BY JENNIFER BAILEY
Visiting Vermilion County parks in any season brings gorgeous scenery and new adventures .
The colors of fall tend to be warm and vibrant at the same time .
“ One of the things that makes our fall colors awesome in Vermilion County is that we have a wide diversity of tree species ,” said Lara Danzl , environmental education supervisor with the Vermilion County Conservation District .
“ We have our beech trees , our tulip trees , maples , oaks , hickories , so many varieties of trees and each one of them have unique colors ,” Danzl said .
Vermilion County doesn ’ t have the hills and mountain topography such as eastern states have for leaf peeping .
But Danzl said while this area doesn ’ t have the elevation change so much , people are definitely going to see a lot of color in east-central Illinois because of the tree diversity .
Some of the earliest trees that change color are sassafras .
She was noticing the red color starting in September of that tree ’ s leaves .
A lot of buckeye trees already had started dropping leaves . They are one of the first to pop out in the spring with their leaves , and one of the first to lose their leaves in the fall .
Danzl said there ’ s a little bit of a gradual change in tree colors in the fall . It ’ s mostly dependent on the tree species .
“ A lot of times our oak trees , like
our white oaks and black oaks , are the last to change colors . And they don ’ t have the same pop and vividness as some of our maples and hickory trees do ,” she said .
The timing of fall colors changing is so dependent on various factors . It ’ s hard to pinpoint the absolute peak , Danzl said .
In 2021 , peak color didn ’ t arrive until almost the end of October .
“ It just seemed like fall colors took forever to get here ,” Danzl said .
But then in 2020 , peak season color happened in early October .
“ It just really depends on our weather ,” she said , noting one of the factors for beautiful coloration .
If it ’ s a late spring , such as occurred this year , it can delay fall colors . A summer drought also can affect fall colors .
“ You almost need perfect ideal conditions to line up to really get a beautiful fall color display ,” Danzl said .
Sometimes it can last two weeks , or just one week .
It just depends on weather and related factors .
The area had a little bit of a drought mid-summer but then picked up some rainfall . If the decent weather continues , there may be an early fall .
One of the things that signals a tree to change colors is the length of daylight . When day lengths are getting shorter and nights are getting longer , that ’ s a cue to the trees where it ’ s time to shut down and get ready for the winter , Danzl said .
“ I think that ’ s so cool that they can sense that day length and say , ‘ oh hey , it ’ s time to chill out for the year and time to relax and go into my winter hibernation ,’” she said
Last year the area had a very dry fall and it was very hot . So , the hot , dry weather delayed the leaves in changing color .
“ If we have warm sunny days ,
A previous fall scene at Lake Mingo in Vermilion County . Photo by Jennifer Bailey
Left , leaves at Kennekuk County Park . Photo by Jennifer Bailey
11 ILLIANA MAGAZINE — FALL 2022