fall foliage
Following a common theme of 2021, changing leaves will look a bit different this year and may fall just short of your expectations. As a result of this summer’s scorching drought, stressed trees are ditching leaves early. “If they don’t drop their leaves, they may show signs of drying – curling and turning dull” explains Val Cervenka, Minnesota DNR’s forest health program coordinator, “Trees whose leaves turn red with temperature change may go brown before they’ve had a chance to turn at all.”
The drought won’t cover Minnesota in a brown blanket, but it may mess with your fall plans. Colors will likely pop weeks before the typical October peak as weakened trees head into dormancy early. Consider bookmarking the DNR’s Fall Color Finder, which launched this week and updates each Thursday with the percent of leaves changed across the state.
Trees growing in less-than-ideal conditions have suffered the most this summer so don’t be surprised if that maple wedged between the sidewalk and road looks weary already. Its kin living in the forest likely fared better, and should show brighter colors later into the season.
“People can also go to areas that have had more precipitation this year to see more color.” Cervenka points out. Southeast Minnesota is a better bet for blazing reds and yellows than most of northern Minnesota, where extreme drought conditions will produce duller hues.
If the bronzes and auburns bum you out, turn your gaze toward other colorful details dotting the forests, like the bright red winterberry or blaze orange lobster mushrooms. Cervenka recommends checking out western Minnesota’s wildflowers and grasses.
“We may see the effects for years to come,” Cervenka says of this year’s drought, noting that weakened trees are more susceptible to insects and disease. But, she intends to make lemonade from lemons this autumn, and encourages other Minnesotans to follow suit.
“I love the drive north on Highway 35 from the Twin Cities to Duluth and seeing the contrast there,” Cervenka says. She will be keeping an eye out for yellow tamaracks, (Minnesota’s only conifer that sheds its needles each fall), purple aster flowers, and bold big bluestem bushes along the freeway.
“If we adjust our expectations this year to being surprised by a pocket of beautiful color instead of assuming color will be great no matter what, we are more likely to be satisfied by a fall outdoors adventure.”
