If you live in any area where foliage changes with the seasons, you know how exciting and beautiful autumn can be.
I love fall and all the colors of the changing leaves. Over the years, I’ve planted thousands and thousands of trees here at my Bedford, New York farm, making it a spectacular place to take in the season’s transformation. We haven’t had a hard frost yet, but already we’re seeing vibrant palettes of red, orange, yellow and brown across the landscapes.
Enjoy these photos.
The perimeter around my paddocks displays such wonderful shades of orange, yellow, amber and brown.
At my farm, I planted many different types of trees in hopes that they would shade, provide climate control, and change color at different times, in different ways.
Though unusual for a conifer, the weeping larch is deciduous, dropping its needles in the fall. The weeping larch tree on the left is already bare, but the grove of American beech trees is showing such gorgeous color and form.
These American beech trees offer a beautiful autumn show every year. The American beech tree, Fagus grandifolia, has golden-bronze fall foliage. The leaves persist in winter, after turning a rather pleasing tan color.
Not far from the American beech tree grove is the winding road leading to my hayfields and woodlands. This is always a popular viewpoint – in every season.
These trees are Stewartias. I’ve planted many of these trees in various locations around my farm. I love its colors, its growth pattern, and of course, its name.
This great ginkgo in the back of my Summer House garden turns an amazing yellow this time of year – it is slowly transforming now, but because we’re still waiting for a hard frost, its held onto its leaves. When that frost comes, all the leaves will fall at once along with its many fruits.
Even the potted tree seedlings are changing. I have thousands of young trees potted up behind my stable. They are doing very well and will eventually be planted in the ground and added to the ever-evolving landscape at my farm.
Here is a look through the woodland to the lower hayfield on the other side – so beautiful with its palette of golds.
These are my bald cypress trees that line one side of the carriage road to my Winter House. These too are starting to change color. Bald Cypress trees, Taxodium distichum, shed needlelike leaves. In fact, they get the name “bald” cypress because they drop their leaves so early in the season. Their fall colors are tan, cinnamon, and fiery orange.
Here is my grove of weeping willow trees. Most willows have pretty, green foliage and long, thin leaves. They are among the first trees to grow leaves in the spring and among the last to lose their leaves in the fall. In fall, the color of the leaves ranges from a golden shade to a greenish-yellow hue, depending on the type.
Although my “Christmas tree” field doesn’t go through a change of colors, it’s still amazing to see how much these trees have grown since we planted them about 10 years ago. Here, we planted rows of Frasier Fir, Canaan Fir, Norway Spruce, and Blue Spruce.
Across from the Christmas trees – more beautiful fall color. Autumn leaf color is a phenomenon that affects the green leaves of many deciduous trees and shrubs.
The stream that runs through the farm is always so pretty with all the fallen leaves.
Some trees change early, others late – usually from mid-October to mid-November here in the Northeast.
Here is a look across my lower hayfield. I love the layers of color created by the changing leaves. Although some autumn coloration occurs wherever deciduous trees are found, the most brightly colored foliage is found in Canada, the northern United States, Scandinavia, northern and western Europe, the Caucasus region near the Black Sea, Russia, eastern Asia, Argentina, Chile, southern Brazil, Korea, Japan and New Zealand’s South Island.
Remember the new allee of lindens I planted to extend the existing one in between the paddocks? Look how much these trees have grown.
It won’t take long before they catch up to these trees nearby.
Falling leaves dot the boxwood surrounding the herbaceous peony bed. Soon everyone on the crew will be blowing and gathering leaves everywhere.
Here is more autumn color across one of my paddocks – my chicken coops are on the right. This view can be seen from my home – it is a lovely sight each morning. What does autumn look like where you live? Let me know in the comments section below.