My Cart

The Mariners' Museum and Park

Make Like a Tree and Leaf!

Published

By

Today is the first day of autumn! We’ve finally made it to the best season! The weather is cooler…or it will be, and the leaves will soon start to show off on the trees! Here in the Park, we have some gorgeous fall colors that you can’t miss. But, when is the best time to come? Well, it just so happens that a lot of people get FOMO (fear of missing out) over fall leaves! There are a ton of fall foliage maps online that you can check out. Below is a great example!

Fall foliage map for September 20, 2021. At this point, there are no changes to the leaf color in the Park. Courtesy of the Smoky Mountains website.
Fall foliage map for September 27, 2021. At this point, there are minimal changes to the leaf color in the Park. Courtesy of the Smoky Mountains website.
Fall foliage map for October 4, 2021. At this point, there are patches of color changes to the leaves in the Park. Courtesy of the Smoky Mountains website.
Fall foliage map for October 11, 2021. At this point, there are partial color changes to the leaves in the Park. Courtesy of the Smoky Mountains website.
Fall foliage map for October 18, 2021. At this point, the leaves are near peak in color in the Park. Courtesy of the Smoky Mountains website.
Fall foliage map for October 25, 2021. This is the peak of color changes in the leaves in the Park. Courtesy of the Smoky Mountains website.

As a comparison of what those seasonal changes in the landscape might look like throughout the weeks, below are a few photographs from the Park in those different stages.

The Mariners’ Park with no color change. Photographed by Crystal Hines/The Mariners’Museum and Park.
Fall in the Mariners’ Park. On the right side of the image, you can see minimal hints of color. Photographed by Amanda Shields/The Mariners’ Museum and Park.
Fall in the Mariners’ Park. There are patches of color on the left side of the image. Photographed by Crystal Hines./The Mariners’ Museum and Park.
Fall in the Mariners’ Park. Partial color is present throughout the landscape. Photographed by Brock Switzer/The Mariners’ Museum and Park.
Fall in Mariners’ Park. Almost all leaves have changed at this point and we are near the peak of the season. Photo courtesy of The Mariners’ Museum and Park.
Fall in Mariners’ Park. This represents peak leaf color in the Park. Photographed by Brock Switzer/The Mariners’ Museum and Park.

So now that you know when to come to the Park, you might be wondering why the leaves change at all and why they fall off!

It starts with the chlorophyll in the tree’s leaves. When sunlight is taken in through the leaves and stored by chlorophyll, photosynthesis starts. During photosynthesis, trees take in carbon dioxide and water from their environment. Trees are able to change the carbon dioxide to sugar and water to oxygen. The oxygen is released into the air while the sugar is stored as energy for the tree to grow! Chlorophyll gives the leaves their green color because that is the only color reflected out instead of absorbed.

Tree leaves absorb all wavelengths except green. Green is reflected, which is why leaves appear green to the human eye! Courtesy of The Encyclopedia for the Environment.

When it is warm outside, chlorophyll is extremely active inside the leaves. This allows us to only see green reflecting from the leaves. But, when the weather begins to cool and daylight hours shorten, chlorophyll production slows down and eventually stops. This allows reds, oranges, and yellows to show through. These colors are considered the true colors of the leaves on that particular tree!

A sweet gum tree in the Mariners’ Park in the fall. Photographed by Rand Milam.
A red maple tree with yellow leaves in the Park in the Fall. Photographed by Rand Milam.
An oak tree with orange leaves in Mariners’ Park in the fall. Photographed by Rand Milam.

Why don’t the leaves just stay their beautiful colors until the weather warms again? Why do they fall off? Some trees like those with needles are evergreen and keep their color and leaves throughout the year. However, deciduous trees shed their leaves. As the environment gets colder, trees need to protect themselves from freezing temperatures. They do this by slowly closing off nutrients and water to the stems of leaves until they die and fall off.

So, enjoy the fall leaves during peak season in Mariners’ Park! Happy leaf-peeping!

Scroll to Top