Fall color

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kandlmidd Presque Isle, WI(Zone 3b) Jan 24, 2006

OK, let me see if I can set this up right. We live among many hard maples here, mostly sugar,some Rubrum. Most of the sugars around the house are yellow in the fall and on a sunny day can make the inside of the house glow gold. It is really quite cool! This past fall for whatever reason nature provided, some of these darkened up a little to a yellowish-orange. If I was to see a sugar in fall leaf in a nursery and it was in BIG TIME orange and red, would this be typical next year planted in diff location,soil,ect. Kind of a nature/nurture question, I guess.

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tapla Bay City, MI(Zone 6a) Jan 25, 2006

Nature (genetics) provides the plant with a propensity toward a particular color range, but nurture (influence of cultural conditions) has the final say about where fall colors fall within that range.

Al

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StarhillForest Illinois, IL(Zone 5b) Jan 25, 2006

Well said, Al. Specifically, soil pH and moisture combine to influence the natural fall colors of many trees.

Guy S.

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Joulz Metuchen, NJ Jan 26, 2006

Plus, the fall colors were I live were quite muted this year, and short-lived. Fall of 2004, my October Glory red maple was bright red for a month. Fall of 2005, it was only red for a week. Too little rain in Aug/Sept. Too much rain in late Sept/Oct. Temps too warm Oct/Nov. Sudden early freeze in late Nov. just when the trees started to think it was fall.

That sugar maple in the nursery wouldn't have sufferered from the lack of rain in Aug/Sept because it would have been well watered in the nursery, but they can't make it sunny and warm during the day and cold at night, which is the type of weather that makes for a nice maple fall color.

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