I returned home from Japan and Indonesia on late Thursday evening to find my main display garden ablaze in color, what a nice welcome home! Although the colors are beautiful, they are not quite at their peak… yet. Probably next week or the week after they should be even better.

Most people think the cold temperatures bring on the autumn colors of deciduous species. However, the onset of dormancy actually begins on June 21^st when the daylight decreases. Although the diminishing light is not immediately apparent to humans, the plants can detect the reduced light. This stimulates the onset of dormancy, but the cooler weather in September is more apparent to people. Sometimes after a hard frost or freeze colors intensify.

It’s interesting that some species always turn a certain color in autumn, like the Ginkgo which always turns clear yellow. Burning bush, Euonymus alatus, always turns red to pink in autumn. But, some species have many different coloring each autumn, like some maples.

Burning bush

I have a Chinese elm forest with about twenty seedlings and two or three always turn red-pink rather than the common yellow.

 2002  2008

Here are some photos of one of my Trident maples illustrating the different autumn coloring during the years. I’m not quite sure as I’m still experimenting, but it seems to me the fertilizer, water and sunlight combined greatly affect autumn coloring. The final autumn coloring this year is not yet complete so here are some older photos. I have one where the entire tree is bright orange, but can’t seem to find it. Not finding photos or other items which I “know” I have sometimes happens since our house BBQ a few years ago. But, I’m thankful for what we still have. Photos are difficult, if not impossible to replace.

 2001    2010

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This was my main display garden yesterday. Today after I took some more photos we had a wind storm which blew many of the leaves off the trees. A few of the bonsai looked especially colorful so took a few individual photos.

This was my main display garden yesterday. Today after I took some more photos we had a wind storm which blew many of the leaves off the trees. A few of the bonsai looked especially colorful so took a few individual photos.

 Crabapple

 Crabapple

 Nippon daisy chrysanthemum

The Washington hawthorn suddenly turned orange and also had some fruit so it was taken into the studio for an autumn display with Toad lilies which just finished blossoming.

Enjoy autumn while it lasts, and I hope for a long time, because you know what is coming up….