Sacramento fall leaf season looks spectacular; enjoy it while you can
Gingko trees add vibrant splashes of yellow-gold leaves to the Sacramento area's show of fall color. Other street trees add red, orange and crimson. Kathy Morrison
Following sunny and warm days, recent overnight lows in the 40s (and longer nights) have brought out rich rainbow hues of yellow, orange and red. Those pigments are revealed when more darkness and chilly temperatures “turn off” the green chlorophyll in leaves, and the other colors can shine through. With fewer hours of daylight, foliage stops producing chlorophyll and the green pigment disappears.
According to the U.S. Forest Service, the major influencer on autumn color is that growing darkness.
“As days grow shorter, and nights grow longer and cooler, biochemical processes in the leaf begin to paint the landscape with Nature’s autumn palette,” says the forest service, an expert on colorful fall foliage.
Carotenoids (as in carrots) give leaves yellow, orange and brown hues. Anthocyanin, which is stimulated by bright fall light and excess sugars in leaves, is responsible for the reds as well as any bluish or purple tones.
“During the growing season, chlorophyll is continually being produced and broken down and leaves appear green,” the forest service explains. “As night length increases in the autumn, chlorophyll production slows down and then stops and eventually all the chlorophyll is destroyed. The carotenoids and anthocyanin that are present in the leaf are then unmasked and show their colors.”
Some trees are particularly known for their fall display. Maples, for example, reveal their variety by their autumn foliage. Red maples live up to their name with scarlet leaves. Sugar maples become bright orange-red. Black maples turn glowing yellow.
Oaks tend to turn red or russet but some species – such as black oaks – go gold. (And live oaks stay evergreen.) Oaks also tend to hold onto their colorful leaves long after other species have dropped their foliage.
With mature urban forest, Sacramento’s older neighborhoods boast the best color. Look for the gingkos, Chinese pistaches, scarlet maples and liquidambar trees in Land Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Carmichael, Fair Oaks and Greenhaven also have many brilliant maples, crape myrtles, flowering pears and other autumn stars.
Recent weather boosted Sacramento’s color show.
“A succession of warm, sunny days and cool, crisp but not freezing nights seems to bring about the most spectacular color displays,” says the forest service. “During these days, lots of sugars are produced in the leaf but the cool nights and the gradual closing of veins going into the leaf prevent these sugars from moving out. These conditions – lots of sugar and light – spur production of the brilliant anthocyanin pigments, which tint reds, purples, and crimson. Because carotenoids are always present in leaves, the yellow and gold colors remain fairly constant from year to year.”
Enjoy that color show while you can. By the end of next week, those pretty leaves may be only a memory (or mulch).
According to the National Weather Service, a storm front is expected to hit Sacramento on Tuesday. The combination of wind and rain (possibly an inch) will likely knock down most of that foliage. Our attention will turn from admiring all those leaves to raking them up instead.
So snap your leaf photos now. As the forest service says, “The countless combinations of ... highly variable factors assure that no two autumns can be exactly alike.”
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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3
November still offers good weather for fall planting:
* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.
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