Traveling Hwy 267 from Truckee to Kings Beach, yesterday, we passed groves of aspen that are still green, though showing early signs of color. A copse of aspen have begun to show flashes of yellow at approx. 6,500′.
Refrigerator trees (madrone) in Rancho San Antonio Open Space Reserve (Los Altos) are warming up with red, orange and yellow in an early display that has local spotters asking whether the drought has contributed to this unseasonal show of fall color.
Wiki.answers.com reports that the madrone (arbutus menziesii) is native to chaparral regions. Its outside layer and leaves use sunlight to photosynthesize nutrients and energy. Since the outside layer of madrone trunks transports water and life-supporting fluids, the trunk of the tree is cold, explaining why madrones are called the refrigerator tree. Madrone do not have a dead layer of bark on their trunks or branches. The entire tree produces energy, including the trunk and branches. Just Starting – Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve
http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2014-08-25 10:14:502014-09-04 17:07:14Rancho San Antonio Refrigerator Trees Get Hot
Liquidambar, South of West Hollywood in LA (8/12/14 – LA Leaf Peeper)
Wow! One of our loyal followers (she calls herself LA Leaf Peeper) sends this photo of early color in Los Angeles, south of West Hollywood. It appears to be a liquidambar (sweet gum) that has begun to show color. LA Leaf Peeper writes that these trees are glorious in November, so the early splash of red was a delightful mid-August surprise.
Spots of color change are happening now, as individual specimens turn earlier than expected. The amount of light (a major trigger of color change) is relatively constant, so that’s not likely a factor, though water, weather and an individual tree or shrub’s genetic coding could most certainly contribute to a disposition for early change. LA Leaf Peeper adds, humorously that at least, “The left tree still knows it is summer.”
Just Starting – Los Angeles – individual specimen trees are beginning to show color.
http://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.png00John Poimiroohttp://www.californiafallcolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/logo-1.pngJohn Poimiroo2014-08-13 10:22:372014-08-13 10:22:37Early Color in Los Angeles
New for 2014 is the California Fall Color Map seen at left. This interactive map is exclusive to CaliforniaFallColor.com and provides a quick way to see where the color is changing in California and at what stage.
Non-reporting areas appear in dark green. All reporting areas have leaves in light green, yellow, orange, red or brown, depending on the fall color’s stage of development. This new scale matches that used by The Weather Channel: Just starting, patchy, near peak, peak and past peak. The colors are based on reports received from volunteer color spotters located throughout California.
Anyone can be a color spotter. Just email a current report to editor(at)californiafallcolor.com stating where the fall color is seen, at what stage the color is (just starting, patchy, near peak, peak, past peak), your name and – if you have one – a current photograph of what you’re reporting. We’ll publish the report with credit attributed to you.
Each Thursday morning from the first day of autumn to Thanksgiving Day, we send summaries of each week’s reports to media across California (every TV meteorologist and all travel and outdoor reporters) based on reports received from our network of color spotters. The best photos could appear, with credit, in newspapers or on TV.
Though no color is yet appearing, our first report this year is from St. Helena in the Napa Valley where Brian Baker of the Chateau Montelena winery notes that an early harvest is expected. That could mean an earlier show of fall color in the vineyards.
Increasingly, since the beginning of August, blue oak leaves have begun appearing on my lawn. I never see them falling and the oaks still seem to be full of blue-green foliage. It’s an invisible rain. One day, nothing. The next, a carpet of dry detritus.
I suppose the oaks are telling me fall is approaching. This is about the time of year (early August) when our color spotters and loyal followers start looking us up, wondering if what they’re seeing is already being reported by us.
The appearance of autumn always happens here or there in mid to late summer… a single tree begins to show flashes of yellow, leaves begin falling and yards become littered as mine has.
The drought seems to have little to do with this though, certainly, lack of water affects foliage and shortens the brilliance or duration of the display. Still, there will be color change and it will be spectacular in locations throughout the state. Though, our guess is that some places that were glorious in past years, may be disappointing this year.
One way to know where the color is best, is to keep returning to this site. Our reporting begins in earnest in September, though if early reports are received we’ll post them. As in the past, anyone can be a color spotter. Simply email your report or photo to editor(at)californiafallcolor.com, comment on any of this site’s blogs, tweet to @CalifFallColor, or post on our Facebook page, California Fall Color.
If you’ve searched for us on Google lately, you may have noticed that someone supposedly hacked our site. As far as we can tell, our site was not hacked. What was hacked was how Google describes us in search results. Visiting californiafallcolor.com is entirely safe. Do not fear visiting californiafallcolor.com or clicking through on Google to it.
Our tech has reset how we describe this site to Google and I’m told it will take Google 30 days to scrub what the hacker inserted and return our listing to its correct description. The hacking of Google was a senseless, criminal act that had the effect of alarming internet users searching for our site.
More fundamental than our frustration over someone else trying to take advantage of our site’s renown is the question, “Who thinks it’s a good business practice to insert your message in someone else’s promotion?” The hacker got Google to add words promoting purchase of erectile dysfunction medication next to our site’s name and to replace the description of our site in Google with a message to buy pharmaceuticals online, in search results. However, the hacking was so inept that the hacker failed to provide a link to the pharmaceutical supplier. Had they identified themselves, we would have sought legal action to prosecute them for trade infringement.
Ah well, on to happier things. We’re working on a new, interactive California Fall Color Map to appear on the home page that will show where color can be seen in all corners of California. More about the new map will be reported in our next blog. Regular reports will begin in September, though we will publish any report of fall color emailed to editor(at)californiafallcolor.com. In the meantime, enjoy the invisible rain.