It doesn’t feel like sweater weather yet but there are glimpses of the coming fall at the Morton Arboretum.
Two Freeman maples are starting to turn red at the edge of Meadow Lake in west suburban Lisle.
Plant Knowledge Specialist Sharon Yielsa says this summer was warm and dry but there was enough rain to keep most trees healthy.
“If you’ve got green leaves, you can turn colors. If you dried out in the summer and the leaves are brown, we lose the opportunity for color.”
The trees are not the only plants starting to change, the arboretum has grasses and shrubs that also transform into reds and purples.
Next week’s cooler weather will help encourage more leaves to change.
Yielsa says with thousands of plants and different species across the 1,700 acre site there should be color through the end of October.