Fall is upon us, bringing clear, bright blue skies and supposedly cooler temperatures — but as I write this, it is eighty degrees and feels more like summer. So I am guessing we will go from summer to winter in short order. The end of summer means that school days have returned, which brings me to my story of changing fall colors.
Photo: Mark Turner/Getty Images
My horticultural interests started at an early age. Probably the first plant I learned to identify was honeysuckle. This naturally came during the barefoot days of summer from the hours of plucking the white and yellow flowers. Of course this activity was for the purpose of sucking the stems to reveal the nectar. The yellow flowers are the best! Then came fig trees, blackberries, cherries and you know the rest of the story. Perhaps one of my earliest plant discoveries of the non-edible variety was the Sourwood tree (Oxydendrum aboreum). My discovery of this particular plant was due to a serious annual grudge that I developed against this tree. Why, you ask?
Well, my vendetta against the Sourwood began in grammar schools days. My parents had some friends who had a rustic cabin that overlooked Big Cedar Creek. We went there often during the glorious days of summer. There was plenty to do and all of it fun. The cabin had a long, screened-in porch on the back with a gorgeous view of the creek and the woods. One of the prominent trees next to the porch was a Sourwood. Now, the Sourwood is a lovely, graceful tree that means no harm, but in my younger days I despised it. Its flaw, from my perspective, was that generally the Sourwood is the first tree to start to show color in the fall, usually around the end of August. (Hang in there, I’m getting there.) The tree’s genetic disposition was the cause of my ire because I quickly learned that when the Sourwood’s leaves started to change color, I would soon be sitting back in the classroom – and not having fun! (I have since made peace with the Sourwood and we are back on speaking terms.)
But now to my current conundrum: It’s the middle of October and leaf colors are changing all around, but the Sourwood trees are just now beginning to show color. Is this a trick? Is it a climatologic predictor? Is the tree finally seeking revenge for my early transgressions? I am not sure but it’s got me pondering.
Until next time.
Jim
