Ever wonder why Mother Nature flourishes with an array of colors before blanking out in white each winter? The mixture of red, purple, orange and yellow is the result of chemical processes that take place in trees as the seasons change from summer to winter.
Photosynthesis is the process where leaves convert sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into energy-rich sugars to make their own food. The chemical chlorophyll absorbs sunlight and gives leaves their green color during the spring and summer. Once fall approaches, the length of daylight shortens and temperatures decrease causing the chlorophyll to break down, halting leaves from their food-making process. As a result of the chlorophyll no longer being exposed to long periods of direct sunlight, green leaves turn into beautiful autumn colors. The combination of yellows, browns, reds, oranges and purples are the pigments left behind from chlorophyll residue. These colors shine through one last time revealing the natural color of leaves no longer masked by photosynthesis.
As the weather grows colder, trees begin to lose stability in their stems causing their leaves to weaken and eventually wither away from their branches and into your gutter system. Once a leaf falls from a tree limb, a piece of its stem leaves behind a scar where a new leaf will emerge and take its place come spring. While winter leaves us with a bland palette of white, it’s nice to know Mother Nature’s true colors will return once again.
Image courtesy of naturallydifficult.me
