Prairie Works

The following article was recently published in the Freeport Journal Standard.

By Cory Ritterbusch – Today, it seems that each decision that you face as a consumer is met with an option to be “green” or even greener. From our cars to our laundry detergent, no product is without providing levels towards decreasing our carbon footprint. Some choose to ignore these options, some choose one and some go all out. This time of year a common debate, mostly for seasonal fun, is to determine what the “greenest” Christmas tree is. Traditionally this has been straightforward; Real trees versus artificial trees. This challenge always ends with a lopsided victory by the real tree. However, as we look at ‘real’ Christmas trees it’s easy to see many handicaps revolving the industry’s consumptive process. Regular inputs include herbicides, fuel, dyes and even plastic packaging. Several years ago I challenged the notion of buying a manicured, sometimes dyed green, non-native tree species, sometimes genetically modified that are trucked in from hundreds of miles away. My concern was due to an historical look at our area’s residents on a radio program.

A few years ago I was listening to Gordie Kilgore’s popular series From the Riverbank broadcasted on KDTH out of Dubuque, IA. In this particular segment Gordie described Christmas as it was at the turn of the last century. He mentioned the residents of the Tri-States used the Red Cedar tree as decorated Christmas trees. This interested me and it necessitated more research. I found that The National Christmas Tree Association, to my surprise, lists Red Cedar as the 6th most popular Christmas tree used in America. However, they are not used in homes here in the Midwest. The tradition continues today in the South but other varieties of trees started being favored here in the Upper Midwest two generations ago. This is unfortunate.

Red Cedars along the road side

The Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) is one of the most widespread trees in North America. It is found in every single state east of the Rockies. Being the only common native “pine” tree, Red Cedars were decorated for Christmas in area homes beginning with pioneer settlers and continuing well into the 1900s. It made a nice Christmas tree but went out of style probably due to new styles being introduced.

The Red Cedar is an invasive plant in many situations here in the Upper Midwest, invading fields, pastures, rocky slopes, fence lines and road sides. Considered by farmers as nuisance trees and by ecologists, such as myself, an invasive weed that can overtake a natural area.. With such a locally plentiful supply and the need to remove Cedars from natural areas, it sounds like a win-win situation to me. Here we have an opportunity to create a demand for unwanted trees. Utilizing invasive plants in this manner is a great way to achieve widespread sustainability. Today, 21 million Christmas trees are sold each year and are trucked into sales lots from far away.

Our Future Christmas Tree

Dragging the Cedar to the Road

Since I made the realization that the Red Cedar can be a suitable Christmas tree, my family has invited the Red Cedar into our home each year to spend the holidays with us. A little scraggly? Sure. But with a little trimming it can be turned into an attractive tree. After the lights and ornaments are on and the tree is fully decorated, the Red Cedar looks like a regular tree, smells like a regular tree and can stand amongst the family’s gifts, just like the Blue Spruces and Douglas Firs. The cost to us is the cost of fuel to get it, which is always low since the tree is so widespread. Usually, this comes with a thank you from the landowner who was happy to see it go.

Our Cedar Tree at Home

In fact it is rather fun to go out and hunt for the suitable tree like our great grandparents would have 100 years ago. There are no shopping lanes full of identical trees with this approach. Each cedar tree you see is unique and finding the right one remains as a source of pride for the rest of the holiday season, after you drag it back to the road. Next year a bird will drop a berry to seed a new one and start the process over again, not a tractor. It is also fun to keep your eyes open over the course of the year for the winner that will end up in your house.

So, if you are going to be green by choosing a tree, make it a real one. If you are going to be really green, make it a Red Cedar.  As far as Christmas trees go, Red is the greenest of them all.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

http://www.christmastree.org/trees/ered_cdr.cfm National Christmas Tree Association description of Red Cedar

http://dnr.wi.gov/invasives/fact/redcedar.htm Wisconsin DNR Invasive Plant Listing

April 19 Burn

The Spring 2010 burn season has come to an end. It was a nice diversion from the last two burn seasons that provided excessive rainfall making for tough scheduling and sub-par burn behavior.

It was a rather unusual spring. It was very dry, windy and warm. In fact, it was one of the warmest April’s in history making the landscape green up very quickly. Unfortunately, we had some sites green up too quickly thus postponing them to a later date. We also had very low fuel moisture levels and some days recorded very low humidity readings. This had some advantages and disadvantages. It was nice to stress some of the weeds that popped up early this year IE: Brome (Bromus spp.), Red Clover (Trifolium pratense), Reed Canary Grass (Phalarus arundinacea) just to name a few. I believe we were also able to stress some of our woody plants a bit more this spring due to the early green up as well. In total we completed 33 burns. A new season high for Prairie Works. Enjoy the pictures!

March 27 Burn

March 26 Burn

April 9 Burn

Smoke Signal

April 8 Burn

Found a Deer

April 22 Burn

Casper Bluff Pre-Burn Briefing

More info on controlled burning: http://www.prairieworksinc.com/services/controlled-burns/

Mistletoe (Viscum album)

Mistletoe forming a "Witches Broom"

Mistletoe was often considered a pest that kills trees and devalues natural habitats, but was recently recognized as an ecological keystone species, an organism that has a disproportionately pervasive influence over its community. A broad array of animals depend on mistletoe for food, consuming the leaves and young shoots, transferring pollen between plants, and dispersing the sticky seeds. The dense evergreen witches’ brooms  are formed by the dwarf mistletoes (Arceuthobium spp).

There are two types of mistletoe used at Christmas. The mistletoe that is commonly used as a Christmas decoration, Phoradendron flavescens, is native to North America and grows as a parasite on trees from New Jersey to Florida. The other type of mistletoe,Viscum album, is of European origin.

The Greeks and earlier peoples thought that it had mystical powers and down through the centuries it became associated with many folklore customs. The traditions which began with the European mistletoe were transferred to the similar American plant during immigration and settlement. The U.S. has a thriving mistletoe growers association. Much of the commercial mistletoe that we see bagged for sale at Christmas is Phoradendron flavescens. Most of it is grown in apple orchards, where the plant receives the filtered sunlight it needs. Growers call the plant “a vine,” not a parasite. There’s American capitalism and advertising at work…

There is a species native to the Midwest, only growing a few centimeters long. It is the dwarf mistletoe, Arceuthobium pusillum, and grows in the northern swamps of Wisconsin on black spruce, white spruce, and tamarack. The dense evergreen witches’ brooms formed by the dwarf mistletoes  of North America also make excellent locations for roosting and nesting of the Northern Spotted Owls and the Marbled Murrelets.

From the earliest times mistletoe has been one of the most magical, mysterious, and sacred plants of European folklore. It was considered a bestower of life and fertility, a protectant against poison, and an aphrodisiac.

Some of the folklore surrounding Mistletoe include:

• Medicines made from mistletoe have been used for centuries to combat disorders such as epilepsy, treating circulatory and respiratory system problems. It has also been used as a fertility drug, and antispasmodic agent.
• Use of mistletoe extract in the treatment of cancer originated with Rudolph Steiner.  Today, Mistletoe extract is sold as Iscador, Helixor, and several other trade names.
• Public interest in the United States was spurred in 2001 following actress Suzanne Somers’ decision to use Iscador in lieu of chemotherapy following her treatment for breast cancer.
• Mistletoe stays evergreen even when the its tree host is dead. Because of that, one of the stigmas associated with mistletoe is its “fertility” properties.
• It was hung over doorways as protection against evil.
• It was believed that the mistletoe could extinguish fire. This was associated with an earlier belief that the mistletoe itself could come to the tree during a flash of lightning.
• In parts of England and Wales farmers would give mistletoe to the first cow that calved in the New Year. This was thought to bring good luck to the entire herd.
• Kissing under the mistletoe is first found associated with the Greek festival of Saturnalia and later with primitive marriage rites. Mistletoe was believed to have the power of bestowing fertility, and the dung from which the mistletoe was thought to arise was also said to have “life-giving” power.
• In Scandinavia, mistletoe was considered a plant of peace, under which enemies could declare a truce or warring spouses kiss and make-up.
• In some parts of England the Christmas mistletoe is burned on the twelfth night lest all the boys and girls who have kissed under it never marry.
• The Norse god Baldr was killed with mistletoe.
• According to a custom of Christmas cheer, any two people who meet under a hanging of mistletoe are obliged to kiss. The custom is of Scandinavian origin.

*If you find yourself smooching under Mistletoe this holiday please dont bore your partner with this information.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Everyone!

Prairie Seeds

Today was our first day of Indian Summer and after our latest bout with below normal temperatures, it was greeted with much fan-fare. Indian Summer has been a term used rather loosely.  True Indian Summer is a period of abnormally warm weather following a killing freeze in Autumn. A killing freeze occurs when the overnight temperature reaches 28 degrees or colder. Indian Summer typically occurs in the mid to late Autumn and can occur more than once. The killing freeze  has already occurred across Northwest Illinois. Some say it must happen before the first snowfall (this could not be true this year).

Indian Summer was first recorded in Letters From an American Farmer, a 1778 work by the French-American soldier turned farmer J. H. St. John de Crèvecoeur (a.k.a. Michel-Guillaume-Jean de Crèvecoeur):

“Then a severe frost succeeds which prepares it to receive the voluminous coat of snow which is soon to follow; though it is often preceded by a short interval of smoke and mildness, called the Indian Summer.”

As a climatic event it is known throughout the world and is technically called a weather singularity (a climatic event that recurs around the same time of year). The frequency, intensity and length of the weather pattern is dependent on geography. It is most frequently associated with the eastern and Midwest states, which have a suitable climate to generate the weather pattern, i.e. a wide variation of temperature and wind strength from summer to winter. Many of those states are also famous for their areas of hardwood forest, which show up well during Indian summers when the leaves have already begun to turn and the sun is shining.

Why Indian? Well, no one knows, but as is commonplace when no one knows, people guess. Here are a few of the more commonly repeated guesses:

• When European settlers first came across the phenomenon in America it became known as the Indian’s Summer.
• The haziness of the Indian Summer weather was caused by prairie fires deliberately set by Native American tribes.
• It was the period when Native American people harvested their crops.
• The phenomenon was more common in what were then North American Indian territories.
• It originated from raids on European settlements by Indian war parties, which usually ended in autumn.
• Parallel with other ‘Indian’ terms it implies a belief in Indian falsity (Indian giver?) and untrusted and that an Indian summer was an imitation of the real thing.

As with many words and phrases we do not know and will never know it’s true origins, but it is always open to speculation.  I will assume that it was a combination of several of these.

On the prairie front Indian Summer means seed pickin’ time. The sunny, warm and dry conditions make it optimal conditions to harvest the seeds for next years crop and is one of the most enjoyable tasks of the year. Who was thinking that we had abandoned the true purpose of Indian Summer?

Great Article from the National Weather Service: http://www.crh.noaa.gov//dtx/stories/i-summer.php

What a great time of year. The woodlands are beginning to bloom with ephemerals  and the countryside is turning green. It is also time for the annual mushroom hunt. An activity steeped in tradition here in the Midwest and is waited for with great anticipation, marking the true end of winter. Like deer season in the fall, cars sit empty along country roads, as the morel hunter scouts the woods hoping to hit it big.

What engages the novice naturalist to get excited about plant life is the Morel Mushroom (Morchella deliciosa). An ascocarp plant that is prized by gourmet cooks and normal joes alike for their great taste and versatility. The recipes for cooking these fungi varies greatly with each family, region and cook having their own distinct method. Festivals are held to honor this edible mushroom. Morels are prominent in Appalachia, the Pacific Northwest but nowhere as prominent as the Midwest.

Along with its popularity enters a bit of mystery. No one knows for sure why mushrooms grow where they do and how. We have yet to learn how to produce them on a large or medium scale. It is well agreed that they prefer growing near old and dead elms, sycamores, ash and apple trees. However, the symbiotic relationship between them is unknown. Also unknown, are the influences that effect the amount and size of harvestable morels. It is agreed that it is a combination of rainfall, ground temperature, humidity and air temperature. Somewhat refreshing to be reminded that man cannot out smart nature. It is widely known that a direct correlation between forest fires and robust morel growth has been observed and confirmed. Usually, three years after a fire one can expect to see a boost in production of the edible fungi. Last years season (2008) was known to be one of the best in memory. Why was that? 

In our area three types of Morels exist: White (or Grey) Morel (Morchella deliciosa), Yellow Morel (Morchella esculenta) and Black Morel (Morchella elata). The variance is rather small with their color being the only noticeable difference. The genus Morchella is derived from “morchel,” a German word for mushroom. 

It should be noted that Morels should never be eaten raw and cooked thoroughly due to the toxins that exist. Mushrooms eaten in large quantities or eaten with alcohol can also have adverse effects.

Morel Fun Facts: 

• In the 19th century, the Russian government had to pass a law making it illegal to burn down the forests in order to harvest morels the following years. 
• German folklore attributes the origin of morels to the Devil. Offended by a very wrinkled old woman, he transformed her into a morel. Ever since, calling a woman a morel in Germany has been a major insult.
• Morels contain a substance used in rocket fuel.
• If a Morel hunter tells you where he found his big take; he is lying.

Good luck out there!

http://www.morels.com/  Post your harvest

http://www.muscoda.com/event_morels_09.html Nearby Morel Festival

http://www.nov55.com/mr/ The science behind Morels

The National Christmas Tree Association lists Red Cedar as the 4th most popular Christmas tree in America. However, they are not used in homes here in the Midwest. The tradition continues today in the South but other varieties of trees started being favored here in the Upper Midwest two generations ago. This is unfortunate.

The Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) is one of the most widespread trees in North America. It is found in every single state east of the Rockies. Being the only common native “pine” tree, Red Cedars were decorated for Christmas in area homes beginning with pioneer settlers and continuing well into the 1900s. A little prickly, it still makes a nice Christmas tree.

The Red Cedar is an invasive plant in many situations here in the Driftless Area, invading prairies, pastures, rocky slopes, fence lines and road sides. Utilizing invasive plants in this manner is a great way to achieve widespread sustainability. 21 million Christmas trees are sold each year and are trucked into sales lots from far away. With such a locally plentiful supply and the need to remove Cedars from natural areas, it sounds like a win-win situation to me. 

For the last 8 years Kansas City Wildlands has sponsored a “Cut Your Own Red Cedar Christmas Tree Day.” So, to kick start a program of our own…

The first two respondents within 30 miles of Galena, IL can receive a Red Cedar tree delivered to their home for a donation of $15. You can email me for your opportunity to have a “Green Christmas.” Donations will be submitted to the JoDaviess Conservation Foundation. Good luck!

http://www.kcwildlands.org/egap.php?id=262 The Kansas City Wildlands Red Cedar Christmas Tree Event

With winter slowly starting to form we are all hearing varied predictions of how severe this oncoming winter will be. Last year, we were hit with one of the harshest winters in history making the curiosity level high. Will this be the case again?

Long range forecasts from meteorologists, weather statisticians, and the Farmers Almanac are all producing inconsistent predictions. Ranging from mild and dry to cold and snowy. So due to technical difficulties. Let us focus on our most time tested predictor of winter weather, the Banded Woolly Bear or Woolly Worm (Pyrrharctia isabella).

Folklore tells us that the Woolly Worm will produce a larger rusty band if the oncoming winter is to be mild and a thinner band if the winter is to be harsh. The Woolly Bear is often seen in October as it is seeking shelter for the winter.

Beggining in 1948 Dr. C. H. Curran, curator of insects at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, started researching this tale. Between 1948 and 1956 he found that the Woolly Bear can be 80% accurate. His yearly findings were published in the New York Times making the catterpillar one of the most identifiable insects in the United States. Today Woolly Bear festivals are held in Ohio, Kentucky and North Carolina to celebrate this speculating insect.

Have you seen a Woolly Bear?

http://www.almanac.com/preview2000/woollybears.html The Truth About Woolly Bears (From The Farmers Almanac)

Ephemeral – Existing only briefly

Spring is a great (and the only) time of year to view epehemeral ponds that lay scattered in our woodlands. Ephemeral ponds, sometimes called vernal pools, are a small but important ecosystem as they harbor many different amphibians, birds and plants. They increase the local biodiversity greatly when present and are a dynamic part of woodland ecosystems.

These ponds are depressions with obstructed drainage that hold water for a short period of time following snowmelt and spring rains but typically dry out by mid-summer. Common plants of these habitats include: Yellow water crowfoot (Ranunculus flabellaris), bluejoint grass (Calamagrostis canadensis), fowl manna grass (Glyceria striata), spotted cowbane (Cicuta maculata), smartweeds (Polygonum spp.), orange jewelweed (Impatiens capensis), and sedges (Carex spp.). During their existence these plants provide critical breeding habitat for many amphibians such as frogs and salamanders.

Ephemeral ponds also provide feeding, resting and breeding habitat for songbirds and a source of food and water for many mammals. They contribute to the biodiversity of a woodland in many ways. Ephemeral ponds fit into an eco-community context by the following attributes: their placement in woodlands, isolation, small size, hydrology and length of time they hold water. Trees adjacent to ephemeral ponds provide a variety of benefits such as maintaining cool water temperatures, preventing premature drying, and adding organic matter each fall. The annual input of leaves from trees around the pool support a detritus-based food web and a support a variety of invertebrates that are part of the food web.

Here, in the Driftless Area, ephemeral ponds are not as common as they are in flatter regions and are usually found in floodplains where the land is not sloped. I have noticed that old mining holes can behave similar to an ephemeral pond, but cannot hold water for very long. These little depressions are fun to watch over the year and should be enjoyed by any birder, animal lover or plant observer. 

http://watermonitoring.uwex.edu/level3/WIephemeral.htm SE Wisconsin’s Ephemeral Pond Project

http://www.vernalpool.org/ Great Learning Resource (get a t-shirt)

http://www.epa.gov/r5water/ephemeralwetlands/ The E.P.A.’s information

This is the time of year when we get to witness one of the true gems of native plant dynamics. Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) is found in wet woodlands, shaded streambanks, springs and on the edges of fens. It is the first flower to begin growing in late winter, creates a horrible odor and has great medicinal value. However, Skunk Cabbage is best known for its thermogenetic properties – it produces its own heat!

Beginning as early as late February Skunk Cabbage begins to appear, sometimes coming up through the snow and melting it in the process. It produces a foul odor (hence the common name) as it grows, attracting stoneflies and bees. These insects serve as its pollinators and are responsible for its reproduction. Breaking a portion of the leaf will give someone a deep whiff of the skunk-like smell. This odor also discourages herbivores from eating it, thus increasing its survival rate.

Skunk Cabbage can create temperatures up to 35° C (95° Fahrenheit) by a process known as cyanide resistant cellular respiration. It is among a small group of plants that exhibit thermogenesis. This produced heat also helps spread its odor into the air. Simply put, Skunk Cabbage is warm blooded, like us.

Another rare trait – Skunk Cabbage has contractile roots. This pulls the plant down into the mud as it grows. The plant actually grows downward, although it attains a height of up to 18 inches. This makes the plant impossible to be dug from the ground, something the nursery trade learned long ago.

Skunk Cabbage is not rare but also not common. It can be found in most Northern Illinois counties but occurrence is sporadic elsewhere. In Wisconsin it is found in most counties of the state. The specific habitat that it prefers makes it hard to find. Large populations of this plant can turn into tourist areas this time of year. It is well documented that Chicagoland once had extremely high populations of Skunk Cabbage.

I used to have a large population behind my house in Bull Valley near Woodstock, ILL. A friend once thought that a deer had broken up a salt lick and spread it around the woodland, melting the snow… If you have never experienced this phenomena it should be put on your ‘to do’ list.

http://chicagowildernessmag.org/issues/spring1999/skunkcabbage.html Good Article

 How do I incorporate Christmas and prairies? I know, I will write about ‘Merry Christmas Prairie’ in Mineral Point Wisconsin. Merry Christmas Prairie is a 43-acre prairie restoration that was conducted jointly by the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Wisconsin Conservation Corp begining in 1988. It is located around Pendarvis/Merry Christmas Mine, both Wiconsin state historical sites. Merry Christmas Mine began operation on Christmas day in 1905. The surrounding prairie was planted in order to emulate the pre-settlement landscape that the early cornish miners of the area would have encountered in the 1820s. Altough the prairie itself is mediocre in quality, it’s association with the regions mining history makes it notable.

One of the most interesting tidbits about lead mining and local botony is the use and nameing of Amorpha canescens, Leadplant. Leadplant, technically a shrub, indicated the presence of lead beneath the surface. Due to its extremely deep taproot, Leadplant utilizes verticle crevices in the bedrock to reach for nutrients. Early miners looked for Leadplant and assumed mineral rich bedrock would lay underneath. Groves of Aspen trees also served this purpose - most likely Populus tremuloides, Quaking Aspen. Today, Leadplant is still found growing in prairie remnants throughout the Driftless Area and is a plant that I include in most prairie restorations that I perform.

 Before there was a 1849 gold rush in California there was a 1827 lead rush around Galena. Today, there are many remnants of the mining era that survive in the area. It is quite common to come across an old mine when walking through the woods around Galena, Shapville, Council Hill and Shullsburg. Although 150 years of weathering make them difficult to recognize they are usually defined by 3-8 foot deppressions in the soil with a gravelly base with no other explanation of its cause. The last lead mining operation in the region closed in 1977 at Shullsburg.

Pendarvis and Merry Christmas Mine and Museum is a great way to learn about early lead and zinc mining operations in this area. There are many artifacts and descriptions of the lead mining process on the self guided walking tour around Merry Christmas Mine. A few hours at the site makes for a great education for anyone curious about how the mining process worked.  

An odd name for a prairie and a very heartfelt greeting this time of year. Merry Christmas to everyone – Cory -

http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/pendarvis/  Wisconsin State Historical Society

http://mineralpoint.com/living_history/pendarvis_historic_site.html  City of Mineral Point

Now that snow has fallen and temperatures have dropped, the controlled burn season has ended and the brush clearing season has begun. Our woodlands are easily traversed now and the ground is solid, making invasive brush removal efficient and reducing disturbance. Invasive shrubs, low quality trees, and understory woody species that are crowding Bur and White Oaks are easily removed in the winter.  Invasive shrubs include species such as Honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.), Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata), Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) and Prickly Ash (Xanthium strumarium). Low quality trees include Box Elder (Acer negundo), Black Locust (Robinia psuedoacacia), Choke Cherry (Prunus virginiana) and Maples (Acer spp.). When spring begins the cleared woodland begins to recover from encroachment. Byproducts of this management technique are low quality firewood and brush piles.

Brush piles are constructed by placing the cut materials into piles. Brush piles make for less labor hours, prevent machinery from entering the restoration area and provide habitat for a variety of fauna. Songbirds use the top branches for perching and the small dead peices for nest building. Mammals, such as fox, rabbit, bobcat, squirrel and coyote, will utilize brush piles for dens if they are remote or for shelter in inclimate weather. Many amphibians use them for those same purposes and countless insects utilize the decaying wood. 

When brush is very dense there can be many piles created or piles can become very large. In this situation, specfic piles can be burned to eliminate the quantity and size of them. Blowers with cruise control settings are used to consume piles faster and to reduce the size of the burn scar that is created. An inexpensive and easy-to-establish seed mix should be planted on top of the burn scar to assist in healing and to provide a starting point for native grasses to spread.

 Newly constructed piles are sometimes larger than desired but they will usually decrease by 50% as gravity and snow weight compress them to a shorter stature. There are three options for managing brush piles: they can be lit on fire shortly after they are piled, they can remain on site as habitat or they can sit until a controlled burn is performed, at which time the piles are consumed. In very large restoration projects a pit us dug and several thick tree trunks are layed across the top. Piles are then constructed on top of that while air is injected into the cavity below. This pit fire method consumes piles very quickly and leaves the ash to fall in the hole, which is then filled with soil.

A seemingly simple task turned into a science by land managers. 

We live in an area of the world where we can experience the phenomenon of fall color change. Every year we ask ourselves, Will we have good fall color? Every year the show of colors is different, but why? With the glory of fall now in full effect, it’s time to look at the science of autumn beauty.

As many of you remember, clorophyll is what makes leaves green. Through the process of photosythensis sunlight is used to transform carbon dioxide and water into carbrohydrates which fuels the growth of the tree. During the spring and summer sunlight levels and tempuatures are high, making the photosynthetic process very active and keeping leaves green. As daylight hours and temperatures decrease the process slows down and the colors that remain in the tree leaves appear. Different tree species contain different chemicals such as: Anthocyanins (Reds & Purples), Carotenoids (Orange & Golds) and Tannins (Browns).  

With that simple rule in place we now look to what causes yearly and locational differences.

Temperature: The greatest opportunity for great fall colors are cool nights, but not below freezing. Early frosts will reduce the brilliancy of colors as it slows or stops the production of anthocyanins. New England states are known for their great fall colors because freezing rarely occurs early in the fall due to its proximity to the ocean.

Moisture: Stressed plants show their colors earlier than healthy plants. Drought years will produce more reds than usual as there is an increase of anthocyanins. Drought years will also produce colors earlier than usual. A wet spring will promote good color as stored sugars in the leaves are released.

Sunlight: Optimum conditions are for bright sunny days. During the ‘changing’ period sugars in the leaves are produced more rapidly when exposed to direct sunlight. This is why leaves on the outside of the canopy change faster and with more brilliancy. Fall weather that is overcast and rainy does not provide very showy displays.

To summarize, for optimum fall colors we would want all of the following conditions to be in place thoughout the year: A warm wet spring with favorable summer weather followed by sunny fall days with cool temperatures at night but not freezing. Easier said than done but certainly a dynamic part of nature that everyone can appreciate.

http://www.fs.fed.us/news/fallcolors/  US Forest Service Fall Color Hotline