ride entirely within the borders of North Carolina by the way). There are numerous roadside view points and as you go up in elevation, it should become more and more colorful. As always, you can check out my webpage at http://today.appstate.edu/fall-colors/ for more information about fall colors. Hope to see you in the mountains this fall!

Why Rhododendrons Leaves Are Turning Yellow Now

2010-09-22T15:04:00.000-04:00

A reader has posted the question of why Rhododendron leaves are turning yellow now in the Newland area. Actually, they are turning yellow all through the southern Appalachians. This is a normal occurrence. Rhodos (as I will call them) can retain their leaves for up to 7 years if in shady conditions. But each fall, Rhodos shed their oldest leaves. This is a natural process and no cause for concern. Rhododendron maximum (the most common forest Rhodo) is now dropping the oldest set of leaves during this time of year, and you can see yellow/golden leaves all through the forest understory. The reason the leaves turn yellow is that just prior to leaf fall, the chlorophyll degrades and exposes pigments in the leaf known as xanthophylls, which are yellow.

You can age the leaves on a Rhodo by counting the leaf whorls. The uppermost whorl of leaves formed this past spring while the next whorl formed in the spring of 2009. You can keep counting back along the stem to determine how many years of leaves your Rhodo is holding on to. Rhodos that grow in high light often retain fewer age classes of leaves (maybe only the last two or three year's worth) than those growing in deep shade. This is because leaves in full sun perform higher rates of photosynthesis and probably age faster, thereby hastening their time of demise. In addition, for a leaf to make a positive contribution to the plant, it must recoup all the costs of its construction and maintenance (losses of carbon due to respiration) and then carry on photosynthesis for a while to produce enough sugars to justify it's existence. And in the shade, rates of photosynthesis are low, so it takes a longer time to accumulate those sugars than a leaf in high light. Also, high light can cause the accumulation of toxic compounds that stimulate senescence (ageing). These compounds are known as reactive oxygen compounds, and in the leaf can cause damage to the photosynthetic machinery. After several summers and winters in high light (and winters are the worst for causing damage from high light) the leaves degrade and fall off.

By the time a leaf is several years old, it is no longer as active as a new leaf (just like people to some extent!!) and it contributes less in the way of sugar production for the plant. For example, older leaves have lower rates of photosynthesis (the process by which plants convert sunlight into sugar). At some point, the cost/benefit ratio may become negative - that is, the plant loses more carbon through respiration than it takes in via photosynthesis, and the leaf becomes a liability for the plant. This may be one reason the plant jettisons these oldest leaves. However, the exact physiological trigger is not completely known at this time.

So, no need to worry! You are simply seeing the natural process of leaf senescence.
Thanks for writing!!

Note that my latest fall color predictions are now posted here, on VISITNC.COM and my own fall color page.

Some Pictures of Fall Color from Elk Knob State Park, NC on September 18, 2010

2010-09-19T20:52:00.000-04:00

Dear Folks - Here are some pictures of fall color that I took recently at Elk Knob State Park, in Watauga County, NC.

This is a shot of beech leaves turning yellow and brown.

This is the beginning of the trail to the summit of Elk Knob.

This is a Viburnum along the trail that is turning a deep
red color - the patterning is quite striking!

This shot shows how chlorophyll degradation in leaves follows a specific pattern.
Note how the veins retain chlorophyll whereas the leaf blade is mostly chlorotic (i.e., yellow).
I'll have a column later this month on the orderly pattern of chlorophyll degradation in leaves
and will explain this unique pattern.

This is a another specimen of the Viburnum I showed two pictures ago.
Note how this one has turned completely purple-red. It is striking
silhouetted against the green of the rest of the understory.

This is a shot facing east from the summit of Elk Knob. Although it's hard to see, Mt. Pilot (of Andy of Mayberry fame) is in the far distance. From the summit of this Park you can see 100 miles around (50 miles in any direction, and sometimes more!). The color picture background on my blog comes from the hill in the foreground and was taken in October of 2008. Wonder how this hill will do this year?

Fall Color Report for the Week of September 19, 2010

2010-09-19T20:07:00.000-04:00

Fall Color Report

September 19, 2010

Howie Neufeld, The Fall Color Guy

Summer officially ends this Tuesday, and your fall color prognosticators are geared up again to begin reporting on this year’s fall display in the North Carolina Mountains. We have formed an informal Fall Color Prognostication Society (FCPS) in order to better cover the mountains in North Carolina, from the Virginia border in the north, to Murphy and Joyce Kilmer in the far southern regions of our state. Our membership includes Dr. Jim Costa, Director of the Highlands Biological Station in Highlands, Drs. Kathy Mathews and Beverly Collins, both in the Biology Department at Western Carolina, Dr. Jonathan Horton, in the Biology Department at UNC-Asheville, Mr. Jesse Pope, Chief Naturalist and Education Specialist at Grandfather Mountain, and myself, Dr. Howard Neufeld, from the Biology Department at Appalachian State University. Each week, we’ll summarize the fall color situation, make predictions about when colors will peak and how good they will be, as well as provide you with beautiful places to see and experience in the mountains of western North Carolina.

The recent weather trend of sunny days and cool nights has the FCPS in agreement that we should have good fall color this year. However, because this past summer was the warmest on record, it may be difficult to estimate its impact on fall color, since nothing like it has ever happened before. This year will be a learning experience for us all!

So, how are the trees doing so far? In the Boone area, red and sugar maples started turning yellow/orange in late August, and many are well into their color displays. Flowering dogwoods are already peaking with their burgundy-red leaves. Some tulip poplars and birches are turning yellow, which is early for them. Poison ivy and Virginia creeper are already brilliant orange and red. At higher elevations, beech leaves are turning a shiny brown while sugar maples are showing yellow and orange colors. Viburnum leaves at Elk Knob State Park are turning a rich purple-red color in the understory, which is quite spectacular to see. However, the dominant color on the landscape is still green, with just a hint of orange/yellow and red at higher elevations.

At Grandfather Mountain, Jesse Pope reports that colors are just starting to pop out at the higher elevations now. American ash, red and sugar maples, and some of the birches above 5,000’ are starting to show. The heath balds are starting to show some colors from the Vacciniums and sourwoods, especially along the flank of Grandfather above the Blue Ridge Parkway. By next Friday there should be some good colors to talk about at the higher elevations, with the widespread peak around the second weekend in October (9th -10th).

Moving further south, Jonathan Horton reports that the dogwood, sourwood and sumac are all turning red from the Cheoah region, then on north to Asheville and Craggy Gardens on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Tulip poplars are either turning yellow or going directly to brown, while at higher elevations, the birch and maple are starting to turn yellow.

In Cullowhee, it's still in the mid-80s there and there hasn’t been much color change, according to Kathy Mathews. Dogwood and sourwood are just starting to turn red while sweet birches are turning yellow along the roadsides. Kathy notes that early color change always seems to happen along roadsides for some reason. However, if you look at the mountain webcams in this neck of the woods (Mt. Mitchell, Cold Mountain, Purchase Knob) you don't see any color change in the high peaks, except just a hint of rust color in some of the trees at Purchase Knob at 5,000’. Beverly Collins reports similar color development in the Franklin area, but also reports that walnuts and black locusts are turning yellow and dropping their leaves.

Jim Costa reports that Fall is very much in the air at Highlands. Sourwoods are definitely turning, as are the dogwoods and Virginia creeper. Some sourwoods are a vibrant red already, while others are still predominantly greenish. Silverbells are turning a nice yellow, but most are still green.

In conclusion, the mountains are just beginning their annual color change, with some hints of color now appearing above 4,500’, and some individual trees well into their color change even down to 3,000’. But the dominant appearance is still one of green forests, and good fall color is still at least two weeks away. However, there is a suggestion that fall colors might be early by a few days this year, perhaps a lingering after effect of our record warm summer, so be prepared.

As usual, there is an abundance of places to drive to see good fall color, such as the Blue Ridge Parkway just about anywhere, Highway 64 between Brevard and Highlands, U.S. Highway 441 into and over Great Smoky Mountains National Park, plus many others. We’ll include more details on where to see fall colors in our report next week, when color development will be further along. For more information on fall leaf color, including the science behind fall color, you can check out my fall color page at http://today.appstate.edu/fall-colors/.

Happy Fall Color Viewing this year from your fall color prognosticators!!

Where to visit for fall colors near Cherokee, NC in mid-October.

2010-09-12T12:02:00.000-04:00

I recently received a request about where to see fall colors in the Cherokee, NC area. Well, Cherokee borders the NC entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). In addition, the beginning of the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) lies just prior to that entrance on the road in. So, I would suggest you drive around GSMNP (the main road to the top at Newfound Gap provides excellent views, as does the road to Clingmans Dome, the highest point in the park. The rangers at the visitor's center can also advise you on the best hikes to see fall colors also. Driving along the BRP anywhere will provide great views. And south of Cherokee you can visit Murphy and other towns that are surrounded by great fall color. If the Great Smoky Mt. Railway is still in business, it provides rides through spectacular fall color areas.
Hope this helps!
Howie Neufeld

Apologies to All Who Have Been Trying to Write to Me on This Blog

2010-09-09T16:56:00.003-04:00

Dear Fellow Fall Color Appreciators - Today, at 4:55 pm, I finally discovered all of your comments on my blogging from both last year and this year!!!. I am still discovering how blogging works, and I did not find the COMMENTS section until just a few minutes ago.
SO, for those who wrote and I did not respond - my apologies! I will try to be more prompt in the future as I learn how this new media tool works.

From now on, I will check the blog as often as I can. If you don't hear from me in a reasonable time frame, email me at neufeldhs@appstate.edu. I check that all the time, every day.

As for this week's fall color news, the dogwoods (Cornus florida) are turning big time in some places. The ones across the street from me in a large pasture are nearly all purple now. It's interesting how some trees are turning early this year. However, the remainder of the trees may still peak at their usual times. A multi-year study of fall color timing in the Harvard Forest by David Lee (Florida International University) and colleagues found that despite weather differences from year to year, the peak flowering times for trees were relatively constant, which is very interesting. So, if the same holds true for the NC mountains, then peak colors should be in early to mid-October as usual.

Tonight, we're supposed to have near record cold temperatures (high 40s). That should hasten the onset of color here in the mountains.

Finally, Federer is my man to win the U.S. Open, but Nadal and Djokovic could be trouble. I don't think Youzhny or Warwinka will make it through, but they've had a great tournament nonetheless. I have no idea who will win on the women's side, but I like Wozniacki. As you may guess, I have a passion for tennis (played on my high school team when wooden rackets were all there were). Still have yet to buy a metal racket - I like wood shots. I suppose one day soon I'll succumb and buy one so I can play with my daughter who is taking up the sport.

Ciao!
Howie, The Fall Color Guy

Corrections to First Leaf Color Observations Posting

2010-09-03T12:00:00.003-04:00

Dear All - Heather Dinon, at the NC State Climatology Office, pointed out several errors on my part in my summation of climate trends in the posting on Wed about leaf color for this fall. Below is the corrected posting, so please refer to this one should you read this website!
Thanks.

[Note: I have been told a steam line runs beneath the trees on Rivers Street, so this might be having an effect on when they display fall color!!]

Red maples (Acer rubrum) are also beginning to turn now, and one can notice isolated branches with deep red to orange leaves standing out against the rest of the canopy, which is still bright green. This is something we foresters call “flagging”. We don’t know why some branches begin to show color before others, but some say that leaves receiving more light turn color earlier. Most of the flagged branches I’ve noticed are on the east-northeast side of trees, where they get morning and early afternoon sun.

Another tree that loses leaves early is the yellow buckeye (Aesculus flava). This plant is subject to a leaf fungus (Guignardia aesculi) that causes brown splotches on the leaves and petioles (the small stem that attaches a leaf to the tree). By late August most of the leaves have turned completely brown and they fall off in great numbers prematurely. Another species that loses leaves early is the Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia). If you drive any road from Pennsylvania on down to Georgia, you will see vast swaths of these trees with dead and brown leaves. The culprit is the locust leaf miner (Odontota dorsalis), a native insect (a beetle, technically) that carves tunnels out between the upper and lower leaf surfaces, and in the process eats the leaf from the inside out. Like the buckeye fungus, this beetle does not appear to kill the tree, and both species spring back each year none the worse for the wear. These brown leaves are so distinctive that they can be used to identify these species from quite a distance on the landscape.

Black cherry (Prunus serotina) also loses leaves now, with most turning yellow or red with brown to deep purple speckles (sometimes called stippling) on the upper surface. Cherry is one of our more sensitive species to air pollution, so this could be due to exposure to elevated ozone concentrations, which causes premature leaf drop in trees. However, the ozone has not been particularly high this summer. In fact, the Department of Air Quality (http://www.ncair.org/) reports no exceedances of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in the North Carolina Mountains this year.

Other plants that have begun to show color already are poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), which turns yellow to red, Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) which also turns deep red, and burningbush (Euonymus alatus) which is starting to show its red color now.

If the weather continues to cooperate, then we should expect a good fall color display this year. We do need to keep an eye on the hurricane situation though, because as leaf color develops, leaves become less well attached to the tree. This occurs because of the development of a layer of dead cells called the abscission layer that cuts off the supply of water and nutrients to a leaf. The high winds of a hurricane (or even just a good storm) can knock leaves off just as their color is peaking. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen this year!

The best conditions for good fall color are sunny, cool days, coupled with cool (but not freezing) nights for the month preceding October. If that happens, look for significant fall colors to begin developing in late September to early October and peaking in mid-October at the higher elevations (above 3,000’). Figure about a week to ten days later for each 1,000’ lower elevations in the mountains, such as Asheville, and for sites further south, like the Joyce Kilmer Forest. Peak colors can last anywhere from one to two, and rarely three weeks, weather permitting. If you want to prolong fall color viewing, start at high elevations in the northeastern mountains (Watauga and Ashe Counties) and then move down in elevation (Asheville, Highlands) and then south (Joyce Kilmer). If you do that you should be able to have four or five weekends of great fall color, not to mention a great set of trips to our western mountains!

Each week this fall, I’ll keep you up-to-date on fall color development in the mountains, plus I’ll add in scientific commentary on factors affecting fall color. This year’s topics will include the impacts of global change (both temperature and carbon dioxide levels), altered nitrogen deposition, and air pollution, among others. If you have a topic you’d like me to explore regarding fall leaf color, plant physiology or ecology, please send me an email at neufeldhs@appstate.edu and I’ll research your question and get back to you as soon as I can.

Have an enjoyable Labor Day weekend, and maybe we’ll see you up here looking at our great fall colors!

Howie Neufeld,
The Fall Color Guy
Email: neufeldhs@appstate.edu
Fall Color Guy’s Website: http://today.appstate.edu/fall-colors/
Telephone: 828-262-2683

Note: This week’s essay benefited from the assistance of Heather Dinon, graduate research assistant at the State Climate Office of North Carolina at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, and from Ginger Kelly, graduate assistant in the Department of Geography & Planning here at ASU in beautiful Boone, NC. Thanks Heather and Ginger!

Why Sugar Maples in Boone Turn Color Early

2010-09-02T15:35:00.002-04:00

Dear Folks - In my blog of yesterday, I mentioned the unusually early turning sugar maples that grow along Rivers Street here in Boone, on the campus of Appalachian State University. Well, we have some more information that might be pertinent to this phenomenon. After talking with Jim Bryan, one of the campus arborists, and head of landscaping for ASU, he said he thought they were turning early because a steam line runs alongside and beneath these trees, probably stressing them considerably. So, that may be one reason they are turning so early.
However, I have noticed other maples in Watauga County turning already, and they do not have steam lines under their roots. So, perhaps maples are just early turners. More on why some trees turn early, and others late, in a future post on my fall color site: http://today.appstate.edu/fall-colors/
Cheers!
Howie Neufeld

First Observations of Fall Colors in the Mountains of North Carolina for Fall 2010

2010-09-01T18:22:00.001-04:00

First Leaf Color Observations for the Fall of 2010
Howie Neufeld, The Fall Color Guy
The Week of August 29th, 2010

Well, this past year has certainly been one for the books! We had a snowy winter here in Boone, but interestingly, no record cold temperatures or record snowfalls. We had an ice storm to beat all ice storms on Christmas Day which caused millions of dollars in damage from downed and broken tree limbs, not to mention lost tourism because of the impassable roads. In some places here in the High Country, snow stayed on the ground continuously from mid-December to mid March, which is extremely unusual.

Then, after a cool April, we began our record setting warm summer. In fact, according to the Southeast Regional Climate Center (http://www.sercc.com/perspectives), the months of June, July and August were the warmest since modern record keeping began! We broke single day temperature records eight times, by an average of 2.2 F. On April 7th, we smashed the previous record of 79 F by a whopping 6 F, the magnitude of which must by itself be a record! For the rest of the summer, it was the prolonged duration of elevated temperatures that made for our record warmth. In addition, while we were down 27% from our normal rainfall this summer (8th driest on record), we experienced no severe droughts. (see U.S. Drought Monitoring Archives (http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/archive.html).

So, what does this portend for this year’s fall leaf color displays? To tell you the truth, I have no idea. No one can predict how fall color will develop when the conditions leading up to it have been record breaking and unprecedented. The ice storm did do tremendous damage to thousands of trees, breaking off individual limbs and bringing down entire trees. Although most of this damage has been covered up by new leaf growth this summer, it is quite possible that it may negatively impact fall color this year in isolated locations where the damage was severe. However, from a landscape point of view, I do not think most people will notice any lingering effects on fall color intensity.

If you believe, as I do, that the month or so prior to fall color peak is the most important determinant of a good color year, then I think we may be on track for a good fall display. I say this because since late August, temperatures have moderated here in the mountains, and we are now experiencing sunny, dry days with cool nights, which is the perfect climatic set up for good fall color.

Hard as it might be to imagine, fall colors have already begun to show on some trees here in the High Country, although don’t too excited yet. The forests are still a deep green color, with only a tiny hint of color. The real fall color display will not start for a few more weeks up here.

The earliest trees to turn color are the sugar maples (Acer saccharum) on the Appalachian State University campus, which started turning by the third week of August. Along Rivers Street in particular, some of these maples are already approaching their peak and it’s not even Labor Day yet! This unique phenomenon occurs every year here in Boone, for reasons not well understood. It’s not just that these trees are planted along the road, with little space for their roots, because trees growing away from the road, with unrestricted root growth, are also showing color now, as are others scattered throughout Watauga County. Whatever the reason, these trees are always the harbingers of fall leaf color here in the High Country.

Red maples (Acer rubrum) are also beginning to turn now, and one can notice isolated branches with deep red to orange leaves standing out against the rest of the canopy, which is still bright green. This is something we foresters call “flagging”. We don’t know why some branches begin to show color before others, but some say that leaves receiving more light turn color earlier. Most of the flagged branches I’ve noticed are on the east-northeast side of trees, where they get morning and early afternoon sun.

Another tree that loses leaves early is the yellow buckeye (Aesculus flava). This plant is subject to a leaf fungus (Guignardia aesculi) that causes brown splotches on the leaves and petioles (the small stem that attaches a leaf to the tree). By late August most of the leaves have turned completely brown and they fall off in great numbers prematurely. Another species that loses leaves early is the Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia). If you drive any road from Pennsylvania on down to Georgia, you will see vast swaths of these trees with dead and brown leaves. The culprit is the locust leaf miner (Odontota dorsalis), a native insect (a beetle, technically) that carves tunnels out between the upper and lower leaf surfaces, and in the process eats the leaf from the inside out. Like the buckeye fungus, this beetle does not appear to kill the tree, and both species spring back each year none the worse for the wear. These brown leaves are so distinctive that they can be used to identify these species from quite a distance on the landscape.

Black cherry (Prunus serotina) also loses leaves now, with most turning yellow or red with brown to deep purple speckles (sometimes called stippling) on the upper surface. Cherry is one of our more sensitive species to air pollution, so this could be due to exposure to elevated ozone concentrations, which causes premature leaf drop in trees. However, like the temperature and rainfall this past year, ozone has not been particularly high this summer. In fact, the Department of Air Quality (http://www.ncair.org/) reports no exceedances of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in the North Carolina Mountains this year.

Other plants that have begun to show color already are poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), which turns yellow to red, Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) which also turns deep red, and burningbush (Euonymus alatus) which is starting to show its red color now.

If the weather continues to cooperate, then we should expect a good fall color display this year. We do need to keep an eye on the hurricane situation though, because as leaf color develops, leaves become less well attached to the tree. This occurs because of the development of a layer of dead cells called the abscission layer that cuts off the supply of water and nutrients to a leaf. The high winds of a hurricane (or even just a good storm) can knock leaves off just as their color is peaking. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen this year!

The best conditions for good fall color are sunny, cool days, coupled with cool (but not freezing) nights for the month preceding October. If that happens, look for significant fall colors to begin developing in late September to early October and peaking in mid-October at the higher elevations (above 3,000’). Figure about a week to ten days later for each 1,000’ lower elevations in the mountains, such as Asheville, and for sites further south, like the Joyce Kilmer Forest. Peak colors can last anywhere from one to two, and rarely three weeks, weather permitting. If you want to prolong fall color viewing, start at high elevations in the northeastern mountains (Watauga and Ashe Counties) and then move down in elevation (Asheville, Highlands) and then south (Joyce Kilmer). If you do that you should be able to have four or five weekends of great fall color, not to mention a great set of trips to our western mountains!

Each week this fall, I’ll keep you up-to-date on fall color development in the mountains, plus I’ll add in scientific commentary on factors affecting fall color. This year’s topics will include the impacts of global change (both temperature and carbon dioxide levels), altered nitrogen deposition, and air pollution, among others. If you have a topic you’d like me to explore regarding fall leaf color, plant physiology or ecology, please send me an email at neufeldhs@appstate.edu and I’ll research your question and get back to you as soon as I can.

Have an enjoyable Labor Day weekend, and maybe we’ll see you up here looking at our great fall colors!

Howie Neufeld,
The Fall Color Guy
Email: neufeldhs@appstate.edu
Fall Color Guy’s Website: http://today.appstate.edu/fall-colors/
Telephone: 828-262-2683

Note: This week’s essay benefited from the assistance of Heath Dinon, graduate research assistant at the State Climate Office of North Carolina at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, and from Ginger Kelly, graduate assistant in the Department of Geography & Planning here at ASU in beautiful Boone, NC. Thanks Heather and Ginger!

Appearance on the Weather Channel

2009-11-02T16:59:00.002-05:00

Although this happened a few weeks ago, it was nevertheless a fun thing to do. Got to be interviewed by Katie Tur, from the Weather Channel on how leaves turn color in the fall. This was set up by the North Carolina Board of Tourism, via VISITNC.com, so I'd like to thank the folks there, especially Susan Dosier and Meghan Musgrave, for making it all possible.

The link for the video can be found at:
http://www.weather.com/multimedia/videoplayer.html?from=email&bcpid=823425597&bclid=877032950&bctid=44922793001

on the Weather Channel. It was slightly longer than this selection, but they edited it down a bit. Later, Katie got pre-empted by the balloon hoax from Colorado, which was too bad, as she had some nice bits to show from the Pisgah National Forest.

Just after we finished, and she did a second bit with the ranger from the Pisgah, it began to rain, so we packed up and went to the Gatekeeper's Table, a great breakfast place. Katie had her first ever bisquits and gravy, which she really liked. Then, the owner serenaded the customers, and had a surprisingly good voice! In fact, an excellent singing voice.

All in all, a fun day.

Nearly last fall color posting

2009-11-02T16:45:00.002-05:00

I haven't been very good at blogging here - too much to do regarding the job that puts a paycheck in my back pocket. But might as well catch up with the month of October postings, in case you missed them (sort of an archive for this year). Also, at the end is the November posting for this year.

No one seems to be reading this blog, so I am essentially talking to myself. I thought maybe there would be at least one person out of the 6.8 billion on the planet who might be interested in talking about fall colors, but no one has responded. Perhaps this just doesn't get the publicity it deserves, or I'm not doing the blog right. If you see this, perhaps you could blog in and let me know at least if I'm getting out to people!

Have a good end of the fall season!!

Fall Color Report
October 12, 2009
Howie Neufeld

(With help from fellow fall color predictors: Jonathan Horton, Beverly Collins, Jim Costa, Kathy Matthews, and Jesse Pope)

Fall color has literally exploded in the northern section of the mountains here. A drive along the east flank of Grandfather Mountain on the Blue Ridge Parkway reveals breathtaking color diversity. In fact, color there is the best in this section of the state, with intense reds mixed with bright yellows, oranges and even brown. It should last through this week and maybe into next weekend, although as I’ve said in my reports this year, colors are somewhat early this year.

Interestingly, colors are strikingly different in Watauga and Ashe counties to the north. Here, yellow, orange and browns dominant, with fewer reds. Perhaps this is because there are more oaks and hickories and fewer maples there. Nevertheless, the colors are still striking and worth seeing. They’re peaking between 4,000 and 3,000’ now, and moving downhill fast. I expect by next weekend that colors in the 2,000 to 3,000’ range will be showing up nicely, even as far south as Highlands, especially if the rains aren’t too hard, which could knock leaves off the trees. Despite early predictions of a bad color year, they are in fact, excellent. People I polled on the Parkway were rating the colors 8.5 to 9 (one girl told me it was an 11 out of 10!) so they are definitely worth a trip out to see this year!

This year, red color is coming big time from red maples (Acer rubrum) along with sourwoods (Oxydendrum arboreum), huckleberrys (Gaylussacia baccata) and black gum (Nyssa sylvatica). Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) is turning a lovely yellow to bronze while the really big turners this week are the Fraser magnolias (Magnolia fraseri), going from yellow to a deep chocolate brown. Other yellows come from birches (Betula sp.) with even brighter yellow on the witch hazels (Hamamelis virginiana) and striped maples (Acer pensylvanicum). Scarlet and red oaks (Quercus coccinea and Q. rubra) are just beginning to turn a deep, maroon (but sometimes bright) red. Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, many of the tulip poplars this year are going straight from green to brown, when usually they turn a golden yellow. Perhaps the excess soil moisture has affected them.

For good drives in these areas, US 64 from Brevard to Highlands is spectacular now, mainly at the higher elevations. The Blue Ridge Parkway from the NC-VA border down to the Viaduct, and then beyond to Mt. Mitchell is great for fall color also. Highways 184 and then 194 in Avery, Watauga and Ashe counties, and Highway 88 in Ashe County, offer beautiful back country drives away from the crowds. Enjoy!

Fall Color Report
October 17, 2009
Howie Neufeld

(With help from fellow fall color predictors: Jonathan Horton, Beverly Collins, Jim Costa, Kathy Matthews, and Jesse Pope)

Fall color is now in full swing in the mountains. From Linville Falls to Ashe County, the peak has passed at higher elevations, but it’s moving downslope and will be in the 2,000 to 3,500’ range this coming week. I was in Transylvania County last Thursday doing a spot for the Weather Channel on behalf of VisitNC.com, and the colors there were just starting to come out and look nice. With the cold weather that is expected for this weekend, we might see peak color speed up in that part of the state.

Jesse Pope, Chief Naturalist at Grandfather Mountain writes that the Blue Ridge Parkway along the flank of Grandfather is still very nice. The mesic cove forests are really putting on a nice show right now while the dry ridges and heath balds have lost most of their leaves. The towns of Banner Elk and Newland are still spectacular, as well as points south on the Blue Ridge Parkway toward Spruce Pine. Off Highway 181, toward Morganton, colors are just beginning to change at around 2,000’. I would rate the colors there this year at 9 or even 9.5 on a scale of 10! We’ve been lucky, because even though we’ve had a lot of rain, we haven’t had very much wind, so the leaves are hanging on the trees a while longer.

Moving south, Jonathan Horton at UNC-Asheville’s Biology Department writes that colors have progressed some but have still not peaked. Maples are starting to add color, as is poison ivy. There is some yellow now on the hillsides, but green is still the dominant color. Looks like the peak will be at least one more week away in the Asheville area.
In Cullowhee, Kathy Matthews from Western Carolina University’s Biology Department writes that the trees have not changed much since her last report, except that many are browning and dropping their leaves (tulip poplars are doing this all over and the reason why is unclear). Color is very spotty in this area, but she’s starting to see lots of oranges and yellows (birches, maples, poplars), with spots of red starting to come out on maples. They are expecting their first frost on Sunday night, so hopefully that will rev things up!
And still further south, in Franklin, Beverly Collins, also from Western, writes that dogwoods, sumacs, and gums are showing red, while birches, maples and hickories are yellowing up, but most oaks (which turn late) are still green. Tulip poplar again, is mostly brown or gone. Colors should peak at the higher elevations this coming week and a week later at lower elevations.

For good drives, check out the Blue Ridge Parkway all the way from Virginia to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I would also recommend a drive in Transylvania County, where I was this last week. Try U.S. Highway 276 through the Pisgah National Forest, with its abundant waterfalls, beautiful leaves and the Cradle of Forestry, where forestry started in the United States! What more could you ask for? Enjoy!

Fall Color Update for 10-26-09

Well folks, we’re into the home stretch now for fall foliage color. Here in the far northwest of North Carolina the main peak has passed at the higher elevations, BUT we are not totally devoid of color! Now the oaks and hickories are showing off, while late turning maples are still providing good color in patches on the hills. The oaks have turned rust red, the hickories bright yellow, and the maples mostly yellow but with some a brilliant red. Just starting to turn are the ornamental Bradford pear trees, one of our latest fall color trees, and at lower elevations, sweetgums, both of which become a deep, burgundy red. The pear trees often last well into November, even up here. So, come on up for drive and a view – the northwest mountains still offer something spectacular to see. And if you take the Blue Ridge Parkway between Virginia and Asheville, you can view the colors from up on high as they move downslope, which is something to behold.

Down in the Asheville area, Jonathan Horton tells me that colors are developing rapidly there, probably spurred on by the recent cold snap. The hickories are turning yellow and the oaks are beginning to color up. He thinks they should peak sometime mid-week to this coming weekend. Color in the mountains now will be found mostly in the 2,000’ to 3,000’ range, but moving down into the 1,000’ range as spreads into the Piedmont.

Jim Costa, from Highlands, tells me that this year there is not strong synchrony in peak color, but individual trees are exhibiting very vibrant colors. Maples, sourwoods, hickories and sassafras from Cullowhee to Highlands are at their peak, yet there is still a fair bit of green to add contrast. Right in Highlands some trees have been nipped by frost and are somewhat past their peak, but there are lots of russet red - oaks beginning to turn, with scarlet oaks farthest along. Cullowhee is still mostly green, but there are lovely reds and oranges here and there, with more trees turning each day.
Finally, Beverly Collins, who lives in Franklin, says color should peak at higher elevations near Franklin this coming weekend. There is already full color in the hickories with the remaining in maples, sourwood and gums. Oak are just starting to change. Lower elevations have not yet reached peak color but probably will by the middle of next week. For excellent fall color drives in that area, try the Cullasaja Gorge (Highway 64), over Cullowhee mountain and down Ellijay (from Cullowhee to Franklin), of course the Blue Ridge Parkway between Asheville and Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the amazing Cherohala Parkway that goes from Robbinsville, NC to Tellico Plains, TN and the drive from Franklin to Wayah bald, where, after a short hike to the Tower you have an unrestricted view that is second to none in those parts, right where the Appalachian and Bartram trails intersect.

Fall Color Update for 11-2-09

They say you really don’t know how good you had it until what you had is gone. And now, here in the northwest mountains of North Carolina, we’re reflecting on what we had – an all too-brief, yet spectacular, fall color season. In the higher peaks, just the russet-red and brown oaks are still showing color, along with Bartlett pears, which remarkably, are one of the latest turning trees in this area. A drive down U.S. 421 towards Wilkesboro showed some improvement in color, with more bright yellow birches, maples, and tulip poplars, but even along this corridor, the peak had passed.

Farther south, Asheville appears to be your best bet for mountain fall colors. The higher elevations along the Blue Ridge Parkway are passed their peak, but down around the city, they are still quite showy. This website, with reports from the Biltmore Estate and other leaf lookers in the Asheville area, is a great resource for local color, drives and hikes:
http://www.exploreasheville.com/what-to-do/seasonal-fun/fall-color-in-the-asheville-area/asheville-fall-color-report/index.aspx. Right now, the oaks and hickories are peaking, with their yellows, reds and browns, along with red sourwoods, the occasional late maple, and deeply red black gums.
It's almost over in the Cullowhee/Sylva area, according to Kathy Mathews, from Western Carolina University. The mountainsides are looking very faded, but the leaves haven't all fallen yet. Down in the valleys there are still trees here and there with bright yellows and reds. Farther to the south, in Franklin, much the same story, according to Beverly Collins. Continuing to the Cashiers-Highlands area, the leaves are pretty far gone, particularly around Highlands. However, lower down, and in sheltered areas like the Tuckasegee Gorge between Cullowhee & Glenville, there are still scattered lovely trees - esp. hickories, russet-red oaks, scattered colorful maples, and sourwoods, according to Jim Costa. Oddly, a few small ones are still green - some maples and black locusts. Higher up most of the trees are bare, except for smaller individuals - maybe they are more sheltered. As recently as last week in the Smokies, the colors were fabulous, even fairly high up - lovely golden beeches and maples. However, the weekend rain and wind has knocked most of the leaves off now there as well around the Cullowhee, Cashiers, and Highlands regions over the past few days. Sorry for that, but as you know, we can complain all we want about the weather, but we can’t do much about it! In summary, there is will still be some good color this coming week, but not for much longer. So take a drive in the southern mountains this week, and soak in the last of the fall color for this season! Happy Driving and Hiking and Looking!

Latest Fall Color Prognostications and Fall Color Map

2009-10-09T16:20:00.003-04:00

Dear All - My latest fall color predictions are on my website at: http://today.appstate.edu/fall-colors/ and also at http://www.visitnc.com. This week, I've added a new map showing where fall colors should peak around the state. It can be accessed at: http://today.appstate.edu/fall-colors/2009-fall-color-peak-map.php. The unique aspect of this map, which was constructed in collaboration with Michael Denslow, from the Biology Department at Appalachian State University (thanks millions, Michael!) is that it takes into consideration both elevation and latitude to predict where fall colors should peak. Most other maps either use a previous year's estimate (which may work just as well, or even better, but who knows?) or just elevation. We'll continue to refine it over the years to see if it works for people.
For those of you following this blog, watch The Weather Channel this coming Thursday, October 16th, as yours truly, The Fall Color Guy, will be interviewed by Jim Cantore on fall color. I don't know the exact times, but it will in the morning and then again in the afternoon or early evening again. Truly an amazing happening, at least for me!
Talk to you all again next week. Remember, if you have photos or something to say about fall color, anywhere in the world, write in! We'd like to hear from you.

Fall Color Forecast Map for North Carolina

2009-09-28T10:35:00.003-04:00

Dear Folks - The NC Board of Tourism has an interactive fall color forecasting map, which I just found out about. It is at: http://www.visitnc.com/journeys/highlights/fall-color-l-fall-fishing

Go to this site, then click on the link for the Fall Color Forecasting Map, and then slide the leaf along the dates. Those parts of the state at peak color will show up, and then fade to brown as you move further into the season, indicating they are past their peaks. Nice map, although it's based on last year's data.

Also, I'm not sure if it takes into consideration the delays in fall color due to latitude, so I'm also working on a less interactive map, but with the elevation-latitude interactions built in. When it's ready, I'll post it here for everyone.

Ciao!
Howie Neufeld

Fall Color Update for Week of September 28, 2009

2009-09-28T10:17:00.002-04:00

Fall Color Update from the Mountains
September 28, 2009
Howard S. Neufeld

After a wet week, and a drenching Saturday, a cold front has moved in and the sun is now shining again. Over the next two weeks, we need these sunny, cool days to maximize our chances of a great fall color display. Colors are just beginning to show around Boone. Sugar and red maples (Acer saccharum and A. rubrum) are changing, with the occasional bright red tree standing out in a canopy of green. Tulip poplars (Liriodendron tulipifera), Fraser magnolias (Magnolia fraseri) and basswoods (Tilia americana) are now turning yellow. Dogwoods went early this year, including our native species (Cornus florida) and the ornamental kousa (C. kousa). Right now, both have brilliant red fruits flanked by green to burgundy red leaves. Burning bush (Euonymus alata), a common ornamental shrub, has turned an absolutely bright red. On clear days, it stands out against an azure blue sky like no other plant.

Over in Avery County, near Banner Elk, Baker Perry (professor of meteorology at Appalachian State University) tells me that colors are also just beginning to show around his house, which sits at ~4,000’ elevation. Jesse Pope, Chief Naturalist at Grandfather Mountain, says the mountain ash (Sorbus americana) berries are a bright red, making them stand out against their still green leaves, although some leaves are turning yellow. Red maples on Grandfather are now a vibrant orange. However, most forests in the High Country are still predominantly green. The next two weeks will be crucial for fall color at these high elevations.

You can find additional hints on fall color in North Carolina at the North Carolina's Board of Tourism site at: http://www.visitnc.com/journeys/articles/fall-color-l-fall-fishing/1/weekly-fall-color-reports

The Board also has an interactive map that predicts fall color across the state. You can access that at this address http://www.visitnc.com/journeys/highlights/fall-color-l-fall-fishing, and then click on the link for the Fall Color Forecaster Map.

To learn about the Science of Fall Color go to my Fall Color webpage at: http://today.appstate.edu/fall-colors/. This week’s column discusses how global climate change might impact fall color in the future.

Test Post

2009-09-24T10:35:00.003-04:00

This is a fall color blog by me, Howard Neufeld, the Fall Color Guy, from Appalachian State University. If you have something you want to write about fall color, or you want to ask a question about fall color, then this blog is for you. I look forward to hearing your comments.
In a few days, I'll also be posting a color map of NC showing expected times of peak fall color throughout the state.

Take care.

P.S. - The header photo of fall color on the blog page was taken by myself last fall from the top of Elk Knob State Park, Watauga County, NC, USA. We had a spectacular fall color display last year. This year, fall color seems to be coming early. If you're interested in the science of fall color, or my predictions of the quality and timing in western NC, go to my fall color page at:
http://today.appstate.edu/fall-colors/