arbordave, my experience is that often drier years produce good color on many trees because the usual fungi/bacteria need moisture to work havoc on leaves. This is especially notable on black walnuts in my area as they usually get anthracnose in the early fall unless it's real dry (they were practically bare here by mid-Sept). I'm convinced that constant, heavy morning dews in my low area are the reason sugar maples here get early leaf-scorch and those higher up don't.

My sourwood "bush". Healthy and blooms alot, but can't get it to become a tree.

Ginkgo leaves got fried by freeze as usual, but this shows its ancient relation w/conifers w/its single main stem, tho they can have all kinds of forms.

How did I miss this post...no wonder no one wants to do mine....

Junkie...way above...no I don't think it looks normal...

I planted all these trees when we moved in about 20.years ago...wait for it...that's tree time...lol....2 decades...

Ken

Lookin good, ken!

Amazing colours, Ken. Nothing that bright here. I looked hard while out today and saw nothing worth photographing. A bit of dull yellow and a lot of green.

I missed taking a photo of a paper birch in full yellow yesterday when biking around town, I thought of your thread ken, later on, but too lazy (been sick too) to ride over again and take a pic. :-))

Nice trees!

My Drwaf Burning Bush

trees down the block

My Japanese Maple

debra

Red Dragon maple is really purpling out 10/24/22

Witch Hazel, Inaba Shidare maple, Witch Hazel, Aureum Maple

Altogether now

For a hickory, shellbark is pretty fast -- this was transplanted as a tiny seedling about 10 yrs ago. Quite a bit of shade from the old sugar maple just out of sight to right doesn't bother it. Orange at right is dawn redwood after only 18 yrs.

Trunk bark is "shagging" some. Pieces look loose, but actually are still tightly adhering. Dawn redwood trunk at right.

Nyssa sylvatica 'Green Gable' still behind schedule, but coloring up quickly now.

Acer japonicum 'The Rising Sun'

Viburnum nudum 'Winterthur'

Two hickories across the street from me

Good year for color on Hydrangea quercifolia

Another pic of my sourwood -- color gets even more pink & lasts for a relatively long time.

Two ginkgos in downtown Cumberland in tough conditions (very little open area for root zone).

Corylus americana barely gets a hint of color before leaf drop here.

Serviceberry lasts just a bit longer.

tj

Not real spectacular this season, but the Bicolor oak is showing some colors.

Quercus bicolor:

:-)

We are just back from a long vacation out in Utah, and darn near missed central Kentucky fall color. The droughty period through September/October ruined a lot of what would normally be stalwart performers. Crispy leaves on this less tolerant viburnums (primarily V. plicatum and V. nudum) and most all the witch-hazels meant much less vibrance.

Louisville, however, fared much better, so travels around town to project venues offered a lot to see and enjoy.

This is a plant you won't see everywhere: Acer saccharum 'Adelaide', a selection of the Caddo Maple strain made by Steve Bieberich from Oklahoma. Extremely drought and heat tolerant, this individual is quite at home in this sea of asphalt in west Louisville at the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage (KCAAH).

Nice!

VV, very unusual for a sugar maple, almost like a 'cut-leaf' JM.

I was a little late getting pictures of mine too. A hard frost last week caused many tree leaves to simply drop to the ground overnight.

The Crataegus Chrysocarpa Ashe had nice color but only had one leaf left when I looked. :-/

chamaegardener - I'm curious what varieties of witch-hazel those are?

sah67 - my Brandywine viburnum looked almost as nice as your Winterthur earlier this fall. Do you have a 2nd variety for pollination? Most years Brandywine produces a good amount of seed without any pollinator at my location.

beng - I wish I could grow sourwood at my location. Every time I've seen one in the fall the color has been outstanding.

tj - I have a young Corylus that also gets a hint of nice color, briefly (photo below 10/19/22)

ViburnumValley - we've planted 'Sweet Shadow' and 'Fiddler's Creek' sugar maples, both of which have similar cut leaf foliage and nice fall color. Haven't seen either available recently.

Parrotia leaves (10/25/22)

Aronia (10/25/22)

sweetgum (10/25/22)

Glenleven linden 10/28 (most years doesn't have very good fall color)

Fothergilla in my backyard this morning (10/29/22)

Fothergilla Mount Airy is one of the last plants in the garden to develop color.

In the woods, all the remaining color is the last of the beeches.

Loving the reds...

All great entries! So much Fall beauty throughout the country. :-)

This will be my last entry for the season. It's still not peak but with the sun shining through the leaves, it's close.

Physocarpus Opulifolius:

arbordave, impressive that sweetgum grows in MI. The farthest north wild sweetgums I've seen were in lower slopes close to the New River/Charleston area in central WV.

Fall colors this year are generally very good -- alot of bright oranges/yellows on the mountain slopes. My near 65 ft tall honeylocust coloring is usually only so-so, but good this year. I've had quite a few frosts, but relatively mild ones, 27 F has been the coldest.

Arbordave,

I think the smaller one is

'Jelena' witch hazel

Hamamelis x intermedia 'Jelena' offers lovely orange-red flowers in early winter. In autumn, the foliage turns shades of orange and red. It grows 12 feet tall and wide. Zones 5-9

The bigger yellow one is

Common witch hazel

Hamamelis virginiana is a North American native offering yellow flowers in autumn and brilliant golden fall foliage. It grows 12 feet tall and wide. Zones 3-8

Not leaves, but Little Bluestem is coloring up nicely.

tj

I’ll second Fothergilla. A late season, long-lasting, kaeidoscope of color.

Maackia, I don’t remember where you are. would you please add a general location? I am trying tio decide if there is any chance of Fothergilla growing in my new place in the Great Lakes.

It grows fine for me here and maackia is colder than I am. It should be fine for you.

tj

Thanks, TJ. I was more worried about soil pH since I have read that it prefers acidic soil.. in my current garden that is fine, but I wasn’t sure about ttight clay that is slightly alkaline in my new spot. is your soil similar to what is near Madison?

I have clay with a pH in the high 7s. It has been top dressed with my compost over the years, but it was a new bed when first planted and still quite sticky clay.

tj

Great info, TJ. Thanks.

I have tried to edit my account to add this information, but it eludes me. I’m 100 miles east of the Twin Cities, which is solid z4. There are actually three shrubs in that picture. They languished until I removed a large, but declining white pine. This is based wholly on my experience with three shrubs, but I’d try to give them a few hours of direct sun. Cold hardiness should not be an issue.

Thanks, Maackia.

Maackia- I made my location info my last name.

tj

Witch hazel

Dakota Pinnacle Birch

Jetstream Hydrangea

Jetstream Hydrangea is new to me, and I’ve never tried growing Oakleaf H. Did you find it locally?

Acer x. ’Cinnamon Flake’. This is probably the last of the color in my yard, most things are now bare. Dawn Redwood in behind with that deep russet color.

I got it several years ago and can't remember where. Must've been local. It's only reliably crown hardy here so just a foliage plant, but great fall color.

“It’s only reliably crown hardy…”

That was my next question. I’ve yet to run across one that has been top hardy for more than a few years. Do you have any Tree Peonies that rarely suffer winter damage?

Ruby Slippers is the other oakleaf that seems relatively cold hardy and I've even seen that one bloom here every once in a while.

I do have two tree peonies that do fine here, no idea what their names are. A bright pink one and a purple-pink one. Probably bought them at Tangletown.

Some late color. Umbrella magnolia -- not "beautiful", but at least interesting. Fringe trees in foreground and a sea of leaves from the sycamore.

Some witch hazel just on other side of border stream.

Ostensibly a Shumard oak from OIKOS, but the leaves are very small for a pure one, so I suspect it's hybridized with something, maybe pin or scarlet oak. Holds its browned leaves all winter unlike pure Shumard oak. Leafs early and often badly damaged by late-spring frosts.

Male, thornless osage orange graft (if you look close, you can see the graft-line near the ground). Not good color, but showing off its arching American elm-like form. Growing on a rockpile.

My Ginkgo ’Mariken’ never colored up…until this year…

And a neighborhood 40-50 footer. Wish I could get a pic from a better angle.

tj

2 out of 4 of my ginkgos did something I hadn't seen before. All were still green before the deep freeze. Princeton Sentry and Goldspire dropped all the leaves quickly as expected. Jade Butterflies and Mariken stuck to the plant and are still there. You can see the mariken in my photo of Dakota Pinnacle.

tj - that 40-50' ginkgo is pretty impressive. I drove past this nice ginkgo today (11/4/22)

and this Ruby Sunset Maple (planted about 4 years ago)

beng - your umbrella magnolia photo reminded me of this pawpaw photo I took Saturday 10/29/22, (one that I grew from seed) -- not "beautiful", but at least interesting

Gingko provides excellent fall color. wow

Winged Sumac (Rhus copallinum) between a parking lot and sidewalk in town. Photo yesterday (11/5/22)

Nice color on this blackgum today (11/10/22)

We don’t get the spectacular show that you have in N. America, but we do get a bit of colour and some of it still around now. 28 Nov.

Fagus sylvatica

The drought in Texas this year caused some early burnt tips, and mellowed my crape myrtles, but still managed to have a decent fall.

Obiligatory Shumard Oak:

Natchez Crape Myrtle & Mikawa Yatsubusa JM

Closer

Ruby Falls Redbud looked more yellow in person than in pictures:

Shantung Maple

Red Twig Dogwood

Skeeter's Broom JM

Two weeks earlier

Fire Dragon Shantung Maple