The photos to the right were all taken in our wonderful town of Stowe
Vermont. The fall foliage is stunningly brilliant and can be seen from mid September to
late October.
Mixed in with the evergreens are stunning reds, yellows and oranges - the
colors are spectacular. Come to Stowe, take a walk or bicycle ride on the 5 mile
recreation path, take a scenic drive, shop in the quaint Stowe Village or just sit on our
patio and relax while enjoying the wonder of the foliage!
Why
do leaves change color? |
During the course of each year Nature signals
the change of seasons in numerous subtle and some very obvious ways. None is more obvious
than fall foliage especially here in Vermont.
But why do the trees change colors and eventually shed their leafy green uniforms?
Native legends says hunters in the sky killed the Great Bear each autumn dripping his
blood on the earth, turning leaves red. Roasting bear meat spilling from a celestial
kettle turned other leaves yellow.
Science says chilly days and growing nights precipitated by the earth's angle relative to
the sun, convince cells in leaf stem bases that it is time for a change. The cells begin
to die. The dying cells form a wall preventing nutrients from reaching the leaf. As this
happens the green pigmentation of leaves, chlorophyll, begins to break down unmasking the
yellows and oranges that are present all year in the leaf.
As cells continue to die the stem
eventually weakens to the point where the leaf flutters to the ground. With no leaves, the
tree, safe from freezing, lies dormant the remainder of the winter. The marvel of Nature's
autumnal journey can be seen from the middle of September through to the weeks before
Halloween.
Courtesy of foliage-vermont.com |
Most
of Vermont's color is provided by sugar and red maples. Their reds, oranges and yellows
are always spectacular. These colors backed by the purples of ash, the brilliant yellows
of birch and poplar and interrupted by the greens of the softwoods make the nature-painted
scenes complete. 
