It's Fall !

It's mid-fall, leaf-peeper time. If you're not familiar with the term, “leaf peeper” relates to the tourists who flock to a handful of states in the northern United States to see the colors of the tree leaves in the fall. Sugar and red maples are the trees that are the primary bringers of fall colors – orange, yellow and red.

Those species are joined by white ash; the sumacs; four species of birch; aspen, both bigtooth and quaking; and a host of other less common species. In some areas they're also joined by the many species of oaks, but the colors of oak leaves aren't normally as vibrant as those of the maples and birches.

Many of the tourists come for the grand vistas painted with reds, yellows and greens, others come to drive the quiet country roads and marvel at some of the individual trees. Me, in many ways I find the individual leaves, fungi, flowers, a feather or perhaps a single branch of a tree the most eye-pleasing of the fall colors.

In celebration of fall's riot of color, here's a sample of those smaller treats for the eyes –

Poison Ivy

Purple-stemmed Aster

Wingstem

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sugar Maple

Small White Aster

Sassafrass

Sugar Maple

Honey Mushroom

Sugar Maple

Cinnamon Fern

Flowering Dogwood

Great Lobelia

Red Maple

Blue Jay Feather

Black Maple

Black Birch

Virginia Creeper

So, yes indeed, fall is a treat for the eyes before the drab days of November. Go forth and enjoy the season.