The meteorological fall officially started September 1st, while according to autumnal equinox fall doesn’t start until September 22nd. Does this matter? Not really, but I am amazed how much 30 miles can make a difference in the landscape for those awesome fall colors to start showing. This weekend was the fall motorcycle ride in Tomahawk and for those who headed farther north, will see just the start of changing leaves.

This past Thursday while heading to Woodruff, I was driving on county B towards Presque Isle from Land O Lakes and noticed some trees have already started preparing for winter as their fall colors are changing ever so much. Then as I headed out of Boulder Junction there was not one tree beginning to change. That goes for Saint Germain on my return trip. One thing that influences the timing of trees turning is moisture, but I didn’t realize the weather was that much of a difference in the towns surrounding Land O Lakes.

Besides less insects and cooler nights, no one can argue that at the end of September into October the color of the trees jumps out at you. During this time a large number of people that most locals call (leaf lookers) will travel to the Northwoods just to experience those brilliant red, purple, yellow and orange leaves from trees woven within the evergreens. Those awesome colors are caused by three pigments, CHLOROPHYLL, CAROTENOID and ANTHCYANIN. Even though those awesome colors mean the death of leaves, this is how these colors come to life.

In the spring and summer (GROWING SEASON) leaves produce chlorophyll & carotenoid, but the chlorophyll pigment covers the carotenoid, so the leaves stay green. Shorter days and colder nights, trees produce less chlorophyll and then stops, and the carotenoid pigment comes through, changing the green to yellow and orange on some trees. For Oak trees, the veins that carry fluid to the leaves slowly close and cells form at the base of each leaf that traps sap/sugar, and this promotes anthocyanin that produces the red & purple leaves and the only thing that could stop all this from happening is a severe frost.

There are many folks in parts of the mid-west don’t look forward to the winter months because flowers die, grass turns brown, all the trees are bare and look dead. So, I can see why fall can be a little depressing for some. But thanks to the massive number of evergreens, even after the trees that produced those awesome colors go dormant, the Northwoods are still alive and green. Some might wonder why evergreens do not go dormant in the winter. Here’s my best explanation.

Evergreens use chlorophyll to capture sunlight, and this is the reason their green all year. The needles store and conserve water and even though they stay green during the winter, evergreens are basically hibernating. Will evergreens ever lose their needles? They sure do, but not all at once. If you take a walk in the woods (or my yard) in the fall, you will see brown (DEAD) needles everywhere. When the old needles fall off, new needles are growing (LIGHTER GREEN AT THE END OF THE STEM).

Then, the wax like coating on the needles makes evergreens resistant to the cold weather and can even withstand frost. Snow also helps insulate evergreens from extreme weather, when snow forms a blanket around the base of the evergreens to keep the roots insulated. I’m thinking colors will peak around the last week of September to the first week of October. But SOME maple trees are starting to show that brilliant red.

REMEMBER, WHEN THAT AWE FACTOR IS OVER AND THE TREES ARE BARE, WE WILL STILL HAVE THOSE BEAUTIFUL EVERGREENS. THE NEXT BEST THING TO OUR FALL COLORS IS THE FIRST TIME THOSE EVERGREENS ARE COVERED WITH SNOW.