Fall Fancies - Fall Surprise

After a couple of autumns with drab color, we have some nice fall color, finally - sort of, here in the Southern Tier of New York State.    Because of drought, our fall color forecast originally was for another drab year.

Surprise!

Our trees started to turn earlier than in any year in the recent past here in the Binghamton,NY area.  It makes sense, given our very early spring. And the pattern of turning is a little unusual.  Some hills are green.  Some are full of color.  Some hills, even in the first week of October, are already bare.

Normally, color begins in the hills and moves down off the hills, ending in the river valleys.  Not this year.  Locust trees in downtown Binghamton (in the river valley) are already nearly bare, with some hilltops still green.

Other trees can't make up their mind, with brillant leaves intermixed with plain old green.

Even the leaves that have already dropped have their own beauty, as demonstrated in this West Side of Binghamton yard.  Hostas are naturally mulched by newly fallen leaves.

Not all beauty is due to leaves, either.  Mums decorate yards all over our area.

A blacksmith's sign, near Trumansburg, NY, in the Finger Lakes is decorated by nature this past Saturday.

And finally, the beauty of nature is enhanced with man-made decorations.

Do you have fall color in your area?  Has the color been unusually early for you, too?