California Fall Color

Dude, autumn happens here, too.

75 – 100% – Urban Forests - Northern California’s urban forests have been peaking this past week with majestic London planetree and ancient Chinese pistache spreading colored branches across Land Park in Sacramento.  The San Francisco Bay Area is dressed with red, yellow, gold and orange in time for Thanksgiving Day reunions.  Though holiday lights will soon overtake this natural show in the northstate, Southern California has more color to show through December.

75-100% – Urban Forests - Urban areas throughout California are glowing colorfully in time for Thanksgiving Day.  Mild weather has contributed to keeping leaves and berries on the trees.  The colorful show has now descended among exotic trees to below 1,000 ft in elevation with Chinese pistache showing flame red, crabapples yellow to orange-red, Sycamores varying from chartreuse to burnt sienna, and plums radiating burgundy red.  Look for the color to continue through Thanksgiving week in the Sierra Foothills, Sacramento, Fresno and San Francisco Bay Area.

A cornucopia of color among Napa's vines (File Photo) - John Poimiroo

The vibrant colors of autumn will be spread across dining room tables today, throughout California, as families and friends gather to commemorate their Thanksgiving Day.  The weather today will be clear and crisp… a good day to venture out bundled up for a cold autumn walk to enjoy the last glimpses of what has been a long-lasting fall color season.

California’s three-month display of fall color has now descended to sea level.  As, above 2,000 ft, particularly in Northern California, there’s a blanket of snow and ice.  Look for vibrant colors in Northern and Southern California city forests, the parks and landscaped boulevards that provide such varied displays of fall color.  Fall color showed a bit later and has been longer lasting than in the past two years.  The Napa and Sonoma County vineyards still have splashes of red, orange and yellow, though most of the autumn color has dropped.

So many varieties of colorful plants glow in this Mediterranean climate, that California has truly earned title as the having the longest-lasting and most diverse display of autumn color in America.  The display began even before the autumnal equinox, in the high reaches of the Eastern Sierra and has, since, descended at an approximate pace of dropping a thousand feet in elevation, since.  And so, unlike other areas of the country where if you weren’t there exactly when it turned, the color disappeared, in California color can be seen peaking at various elevations from mid September through mid December.

75% to Past Peak — Urban Forests.  Bold, orange persimmon fruit hang from their trees’ branches in urban and suburban gardens.  Liquidambar styraciflua put on their firey appearance.  Chinese pistache are largely past peak now, though an occasional specimen still carries its orange to yellow leaves.  The vines, wisteria and parthenocissus are turning soft yellow to blends of red, orange gold amidst the green, to provide the final flashes of color in this Golden State.

This blog marks the final official California Fall Color posting of 2010′s autumn.  We will likely add other occasional reports on California color, as they are received (such as our mid winter report on desert flowers), but like the autumn leaves, we’re now Past Peak.  Our thanks to all those California color spotters who reported color appearing in their area of California.  Please return to visit us again next autumn.  Happy Thanksgiving!