This time of the year I drive around to see what distinctly deciduous trees and shrubs are still trying to hang onto Fall. Perhaps, like me, they can't believe that it's really the middle of November and their internal calenders still say October 20th. Or maybe they're procrastinators. Whatever the case may be, I hold a little contest this time of year to see who comes out ahead. I have just concerned myself with trees in this thread and am leaving out shrubs. My current reigning champ is a Scarlet Oak about 10 minutes from my house. The last 4 years it has had rich red fall color on Thanksgiving. This year it is ahead of schedule a bit with it being at near peak fall color on the 12th. The color is also a nice coppery orange red this year. This is actually pretty good since most of the Red Oak Clan turned a yellowish brown this fall. I'm just guessing drought stress from last year or perhaps this summer. In central IL, the late red maples (October Glory) are about 75% defoliated, the Pears are 25% and most other Oaks are brown.
