Fall colors with frosty weather

Discussion in 'Maples' started by Gomero, Dec 10, 2013.

  1. Gomero

    Gomero Well-Known Member Maple Society 10 Years

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    I had never experienced having the maples hit by a hard frost (20°F) in the middle of their seasonal display. I am discovering how they behave under these conditions. 'Red Pygmy' has taken a funny bi-colored look which I thought I would share with you. These pictures were taken today and the hard frost hit on November 28th. It has been frosty every day since that day but not so low, 23-26°F

    Gomero
     

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  2. Schattenfreude

    Schattenfreude Active Member

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    Gomero,

    We also had a hard freeze before the leaves of many of my trees had already fallen. Over the weekend I got a new camera, so took some pics of my Trompenburg. Although the freeze hit nearly a month ago, the leaves still hang on, much like yours do. One of my trees stands cloaked in whitish-tan leaves, like a ghost. Very bizarre.... I keep hoping that the leaves blow off before a wet, heavy snow hits.

    Kevin in KC
     

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    Last edited: Dec 10, 2013
  3. Gomero

    Gomero Well-Known Member Maple Society 10 Years

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    Very nice Kevin. Does it happen often in your place?

    Gomero
     
  4. Schattenfreude

    Schattenfreude Active Member

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    No, Gomero. This doesn't happen often at all. In fact, this is the first time I can recall such an event in the past 18 years, when I bought my first maple. Typically we have a freeze by the end of October, but it's mild. And many of my trees need this mild freeze to change colors. This year the first real frost was a cold one, with temps around 15 F (-10 C). And it occurred earlier than usual, around Nov. 12. My Shishigashira's leaves were still mostly green when the hard freeze hit :-(

    Kevin in KC
     
  5. maplesandpaws

    maplesandpaws Active Member

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    A similar thing happened to my Shinju; it had just started changing colors when we got the hard freeze (mid Nov, like Kevin), and after that, the leaves went very pale in color, quite ghostly-looking, and very unique/unusual. Same with Nuresagi and Tsukushigata, though because of the brighter fall colors of these two (red, and red/yellow vs. pale orange with Shinju), it took a few more days. Tsukushigata still has many leaves, but it is in a more sheltered location than the other two trees, and is also in a large pot.
     
  6. rufretic

    rufretic Active Member

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    Same thing happened here. The early frost caused half my maples to get that light tan color, very weird. Here, on top of the early freeze, we also got nailed by one rain after another all the way into the freezing temps. Made for a dissapointing fall but surprisingly I still had a few color up nice. I'm lucky in that most of my maples are covered by a canapy of oaks so the frost doesn't hit them as bad as the trees in the open. The rains still ruined fall for me so I went into "I can't wait for spring" mode earlier than usual, lol.
     
  7. Schattenfreude

    Schattenfreude Active Member

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    I've been testing out another camera with the dead leaves on my Trompenburg. I'm amazed that they're still clinging to the tree. I just can't wait to shoot pics of new spring growth in a few months!!
     

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