Showing Off Its Crimson Side

Happy first day of astronomical autumn. Quite the rainy day here but it’s time to celebrate nonetheless. First I’ll celebrate that I’m getting rain. Hooray! Something that is needed to a huge degree. Second I’m celebrating AUTUMN. Hallelujah! Lovely, warm colors all over the woods.

Celebrating with me are the Flowering Dogwoods (Cornus florida). They’re showing off their crimson side. They begin this process way back in late June, when the chlorophyll production begins to slowly shut down. Very slowly. Their leaves begin to turn from summer green to crimson. Very slowly. Mark your calendars and check out those Dogwood leaves. It really starts that early.

I hope you’re celebrating the arrival of autumn too.

Published by

Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.