Through the Seasons at The Morton Arboretum: Then and Now (October)

"October is the month in which autumnal foliage coloration really comes into its own." - E. Lowell Kammerer, Through the Seasons at The Morton Arboretum, 1942

Oct 21, 2021

Vista of a green lawn, with green, yellow, and red trees just starting to turn for fall. The sky is bright blue, with some fluffy clouds. — Morton Arboretum, October 17, 2021

I’d expected writing this edition of Through the Seasons: Then and Now to be straightforward - trees would be changing colors before our eyes as we creep into autumn with the air taking on a welcome chill. I delayed putting this post together in an effort to capture a fuller picture of fall color. Now here we are, almost at the end of October, and it seems much of the greenery in Illinois is still just that - green!

Despite the seemingly sluggish turn to autumn leaves (is it truly delayed? Or does it just feel that way?), I was able to find some of the trees and bushes that my grandfather felt noteworthy for October.

He specifically mentions the Butternut Hickory providing a wash of clear golden yellow this time of year, and this Shellbark Hickory has a similar hue:

A partially green partially yellow/gold tree. The coloration is somewhat sporadic.

Closeup photo of yellow/gold leaves with a few brown and green leaves scattered on branches.

The Swamp and Red Maples that he describes as having a scarlet or crimson color haven’t seemed to turn that direction quite yet, but this Black Maple on the East Side of the Arboretum was giving off distinctly fall vibes:

A wide, shapely tree with leaves that have turned golden to brown.

Closeup of a maple leaf still attached to a tree, it is yellow with some brown starting to show at the center.

And the leaves on this Korean Maple were just beginning to shift:

Very fringy maple leaves with a few starting to curl up and turn red and brown.

The Flowering Dogwoods were particularly vibrant closer to the beginning of the month - a stellar example of plants showing off what my grandfather classified as “scarlets, crimsons, and red purples of varying intensity”:

Closeup of a smattering of leaves on a branch, they are very bright red.

Closeup of purple-red leaves on a branch.

Closer to the ground, my grandfather described the effect of a red-hued groundcover during October

Adjoining the Administration Building courtyard is another red accent in the form of Cotoneaster multiflora, every one of whose arching branches is fringed with globes of scarlet.

This Spreading Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster divaricata) was showing off similar scarlet globes during the first week of the month:

Very closeup photo of the scarlet globed fruit on a branch with several green leaves surrounding it.

At the end of his October passage, my grandpa briefly mentions the Beautyberry, which to me was the standout find during my October visits:

Very round and small clusters of berries shifting from bright purple to lilac to cream to green as they move down the branch of long green leaves. — This variety was labeled as the Issai Purple Beautyberry (*Callicarpa dichotoma ‘Issai*’)

“The Beautyberry (*Callicarpa dichotoma*) shows its clustered berries of a rare shade of lilac-violet” - E. Lowell Kammerer, Through the Seasons at the Morton Arboretum, 1942

A bushy green plant with clumps of bright purple, lilac, cream, and green berries on its branches. — These beautiful bushes can be found near the Visitors Center.

Over on the West Side of the Arboretum, the Schulenberg Prairie was decidedly Spooky-Season-esque on the chilly, overcast, day that I visited:

A narrow stream running through a yellow-green, yellow, and brown prairie.

Prairie plants in light green, yellow, and brown with a few trees set against a grey cloudy sky.

I’m looking forward to wandering the Arboretum more in the coming weeks and observing fall color sweep over the landscape as the weather turns colder. Like my grandpa, I think the Arboretum has much to offer in every season. But autumn is undoubtedly not to be missed!

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Through the Seasons at The Morton Arboretum: Then and Now (October)

"October is the month in which autumnal foliage coloration really comes into its own." - E. Lowell Kammerer, Through the Seasons at The Morton Arboretum, 1942

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