Fall Color Outlook 2024

Beginnings of fall color in the trees on the hills around Crow’s Nest Preserve.

By Daniel Barringer, Preserve Manager.

Normally we’d be getting close to peak fall color at Crow’s Nest in northern Chester County in the second week of October; we’re positioned between the earlier autumn peak at our more northern preserves (Bear Creek) and those closer to Philadelphia (for example, Hildacy or Wawa Preserves).

It doesn’t look bad right now (photo above) though we were not expecting a spectacular show this year due to the extremely dry conditions. Lots of leaves turned brown and dropped as a way to protect the trees from further desiccation. Many that remain on the trees have turned yellow, and that color is triggered by the abscission of the leaves from the stem, whether from autumn temperatures and shorter hours of sunlight, or from drought.

I enjoy this time of year because the fall color of the leaves mixes with the deep blue sky and the colors of late-season wildflowers: asters, goldenrod, New York Ironweed, bottle gentian, and turtlehead. Sometimes the fall color is on the same plant as the flowers, as on this witchhazel (above), Hamamelis virginiana.