Terri Webster Schrandt

Sunday Stills: #Leaves have Fallen from the #Trees

Welp, it’s happened. Fall fell, at least here in Eastern Washington. Despite a lengthy Autumn due to warmer than normal temps in September and October, we experienced weeks of unprecedented Autumn color. Now comes November with the first frost and the leaves have danced to the ground into piles of color. Thankfully, no leaves in our yard. Yet.

“Fallen leaves lying on the grass in the November sun bring more happiness than daffodils.”

Cyril Connolly

The Sunday Stills theme this week is leaves and trees. No matter which hemisphere you live in, you have these!

Before the first frost and a few random snowflakes, our overnight temperatures were in the upper 30s to low 40F (3-5C), which kept the leaves on the trees a few more days. The bright yellow trees in their Autumn glory seem to be illuminated with sunshine on this late October gray day. I saw this view as I drove home from town and literally turned around and parked on this street, hopped out of the car, and took several photos.

Aside from amazing trees in our area like red-leafed maple and golden aspen, all juxtaposed onto deep green evergreens, a new (to me) tree has captured my imagination. (Hint: in the above image, you can see it to the left).

Arrowleaf Balsamroot wild sunflower

Why is it special? Before I share, just let me say that you already know my love for sunflowers and pine trees. Of course, here in Eastern Washington, evergreens are everywhere (they don’t call Washington the “Evergreen State” for nothing). I posted a few months ago about my surprise at discovering wild sunflowers growing amidst the pine forests.

So…drumroll please…imagine my joy at discovering a conifer (notice I didn’t say evergreen), that turns golden yellow in the Autumn and drops its needles just like a deciduous tree!

Whaaattt? A Golden Pine Tree?

The Western Larch (sometimes called Tamarack) is a majestic conifer found at higher elevations in the Pacific Northwest and into Canada.

This photo started it all when my brother-in-law showed me his pics from his weekly drives to Montana. I thought “how beautiful, look at the sunlight on those pine trees!” He said the trees were actually yellow! Swoon. This image shows the mountainside covered in larches shrouded in gray fog.

Without trees, mountains, fogs or rains, the Sun cannot create its own magic in the morning!

Mehmet Murat Ildan
Western Larch in Montana
Original image by E. Schrandt

In a foggy morning, sunshine coming through the trees looks so divine that we seriously think it is the hand of the very divinity itself!

Mehmet Murat Ildan

Western larch (Larix occidentalis) and subalpine larch (Larix lyalli) grow in the interior Pacific Northwest (Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington) of the U.S. and British Columbia, Canada. They are conifer trees like pines because they have needles instead of leaves, and their seeds grow in cones. Unlike pines they are not evergreen; they are deciduous. In the autumn, the needles of larches turn golden and then drop off the branches. Western larch is used for the production of Venice turpentine. The wood is highly prized as firewood in the Pacific Northwest where it is often called “tamarack.” The wood burns with a sweet fragrance and a distinctive popping noise.

Source

I’m obsessed!

  • Western Larch (tamarack)
    Western Larch
  • Close-up WEstern Larch needles
    Needles of the Western Larch

We see two species here in Eastern Washington: The Western Larch (above) and the European Larch. Below is the European Larch, most likely planted, and distinguished by its long, willowy branches. Whereas the Western Larch grows wild on rocky ridges and has shorter needle clusters. Of course, both trees turn yellow and their needles fall to the Earth.

Golden European Larch

Willowy European Larch and its needle clusters.

  • Willowy European Larch
  • European Larch needles

And just like when you see that same car everywhere when thinking about buying a new one, yep, these stately yellow tamaracks are everywhere!

Autumn Splendor
Autumn splendor featuring golden Western Larch in center

My Festival of Leaves

Earlier I mentioned the leaves have mostly fallen and have now imbued the Earth with magical carpets.

“Listen …
With faint dry sound,
Like steps of passing ghosts,
The leaves, frost-crisp’d, break free from the trees
And fall.”

Adelaide Crapsey

Below are a few images of fallen leaves enjoying laying around within their magic carpets. From this…

October Maples

To this…

Rosy fallen leaves

And more!

  • fall leaves on ground
    Autumn carpet
  • fall leaves from a macro perspective
    Maple leaf mixture
  • Autumn Leaves beneath my feet
    Autumn Leaves beneath my feet
  • Don't forget to look down for an Autumn show
    Asphalt decorated with leaves
  • Fallen frosted leaves
    Flash frozen
  • Fallen Leaves float in puddle amid the reflection of the tree from which they fell
    Ginkgo leaves float in a recent puddle
  • Campus Ginkos create both a canopy and a carpet of yellow
    Ginkgo leaves on Sacramento State University campus

“I wonder if leaves feel lonely when they see their neighbors falling?”

John Muir

More Photo Challenges this Week

Each week I am inspired by the following bloggers’ images and photo challenges.

Marsha’s Writers Quotes Wednesday Writer’s Choice (Writer’s Choice or Fog–I have a little of both)
Cee’s Flower of the Day
Dawn’s Festival of Leaves
Johnbo’s CellPic Sunday
Jude’s Life in Color: Black or Gray

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Shapes and Design

I’m also adding this post with my walk through the Autumn leaves and trees to Jo’s Monday Walk!

Who doesn’t love seeing images of our furry friends, wild or domestic, and all kinds of birds as we saw last week? A fabulous variety as shown by the number of links this week!

Always Write

And Miles to Go Before I Sleep

Bend Branches

Between the Lines

The Bloggler

Bushboys World

Cats and Trails and Garden Tales

Cath’s Camera

Cee’s Photo Challenges

Easin’ Along Image shared in comments

Geriatrix Fotogallerie

Graham’s Island

Heaven’s Sunshine

Hugh’s Views and News Image in Comments

Kamerapromenader

Light Words

Life Lessons

Loving Life

Mama Cormier

Musin’ With Susan

Now At Home

Philosophy Through Photography

Photos By Jez

Retirement Reflections Image shared on Instagram

Robert’s Snap Spot

Soul N Spirit

Stevie Turner

Travel With Me

NEW Wolf’s Birding and Bonsai Blog

Woolly Muses

Working on Exploring

Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders

  • Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
  • Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
  • Title your blog post a little differently than mine.
  • Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post. I also recommend adding your post’s URL into the comments.
  • Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
  • Use hashtag #SundayStills for sharing on social media.

I can’t wait to see what your trees and leaves look like this time of year! Next week, the Sunday Stills challenge is all about the color ruby wine or burgundy, just in time for the Thanksgiving celebrations in the US. Have a wonderful week!

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138 comments

  1. So much color, Terri! Thanks for brightening my day. Fall came late in your area this year. We are now back on the desert of Arizona, so no more leaves for us. Yellow was the main color as we traveled south. That golden pine is incredible. So special. I can see its addictive properties. Very cool! Happy leafy Sunday.

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  4. Wow Terri, who’d have thought a conifer could produce such vivid color! I must admit I’m sad that they drop their beautiful leaves but oh how beautiful they are before it happens. Loved your shapely leaves!

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  6. Such gorgeous shots. I knew right away what tree you were referring to. We have it planted here in Saskatoon at the Forestry Farm Park and it’s stunning plus have seen it many times in the mountains. Lake Louise ski resort has a run named after it! Sadly we’ve lost all colour and now have white but that’s ok as it’s beautiful in it’s own way.

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  20. Terri,
    In Tennessee, our spring season is over all too quickly, but our fall can linger a while. This year, it has seemed to linger longer than I can remember. I captured the picture below of our street just before a shower moved in because I was afraid the leaves would end up in a pile. Loved your pictures! I’ve always heard of a Tamarac, but never knew what they were. Have a great week and stay warm up there! Joe

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    • Funny, Joe, how the different regions enjoy fall or spring in different lengths. Spring in Sacramento would begin with buds and blossoms in the fruit trees as early as mid February. Fall in Sacramento is likely in full swing now. Our fall here mostly ended and we have serious winds today and tomorrow, so that seals the deal! Your attached image is stunning, just idyllic!

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  22. We have yellow deciduous trees too, don’t know if they are larch. They weren’t yellow, and then we had a frost and “PRESTO!” they turned yellow. Soon the needles will drop. I always enjoy their color because it shows up most years after all the other colors are gone.

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    • Aren’t they fascinating, Kirstin, thank you! I would never have noticed the few nearby had my BIL not shown me his pics! I drove by some yesterday and they were already bare. I’ve read they are spectacular in the spring, too, and now I know where to look!

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  25. Autumn is such a glorious season. The larches are magnificent, Teri. No wonder you’re obsessed. I would be too! And the golden gingko photo is stunning too. It’s interesting to me that mother nature would color the season of dying with such beauty. I think she was very wise. 🙂

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  28. Your larch tree is sure an interesting tree. It looks like an evergreen that has turned colors. It’s so beautiful. Next week my WQWWC theme is silence. I can definitely tie that into this theme. I think I’ll go out today and get some more pictures. I have a few new ones from our hikes on Peavine Trail. It is gorgeous here, but that larch tree takes the prize in my book! 🙂

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    • Isn’t the larch incredible, Marsha? The needles have fallen now but I’m told they come back in spring a bright, lime green, so I’ll be watching. Then they look like any pine tree until October. Soon they will be snow-covered and that will be gorgeous too! Glad our themes line up. Next week is my “ruby wine” color challenge, so we’ll see how silence works for that–I already have an idea 😉

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      • I borrowed your poem and one other quote to start my “Silence” challenge. I’m going to try to cut back on my blogging a little by doing what you do and integrating SS and LAPC with one of my posts. I miss the surge in traffic when I post, but I also need to be realistic about what I can accomplish. My next post after silence is forgotten. Ruby wine – I love that color. It will be hard to forget, but I will work out some tie-in. Have a great week. Lots of photos, please! 🙂

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      • Sounds good, Marsha! SS keeps me so busy reading links/posts every day then coming up with the photos for each theme that make sense. My once-a week schedule works for me for posting but I read posts all week 🙂 We’ve been strangely busy last week and this with family events, medical appointments, and other fun stuff, plus we’re doing some online training for the sub positions. See you soon…I’ll give you a call this week, too!

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  30. Hi Terri, first of all – WOW, such amazing autumn photos and colour in your photos. That golden conifer is awesome and I love how your quotes reflect the theme too. That shot of the golden pines with the green ones and the mist is just fabulous. I do envy you in a way having autumn as I love the colour and grandeur of the season but spring here is also very nice, although so far it’s been a very wet spring and we even had to pout the fire back on over the weekend due to the cold, wet conditions blowing in, currently it’s still only 5 degrees C outside!!!
    Anyway I have joined you today with my take on leaves, it maybe a bit different to others!!

    If you leave me, can I come too? – #SundayStills

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    • Thank you, Debbie! We really hit the jackpot here for Autumn, I suppose the conditions were right for several weeks of color right out the gate in September. I want to take a drive/trip to Stevens Pass in the Cascades of Washington to see those yellow tamaracks next year. Spring is my second favorite season, but sounds like you need to stay warm for the time-being. Loved your post!

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  48. Isn’t the larch tree wonderful? I see them here and there locally and in abundance when we cross Highway 20 over the North Cascades at Liberty Mountain. And I do adore your gallery of leaves! Hopefully I’ll be back later in the week with some trees and leaves to share! 🙂

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  56. Well I’m smitten with the Yellow Tamarackstoo Terri. My carpet of leaves was soaking wet – five yard waste bags which would have been triple that amount, had they been dry. I’ll try again for next year. I had beautiful photos two years ago after a freak snowstorm on Veteran’s Day. I enjoyed your leaves, wet or dry, they were glorious colors.

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  67. Wow! A conifer that’s not evergreen? That’s new to me, Terri. I don’t think we have any of them in the U.K. I’ve certainly never seen them, anyway. But don’t they look great in the photo your brother-in-law showed you? It would make a great piece of artwork. The colour reminds me of an apple variety we get in the U.K., but I can’t remember what they’re called.

    Your autumn sounds like it’s been pretty mild (like ours), but it does help the colours show off better when the leaves stay on the branches. Unfortunately, most of our autumn has been very grey, but the autumn colours have helped. Most of our trees have now lost their leaves, although some of the plants in our garden continue to put on a great display of colour. I saw in your comment to Liesbet that winter has finally arrived in your part of the world. With all the festivities coming up, it must make it all feel right.

    I’m leaving you a photo of a favourite tree of mine located in a car park just down the road from where we live. It’s a Hawthorne tree and produces conkers every autumn, which, as a kid, I used to play ‘conkers’ with all my mates at school. The object was to drill a hole through the conker and then smash it against your friend’s conker to see which conker lasted. The winner would go on to fight another conker. Very dangerous at the time with bruised wrists etc. Don’t tell anyone, but I used to soak the conker I had in vinegar first as it helped harden the shell. No wonder I used to win the conker tournament every autumn. Aww, happy memories.

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    • Thank you, Hugh, I guess I’m kind of a geek when it comes to nature. Our fall has changed into a winter wonderland with an official 4 inches of snow that fell overnight. As I write this Friday morning, it is snowing again. My dog Brodie is in heaven, running around and laying in the snow. He’s got a half acre to enjoy. Good thing we bought a snow blower which Hans will do doubt fire up this morning. Winter is here, I love it. That Hawthorne tree is stunning! Conkers sounds fun, and I love your cheat to be the best! I’m all for innovation, LOL! Thanks for sharing for Sunday Stills!

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      • I hope we get some of that snow, Terri. It’s due to turn much colder from tomorrow and even colder from next weekend. It must have been amazing waking up to see a fresh snowfall. Both Toby and Austin love the snow, although I do worry how cold their paws get.

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      • The snow is here to stay, although in between storms it melts quickly being so dry. Aero tolerates the snow and wears a coat of some kind. I need to look into doggy boots for him. I’m sure Toby and Austin can’t wait to get out into the snow when you get some, Hugh! Brodie has already rolled in it! 🤣

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