East Coasters - what is the Fall color report

[3rdGenCunarder]

I live in PA where color in this area is radiant. My front apple tree, annually producing 200 or so apples for a decade, has seven this year. SEVEN.

 

How disappointing! Did you get that late freeze this spring? The timing couldn't have been worse. One of the vendors at our farm market said their apple trees dropped lots of buds when that happened.

[mamaofami]

I looked out my window in NJ this morning and the tippy top of one tree has turned orange. We've had plenty of rain here.

[amet beach]

Halifax, Nova Scotia is usually colourful around the second week of October. Cape Breton may be a few days later. I did see one tree changed today in central Nova Scotia! Remember you need to drive in the country to truly appreciate our colourful maple trees. South end Halifax does have tree lined streets only a short drive from the port.

 

 

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[OlsSalt]

Halifax, Nova Scotia is usually colourful around the second week of October. Cape Breton may be a few days later. I did see one tree changed today in central Nova Scotia! Remember you need to drive in the country to truly appreciate our colourful maple trees. South end Halifax does have tree lined streets only a short drive from the port.

 

 

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That timing sounds perfect - cruise leaves from Montreal on Oct 17. So we will be there around the third week of October, moving south.

 

How long does this display last - is there a peak brilliance and then a faded color period.

 

When do the trees lose all their leaves? (Not exact days - but some sort or range?) Thanks. This is just like trying to predict the cherry blossoms at the Wash DC Tidal Basin - you just never know from year to year, or when a heavy rain can come in and drop them all anyway.

 

Another question, can these flaming forest colors be seen from the ship or does it take going out into them and get vistas well away from the coastal towns?

Edited September 2, 2016 by OlsSalt

[navybankerteacher]

That timing sounds perfect - cruise leaves from Montreal on Oct 17. So we will be there around the third week of October, moving south.

 

How long does this display last - is there a peak brilliance and then a faded color period.

 

When do the trees lose all their leaves? (Not exact days - but some sort or range?) Thanks. This is just like trying to predict the cherry blossoms at the Wash DC Tidal Basin - you just never know from year to year, or when a heavy rain can come in and drop them all anyway.

 

Another question, can these flaming forest colors be seen from the ship or does it take going out into them and get vistas well away from the coastal towns?

 

Your first couple of days going down the St. Lawrence should be your best bet - after that, you will not see anything from the ship until within a mile or so from your several ports - but you would really need to take inland tours: the vibrant hard wood forests are generally inland. Mid-to late October should be good, but "peak" time really can be any time from late September to mid-November

[sail7seas]

My hibiscus gtype bush is sgtill in full bloom andlooking deautiful. GThe tiny pears have fallen off my tree so ghere will e no crop. The weather was too dry.

[fann1sh]

The way the colour "fades"? The leaves drop.

 

Probably TMI:

 

The change happens when the leaves lose chlorophyll. When it breaks down, either a tree is ending its natural cycle, or it's sick/stressed.

 

They don't change a second time. The tree seals the flow of flow of fluid to the petiole/leaf stem to protect itself for winter. Some leaves will seem more brown as they dry out.

 

They may cling to the tree despite being sealed off, but the attachment weakens until wind brings them down.

 

I agree the glorious swaths of colour you'll see lining the St. Lawrence might be the showiest. But doesn't Acadia National Park have a lot of deciduous/colour change trees? Excursion to consider from Bar Harbor.

[kazu]

The way the colour "fades"? The leaves drop.

 

Probably TMI:

 

The change happens when the leaves lose chlorophyll. When it breaks down, either a tree is ending its natural cycle, or it's sick/stressed.

 

They don't change a second time. The tree seals the flow of flow of fluid to the petiole/leaf stem to protect itself for winter. Some leaves will seem more brown as they dry out.

 

They may cling to the tree despite being sealed off, but the attachment weakens until wind brings them down.

 

I agree the glorious swaths of colour you'll see lining the St. Lawrence might be the showiest. But doesn't Acadia National Park have a lot of deciduous/colour change trees? Excursion to consider from Bar Harbor.

 

Some trees are very stressed here from lack of water. It's been a very dry summer and trees here are not used to drought situations.

 

Our red maple is really showing signs and I doubt if it will have good colour in the fall. Rest of the trees seem fine...so far.

[3rdGenCunarder]

The way the colour "fades"? The leaves drop.

 

Probably TMI:

 

The change happens when the leaves lose chlorophyll. When it breaks down, either a tree is ending its natural cycle, or it's sick/stressed.

 

They don't change a second time. The tree seals the flow of flow of fluid to the petiole/leaf stem to protect itself for winter. Some leaves will seem more brown as they dry out.

 

They may cling to the tree despite being sealed off, but the attachment weakens until wind brings them down.

 

I agree the glorious swaths of colour you'll see lining the St. Lawrence might be the showiest. But doesn't Acadia National Park have a lot of deciduous/colour change trees? Excursion to consider from Bar Harbor.

 

Wow! A+ in botany! That's a perfect explanation. I would just add that the usual way the chlorophyll breaks down is frost. The other colors are there all along, but masked by the predominant pigment, chlorophyll.

 

OP, if your cruise sails up Saguenay fjord, there should be some nice color there. But don't obsess about the colors. With a mid-Oct departure you will almost certainly see good fall colors at some point, but remember that there's so much more to see/do in the Canadian ports than leaf peeping.

[OlsSalt]

OP here, growing up in California there are legendary events we as young reader imagined about "back east".

 

One of which of course is the "Fall Colors" and the Cherry Blossoms in Wash DC, along with dog wood spring times, butter cups, and the idyllic childhood romps of of our primary reading book characters Dick and Jane - which a National Geographic magazine piece decided really took place on Martha's Vineyard.

 

And that does not include we West Coasters longing to go ...over the bridge and through the woods, to grandmother's house we go .... during a "White Christmas". ;)

[navybankerteacher]

When it comes to color, most leaf-peepers have it wrong. There is a more beautiful array among the eastern hardwoods in mid-spring - each species has its own colored buds, ranging from pale yellow, through every shade of green, to oranges and pale reds - with occasional gleaming white native dogwood and fruit tree blossoms for accent - all over central Connecticut, western Mass and southern Vermont and New Hampshire.

[titanic27]

On another thread it was reported the Fall colors have already started in the Boston area.

 

We assumed we would be hitting them at their peak on our upcoming Montreal-San Diego cruise which does not start until mid-October. Your know "Fall colors" - not late summer colors. :confused:

 

Please, any east coasters who can tell us what is happening and what will be left by the time we start this trip across NE Canada and New England in mid-October. Thanks.

 

We live 2 hours from Montreal, we see a some yellow and a bit of red .

[MommaBear55]

Sorry, cannot cut and paste on my Kindle, but Google Maine Foliage report. It's put out ny the state and updated weekly. We generally do not see much color change along the coast until mid to late September.

[navybankerteacher]

OP here, growing up in California there are legendary events we as young reader imagined about "back east".

 

...

 

And that does not include we West Coasters longing to go ...over the bridge and through the woods, to grandmother's house we go .... during a "White Christmas". ;)

 

Has it ever occurred to you West Coasters how much of a crimp in travel plans a "White Christmas" imposes? Or why so many of us Eastern CC'ers are so active on threads dealing with Caribbean cruises?

 

And think about those gorgeous leaves when they lie brown and water-logged many inches thick on the lawn.

[3rdGenCunarder]

When it comes to color, most leaf-peepers have it wrong. There is a more beautiful array among the eastern hardwoods in mid-spring - each species has its own colored buds, ranging from pale yellow, through every shade of green, to oranges and pale reds - with occasional gleaming white native dogwood and fruit tree blossoms for accent - all over central Connecticut, western Mass and southern Vermont and New Hampshire.

 

Spring colors don't have the "wow" factor. What makes them special is seeing them change day to day. From the window near my desk, I can see the red haze of maples budding out, then the pale shades of green that deepen as leaves grow and darken. But it's subtle and you have to be aware of it and look for it. Nobody can miss the fall foliage of the Northeast.

 

To be fair, there are other parts of the country that are just as pretty in the fall. The first time I was in central Indiana, the fall colors were at their peak and absolutely gorgeous. (But there were no cruises there)

[3rdGenCunarder]

Has it ever occurred to you West Coasters how much of a crimp in travel plans a "White Christmas" imposes? Or why so many of us Eastern CC'ers are so active on threads dealing with Caribbean cruises?

 

And think about those gorgeous leaves when they lie brown and water-logged many inches thick on the lawn.

 

or clogging street drains...

 

And yes, your reply was my first thought about a white Christmas. It's beautiful, but not convenient for travelers.

[kazu]

Has it ever occurred to you West Coasters how much of a crimp in travel plans a "White Christmas" imposes? Or why so many of us Eastern CC'ers are so active on threads dealing with Caribbean cruises?

 

And think about those gorgeous leaves when they lie brown and water-logged many inches thick on the lawn.

 

I don't even want to think about my 80 bags of leaves that have to be raked up :eek:

[OlsSalt]

Has it ever occurred to you West Coasters how much of a crimp in travel plans a "White Christmas" imposes? Or why so many of us Eastern CC'ers are so active on threads dealing with Caribbean cruises?

 

And think about those gorgeous leaves when they lie brown and water-logged many inches thick on the lawn.

 

(Snicker). Naw, we are too busy thinking about what you folks envy - 365 days a year of sunshine and no rain. (also known "out west" as punishing drought that is killing everything in our gardens and forests. Ouch)

 

Chalk it up to the grass is greener syndrome. When we hear there is a cruise during the "rainy season" we say, sign us up. However, our condolences to those now facing far more than a "rainy season" on the east coast.