Though you’ll still see plenty of summer green leaves, the reds, oranges, and yellows are beginning to turn for the fall season.
Over the next month, you’ll notice autumn’s sunny days and cool nights prompting those color changes. While Morton Arboretum Plant Records Manager Ed Hedborn says moisture and wind determine a tree’s color intensity and leaf size.
“We haven’t had a lot of rain out of these last several showers or this summer,” said Hedborn. “So the soil is very dry and you can sort of see the effect on the tree behind me. The leaves are [not very big] but normally on a good year where they’ve had good moisture they’d be about [a lot] bigger. So the size of the leaf is smaller. In a sense the canvas of fall color might be a little smaller on this tree.”
Hedborn says plants and trees in more stressful areas, such as parking lots, will turn color and loose their leaves sooner than those growing in better locations like a park or forest.
Hedborn says the second and third week of October should be the best viewing of fall color in our area.
Naperville News 17’s Christine Lena reports.
