Let's Fall, Y'all

I love Georgia's fall foliage colors. Where I live in the Piedmont, we are far north enough to have a beautiful mix of colors in November. The color can be fairly long-lasting when you consider the progression of colors among the various hardwoods.

Fall 2019 

We start with the orange of Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) and the brilliant reds (and yellows) of red maple (Acer rubrum). Red maple has a particularly striking range of colors. The picture above, taken this week at a lake in Canton, GA, is probably mostly if not all red maples because they are often found at lake edges around here.

Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum)

While the maples are still showy, the sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum) leaves start to turn. They also have quite a range, often on the same tree: pinks and yellows with hints of orange and purple. Tall hickories (Carya sp.) also light up the woodland areas with yellow and gold, fading to burnt butter as they finish.

Poking around the roadside edges are bright sumacs (Rhus sp.) and pines draped with muscadine (Vitis rotundifolia) vines turning soft yellow. The grape leaves show up well against the green of the pines. A serviceberry (Amelanchier sp.) or two also reveals itself along the sunny edges, it's small but bright leaves finally giving it away. The star-shaped leaves of sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) color up in an amazing range of colors along the roads too: yellow to pink-red to deep purple.

It will be later in November that the oaks (Quercus sp.) and American beeches (Fagus grandifolia) finally turn in rich shades of gold, red, and brown. Paired with the green of the pine trees, they make for beautiful displays along the hills and ridges of North Georgia.

I've written about fall color before in previous blogs with examples of specific colors (in case you're trying to identify something you've seen) and ideas for adding fall color to your landscape:

Yellow Fall Foliage

Orange, Red and Purple Fall Foliage

Fall Color in 2018 (lots of links in this one)

Dependable Fall Color for your Landscape

Another part of the same lake 2019