Fall foliage

After two months of lovely progression, all the trees in our yard have finally finished dropping their leaves.

The process starts in mid-September, when the honey locust leaves start carpeting the path through the yard.

By this point, the oaks starts showing just a wee bit of color.

But October – ah, that's the glorious month. By the first, things are really ramping up.

Every leaf becomes a thing of beauty.

It helps to have sunny days during this month, as it makes things positively sparkle.

You see, this is why I have an almost unhealthy obsession with the trees in our yard. After decades of seeing little but coniferous trees (stately and beautiful), deciduous trees – especially those that change color – fill me with giddy and childish glee. God bless whoever planted these beauties in our yard.

Early-morning sunshine through one of the oaks and the honey locust.

This time of year, the sun seems to "glow" through the leaves more prominently, making even green leaves look magical.

The yard looks very picturesque this time of year.

By the end of October, the whole trees are fully ablaze.

The colors are so bright and rich, they almost seem artificial.

And then...

...they start to fall.

Leaves gather along fence lines.

Mr. Darcy starts to blend in.

This is the view from the garden. Half the oak has dropped its leaves, half is still in full foliage.

If it seems as if I'm a bit obsessed with our oak trees this time of year ... well, guilty as charged.

Here's Maggie, framed by some branches.

By mid-November, the trees were (mostly) bare, and it was time to get raking. 

This is usually a relaxed, multi-day process, depending on weather and my work schedule. Since not all the leaves had dropped from one of the oaks...

...I focused on the portion of the yard where the trees were mostly bare.

Even raking, the leaves are lovely.

I got about half the yard raked, then paused over Thanksgiving weekend. This gave the willow trees a chance to drop everything (whomp!) on the lawn, which meant essentially I had to start raking all over again. Rookie mistake.

Preponderance of willow leaves on the left and oak leaves on the right.

Although it was 39F on the day I finished up, I worked up enough heat to discard my jacket and scarf.

A final push to get everything done before dark.

The leaf container is pretty full, but that's okay. Everything will compress down and start decomposing over the winter, which means it can be used in the garden in the spring.

Here's Darcy, with a clean yard behind him.

I still have to rake the side yard, but that's a task for another day.

Red October

Once again we were blessed to have a red October, meaning the two oak trees in our yard gave us a fireworks display.

Those who live in more deciduous climates where colored leaves are just a regular part of fall cannot appreciate what a treat they are in conifer-dense Idaho. God bless whoever planted these two oaks back in the mid-90s or so.

The changeover started a little over halfway through September.

It rained on the last day of September, and the leaves were irrevocably committed to turning at this point.

Lots of green during the first week of October, but these would soon be outnumbered.

We also have a honey locust tree in the yard. It doesn't turn as dramatically colorful as the oaks, but it drops lots of little yellow leaves that add to the overall glory of the yard during this month.

For obvious reasons, early morning or late evening are the best times to photograph things (the "golden hours") when the sun streams through the leaves and highlights their beauty. This is a snapshot from a nearby location as the sun was setting. The mountain behind was already in shadow.

Morning and evening shots.

Fog often wisps through our area. These still-green leaves contrasted against the blurred truck.

Here are two of the backyard trees: the honey locust on the left, one of the oaks on the right.

This is the second oak tree. It's closer to the house and I can see it from the kitchen window.

The other trees behind it are willows.

By mid-October, things were peaking.

One by one, the leaves started to drop.

And the oak tree by the house was looking glorious.

I mean, c'mon ... isn't this enough to make your heart sing?

 

 

Here's the kitchen oak tree from a different angle, photographed in the evening sun. The colors are so rich, they almost look fake.

This is our neighbor's magnificent elm tree (the "tree in a million").

We had a light dusting of snow a few days ago that garnished the leaves and highlighted the trees on a distant slope.

It didn't last long and melted off before noon.

The day came, inevitably, when the leaves on the ground outnumbered the leaves on the tree. "I'll start raking," Don offered. "No, don't," I answered quickly. "I'll do it." Raking leaves is just part of the visceral enjoyment of fall.

Armed with a rake, hay fork, and cart, I got to work.

Darcy, of course, was a huge help.

To me, raking leaves is a fun novelty.

I set up the leaf cage near the garden, since we're using the leaves in the garden beds.

Even in fallen leaves, there is beauty.

On Day One, I got the backyard raked.

On Day Two, I tackled the side yard and garden area, but not before a frosty morning highlighted some gorgeous leaves.

The side yard was easy, and only took an hour or so to rake up.

Then it was time to tackle the garden area.

By the end, the leaf cage was quite full...

...and the grass was (mostly) clear.

The trees are by no means finished, but it was time to get the grass cleared before some rain moves in later this week.

Big change of weather coming in.

But the leaves are raked. We're ready for it. Meanwhile, I've enjoyed every minute of our red October.