[zenjenn]

My family and I went up to Madison County Nature Trail yesterday, and I wanted to share some of these stunning photos. Coming from the California chaparral, it has been a breathtaking new experience for us to watch autumn colors appear here in North Alabama.

[Southlander]

Nice photos! We drove around Old Decatur and Albany neighborhoods a bit yesterday, admiring the leaves.

[thebigr]

I was out riding my motorcycle yesterday and it was beautiful. Love riding in the cooler weather.

[Reactionary]

zenjenn - great pics - nicely framed (have you taken lessons?)! I love the Nature Trail.

Have you been to Monte Sano State Park yet? Big playground for kids and some easy trails for youngsters. The NE overlook has a nice vista and is the trailhead for the must-see 'Stone Cuts' (harder trail).

Autumn is great for hiking - fewer snakes and bugs!

[CourtneyW]

This is the thing I'll miss the most when I move to LA..the leaves changing and the seasons as well...sign...

[rnc76]

Check out Maple Hill Cemetery, that is a great place for autumn colors. Big Spring Park and Twickenham are really nice right now too.

[NicoleC]

Originally Posted by CourtneyW

This is the thing I'll miss the most when I move to LA..the leaves changing and the seasons as well...sign...

There are seasons, they are just subtler. Instead of a colorful display in fall, the desert and scrub areas bloom in spring, sometimes in huge fields of bright yellow. Or, you'll see the colors of the hills gently change from orange to purple as winter comes on.

It's not the same, but it has it's own beauty. What you won't get is that first nippy frost of the fall or the explosion of green in the spring or the fall display we are seeing now. But the wild and imported plants and flowers have something blooming all year round.

[Reactionary]

Speaking of explosions of green, it's time to kill poa annua (annual bluegrass). Poa annua may look good over the winter, but it's a deceitful weed - it dies in the heat of early summer leaving brown spots, plus it crowds out good grasses.

I have pretty good luck with 'Image' this time of year. That and 'cultural methods' (read - pulling weeds). For next year, using a 'Halts' pre-emergent around Labor Day helps. So will using 'Halts' in the spring.

Back on topic - try the mountains to the east for Fall color - like DeSoto Falls (hour or so).

DeSoto State Park, Alabama

[zenjenn]

I think in California, the harder part is it's also a bit more out-of-the-way to get to a place like this (unless you live on the fringes.)

Reactionary - thanks for the compliment. I am not specifically into photography but my education and professional experience is in the visual arts.

[Bravo35223]

For years I have talked with people from New England who think they have a monopoly on Fall color...(I have family in Vermont and Massachusetts). Then I show them photos like yours and they understand that colors like that stretch from Maine all the way down through the Appilachian chain into Northern Alabama...

But we've got TWO big advantages over them.

1) Little or no snow at all in the winter....play golf and tennis weather permitting in the middle of January.

2) Just a beautiful Springtime....the first colors Jenn... will emerge in the last week of February when you will see some yellow blooms appearing....then the azealas, camellias, and even the magnolia trees bloom...different colors will appear over a 60 day period and it can be something different as the weeks pass...

So - just wait for Spring and have your camera ready bc you are going to love it!!! And the great thing is, if you have a 'green thumb' and are willing to spend some time at your local garden shop, you can plan your yard to have these multiple bloomings...you feel almost like an artist or architect of color that appears in your yard as the spring temps warm....