Is it just me or this proving to be a better year than most recent ones? Seems that way. I couldn't believe some of the scenes along I-95 in Cecil County, I had to try to take a few pics from my smartphone. (I know, I know...I made sure there were no other cars around and to be very careful about it)

(better version now!)

I think one difference is there have been some autumns recently when, at least here, we had a lot of dreary or at least partly cloudy weather during the peak, not clear blazing sun and blue skies.

First pic is my front yard, second was taken in Sullivan County NY.

Thought I'd get these in before fading. A gray, dreary day, but these shine.

Swamp white oak 8 seasons old (pin oak to left):

Nice Swamp White Oak, beng. Same basic color scheme as Bur Oak in fall, except it leans more yellow and is more brilliant as a result.

Side note, that Bur I posted is a street tree (planted in the strip between the streed and sidewalk) near me in Columbia, MD. Very 'random'. It's the only Quercus macrocarpa on that street, the surrounding trees are much larger Q. palustris and phellos. There's one other "oddball" oak a ways up the street, a Q. lyrata. My guess is the original palustris died or fell and they just stuck whatever oak they could find there as a replacement.

Prince, I enjoyed your Arboretum pics.

My Parrotia persica is getting some good color this year. A little bit better than average.

Aesculus hippocastanum, not usually known for Autumn foliage colour.

A few shots from Ames, IA. Liquidambar 'Moraine' and Taxodium 'Shawnee Brave'

"Nice Swamp White Oak, beng. Same basic color scheme as Bur Oak in fall, except it leans more yellow and is more brilliant as a result."

Something to look forward to with mine.

I regret not getting pix this year as the trees were exceptional.

Mike

Acer North Wind, Metasequioia, Ginkgo

Sam, that's a nice picture!

Mike

thanks for the compliment, sometimes all the stars line up and the pic comes out nice. I can't take a pic in bright sun to save my soul.

I try to take all my pics when the sky is overcast. Not a problem here near Seattle :-) Pictures taken when it's sunny usually have too much contrast.

Mike

I saw some nice ginkgos today, but couldn't get a pic as I was driving by at 40 mph.

Interesting fall. Very good overall, even the MULBERRIES are a nice yellow. I can't recall ever seeing that.

The oaks, however, only seem about average here. The reds overall better than the whites, when compared to their respective averages. Scarlets are turning out nicely so far (not peak yet), N. Red has been good, Pins have been good.

The white oaks are 'meh'. A lot of albas that are usually outstanding are only "good" this year, and those that are usually at least passable are pretty dismal. It seems that many of them started off nicely, but about the time they should peak, the leaves have already turned crisp and dropped. There was a lot of general foliar damage on oaks this year (fungal and insects) so maybe that shortened the color season. Some bicolors have been a decent yellow, however.

Here's a Stewartia monadelpha in front of a couple of Japanese maples. That's a Cunninghamia lanceolata 'Glauca' in the background next to a Dawn Redwood.

Reds of November. Bald & pond cypresses, and the biggest, a dawn redwood:

Dakota Pinnacle Birch Fall Color- Pic quality is low due to high winds. I missed the peak of fall color by a few days as we were working on a wall elsewhere- at peak is a beautiful golden yellow.

Scarlet Oak Fall Color- I didn't get close enough to the tree to ensure that it was Scarlet but most pin oaks have moderate to severe chlorosis here and none was apparent on this tree. As mentioned earlier the red oak group has been outstanding this year and the white oak group has simply been so-so.

Snowstorm Spirea- this is a Proven Winners shrub that really does well in many conditions. It has blue-green foliage, large white flowers, and glowing fall color that will occasionally turn bright orange after the start of colors shown here.

Sweet Autumn Clematis- This vine is on top of my mother's dog kennel and does great all season. Look how neat it is right now after the flowers are spent.

As soon as I think I can tell apart Scarlet, Black, and Pin oak...I find out otherwise. The Scarlet Oak above I posted is definitely a Scarlet, the acorns tell the tale.
Scarlet has slightly larger leaves than pin oak, but there is enough variation within each species that it's not definite. They say Scarlet has C shaped lobes and pin U shaped. However, I have seen definite pin oak (again, I can tell by the acorns) that has c shaped lobes.

Cornus florida 'Cherokee Princess'. Looked better a couple of days ago...

Cherokee Princess is a beautiful tree in all seasons.

I had one for awhile, but anthracnose wouldn't leave it alone so I got rid of it.

Hortster, you're lucky you can grow it. All Cornus floridas are a no-no for me. :-(

Mike

Few people have much luck with flowering dogwood in this location - hot, dry summers and high pH soils. This one is very protected and the area gets a dusting of sulfur every two or three years. Because there aren't many around here anthracnose isn't a likely problem. Love the tree both spring and fall.

Thanks sam -- beautiful, big ginkgo.

One advantage of "Mexican Dogwood", Cornus florida subsp. urbiniana, besides the odd looking flowers: it is extremely late to color. Which, in my climate that seldom has a freeze before Thanksgiving, is OK. Other dogwoods have already dropped most of their leaves and this is just starting to color.

Beautiful, David! I just might be able to raise that. No freeze here yet, but just down the road I saw a light frost the other morning. It's a warm 48F. now.

I have a thread on Fall color of maples in the Maples Forum for those of you who usually don't go there. (ken) ;-)

Fall Maple Pictures 2015

Mike

Hard

to capture in pics but interesting how the leaflets fall and the rachis turns red

Everything is just about bare now, except for a few oaks.

This is a pic of a very intense-colored Quercus alba about a week ago. The leaves had already started to dry. It's mostly bare now.

Crape Myrtle about a week ago.

Hair, thought I'd link to this really big MD ginkgo:

http://mdbigtrees.com/tree_detail.aspx?tree=TR20121021210802580