As I have noted previously, there's not a lot of great fall color in the backyard right now. And, good leaf color is a bit scarce around the block. However, I did come across a nice late rose in a neighbor's front yard:

Thanks for sharing, Robert, it's a great colour. Quite a few people have mentioned on other threads that autumn has been milder than usual this year - it that the same for you? Here it's definitely chillier than it was this time last year, although we have yet to have any real frost.

Does anyone know whether fall colours are better if it's colder (or milder)? They do seem to vary from year to year.

jmorth said:Not sure what that tree is, here's a full view:


Plato was all ears when I told him you said hello!

Looks like the tree is a Malus..crab apple

cliftoncat said:Thanks for sharing, Robert, it's a great colour. Quite a few people have mentioned on other threads that autumn has been milder than usual this year - it that the same for you? Here it's definitely chillier than it was this time last year, although we have yet to have any real frost.

Does anyone know whether fall colours are better if it's colder (or milder)? They do seem to vary from year to year.

From my perspective it seems like the colors are much better with milder weather, plus we in Minnesota have had a lot of water for the year, which may also factor into the beautiful colors.

We are still in a nice, comfy temp range, but with cooler nights. So our fall colors are still a bit slow in coming.

But I got some photos earlier:


pyracantha shrubs full of berries along the canal way and road median divider:





Some more trees:




And this bush inside our subdivision, looks quite colorful:

What beautifully rich colours, Tarev - I especially love those in the the group of trees in photo 12. Also love pyracantha - we have a hedge of it here, but sadly our handyman (a topiary addict) keeps it so well trimmed that we haven't seen any berries on it for several years!

Thanks Mika! City trees by our fence line is just not ready yet..been quite calm too, so no windy shakedown happening yet. Oh, your handyman reminds me of our HOA gardeners here who eagerly pruned our topiaries in mid Spring, so annoyed they did it, it would have been my first time to see it make some blooms.

Our city trees are still dilly dallying...but top part I think is slowly turning very light yellow.

Gorgeous pics Tarev

Thanks Ginny!

A rather clousy, dark, damp day today. But, we do need the rain. The weather folks has been whispering the d(rought) word. So, it's grab the camera and check out the backyard;
First, found that the Jackmanii clematis is still producing flowers:
I know, not exactly autumn leaves.
Then I found that my crepe myrtle was starting to evolve a bit of its autumn coloring:

Finally, I found an Autumn Blaze Maple fallen leaf which strongly contrasted with the generally orange/pink leaves it was showing this fall:

Then it was back to the den office to continue fiddling with the new laptop.

Love the detail in your photos, Robert. And I think 'clousy' should be added to the OED!

Water tower in the background.

Neat - at first I thought the water tower was a hot air balloon!

I see that now, could have cut the base out...

Got up from the computer and headed through the dining room; looked out the window - a fading sunset! Grabbed one of the cameras and headed for the park entrance:
A bit late!
Looked across the street and even though it was fairly dark; took a chance :

Walked around the block and tried a couple of more shots (in the dusk):
You may recognize this tree.
Then I took a shot with a bit of fill-in flash :

It was really getting dark, but I tried a couple of shots of the flowers from previous postings :
Available light! With flash.

Your second picture is stunning!! Looks like some of the clouds are falling out of the sky.

Amanda's right - lovely shots, Robert. There's something special about photos taken in early or late light - I love the way the light is playing on the leaves of the rebellious birch. And I also really like the fill-flash photo. Are those lights up for Christmas already?

cliftoncat said:Are those lights up for Christmas already?

If I recall correctly, they have those lights there all year round.

I bought and planted this young tree as quercus palustris (pin oak) a few years ago, looking forward to rich red autumn leaves. But so far the fall colour is more burnt orange than red - could this be because of the weather or soil, might it become redder in time, could it be incorrectly labelled, or is this the colour it's supposed to be?

And here's a Liquidambar we planted about 15 years ago (against a clousy sky!) - it's grown pretty quickly. The colour is beginning to change right at the top - you need to click to see it. I'll take another pic when there's a more dramatic show.