Above / Until the next windy, rainy day, vibrant red maple trees welcome visitors to the entrance of May Watts Park. Enjoy the walk!
We’d turned our clocks back an hour to end of Daylight Saving Time at 2AM Nov. 3. Â By 7:30AM, the morning sun appeared brilliant as the colorful trees outside our window began to glisten with the time change. We hardly could wait to get outside under the clear blue sky early to capture this crisp autumn day in photos.
Looking through old photo files, comparing dates and autumn colors, we’re mindful that it’s tough to tell when fall colors will be most vibrant, even in our own front yard. Â Yet, we’ll predict that this first weekend in November will be the seasonal peak for autumn’s beauty in Naperville where trees always have been a high priority.
Already the rich golden leaves of the ash trees have fallen, creating the need for the city’s curbside collection, now in progress. Though the leaves on some trees remain green and the mighty oak is hanging in there as it always does with dirty brown leaves, the flurry of falling leaves is constant this Sunday, thinning out the tops of many red, orange and purplish trees.
It’s been our experience that the years with adequate rainfall have kept the leaves on the trees longer. But all it takes is one windy wet day for the colors to fall.
In a related note a friend returned Oct. 30 from a 7-day fall foliage road trip to North Carolina. She said she almost wondered why she’d taken the tour because the Midwest by far has the most brilliant color this year.
It’s also good to be reminded that trees of all species, shapes and sizes conserve energy along city parkways, in residential neighborhoods and in business parks. Trees help clean the air; protect ponds, rivers and streams; and provide a habitat for wildlife.
And this time of year, every colorful leaf is as pretty as a spring flower, according to somebody!
Enjoy this autumn Sunday in the parks
“Even if something is left undone, everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn,” wrote Elizabeth Lawrence, a recognized columnist and designer of gardens who lived in the 20th century.
We don’t sit much, but we do enjoy recording the changing colors of the season.
If you have time, you might want to take a Sunday drive on this glorious day when the colors are about as brilliant as they’re going to get. Or consider a hike along the Riverwalk or take the new .89-mile trail around May Watts Park, pictured in this post.
Above / Here’s the view of May Watts Pond and Park looking north, taken early in the morning on Nov. 3.
Above / A new .89-mile trail recently opened, winding through May Watts Park, located just east of May Watts Elementary School. Find trail entrances at Oakton, Whispering Hills and Sequoia roads.
Above / When the geese aren’t honking and the ducks aren’t quacking, May Watts Park provides plenty of peace and quiet, pretty places to pause and reflect about the changing season.
Since the beginning of October, this website has been following the changes of the season at May Watts Park, named to honor the woman who established the Illinois Prairie Path.
For related links with many more photos of the city’s parks, use the “Search for Something” tool, located in the blue navigation bar at the top of the page.
Naperville is a Tree City USA. We care for trees!
Year after year since 1990, the City of Naperville has been named a Tree City USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation. A distinctive “Tree City USA” logo is posted on a sign in the parkway on Eagle Street along the Riverwalk. Â Note the Tree City USA sign the next time you’re stopped for the light at Aurora Ave. facing Naper Settlement where caring for trees comes with a long history.
Local arborists have created awareness that trees naturally beautify residential neighborhoods, parks and business areas, adding value and helping to save energy along every parkway.
Furthermore, thanks to our proactive city, ash trees that produce golden leaves every autumn are being saved by the thousands with treatment to rid them from the dreaded emerald ash borer. But that’s another story that PN has been following for several years, too, to help save our ash.
