Fall Color Report: Week of November 2, 2009

Howie Neufeld, Ph.D.
Professor of Plant Physiology
Appalachian State University
http://www.appstate.edu/~neufeldhs

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. The Asheville Area Fall Color Report, with reports from the Biltmore Estate and other leaf lookers in the Asheville area, is a great resource for local color, drives and hikes. 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!

And don't forget my blog at http://www.fallcolorguy.blogspot.com.