The leaves of this young Sugar Maple, photographed here yesterday (November 9), have just recently started changing to their fall colors.
On November 3, when other Sugar Maples were bare of leaves, this teenager’s leaves were still green and collecting snow:
Why do some trees hold onto their leaves longer than others?
Research shows that the more stress that a tree undergoes, the earlier it will shed its leaves to conserve water and energy. The amount of water that a tree gets in the spring and summer is especially important. This year we had semi-drought conditions, but this tree is in a low area (near our raised driveway) that collects some water when it rains. It also is fairly well protected from the high winds that we get on our ridge. Moreover, we’ve been experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures.
Meanwhile, about 200 feet from this Maple, our Katsura Tree looked like this yesterday:
(Brooklin, Maine)