AUTUMN LEAVES

                                                               Fall colors at the ranch.
                              Article printed in Intermountain Farm & Ranch, September 30, 2011

         This is a beautiful time of the year as the trees and bushes don their fall wardrobes of red, yellow, orange, and all shades in between. I love to ride through the back country in the fall and marvel at these panoramic views. Around Palisades Reservoir there is usually a fantastic display of fall colors with the aspens and pines combining yellows and greens. Up toward Bone and Gray’s Lake are usually some wonderful patches of fall beauty also. The early morning or late evening sun can really enhance the colors and that’s when I like to take pictures.

The other day Boyd, our son Jon, and I rode up through Brockman and back on the Skyline Road. The leaves were just starting into the “changing of our wardrobe” mode. Some pretty yellows mixed with the greens were visible, but very likely in another week the oranges and reds would overcome all. This has been a dry summer, so there were a lot of trees with “dead” looking leaves. Those aren’t pretty!

            I’ve done a bit of research on the chemical aspect of our fall colors.

There is an old Indian legend that says every fall, heavenly hunters kill and cook a great bear. Blood drips from the sky on the leaves of the earth. Then bear fat spatters from the cooking pot onto leaves, spotting the blood-red leaves with gold.

            And there’s also the tale of Jack Frost, in the fall, flitting from tree to tree with his paint brush and palette to paint the leaves different colors.  Fun stories to tell, but there is more to the story than this.

            Actually, it is three color pigments in combination – xanthophyllous, carotene, and anthocyanin – hiding behind the green chlorophyll in the leaves that dresses them in their autumn finery.

            Variables come into play here, causing the brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows. It seems that the brightest colors come following a warm, dry summer. Dry conditions encourage the production of anthocyanin. Drought conditions will not bring the same results.

            A warm dry summer has to be followed by temperature extremes in autumn. Leaves store more sugars during warm days and the sugars remain in place if the nights are cool. Sugar is a color-enhancing ingredient. So, the warmer the days and cooler the nights without freezing produces the most beautiful effects.

Moisture is also important. Just like the story of Goldilocks and the three bears:

·         too much moisture can ruin the leaf colors;

·         too little moisture causes the trees to drop the leaves early;

·         but just the right amount of moisture adds sparkle and brightness of color to the leaves.

            So, if the summer has been warm and dry – like ours has been this year - and if good rains come early in the fall and then clears, the chances are excellent for natures fall art show.

            Genetics also determines the range of shades within a color. For example, in aspens you can see the shades of yellow from yellowish-orange to yellow canary, and all the shades in between.

Maybe this has been too much information, but I find the factors determining our fall colors interesting. It just adds to the beauty and mystery of our seasons. Let me encourage all of you to go for a ride and view these things yourselves.