Red Maple Goodness by Clearly Ambiguous
Fall in Kansas wouldn’t be fall without the red, yellow, and orange of maple leaves dancing in the sunshine, swirling, gusting, and drifting to set the ground on fire. Maples in Eastern Kansas include red maple Acer rubrum, silver maple Acer saccharinum, and sugar maple Acer saccharum. Sugar maple seems to have the best color.
Peak Maple Color
The peak of maple color is almost here. For the last week I’ve been chasing red maples. Enjoying the daily subtle changes in color. Finding the red maples and the sugar maples. And waiting for the sun to shine before grabbing my camera… I’m still waiting.
Maple Leaf Festival, Kansas
Saturday brings the Maple Leaf Festival in Baldwin City, Kansas. Every year it’s held on the 3rd full weekend in October, set to coincide with peak maple color. On both Saturday and Sunday you’ll find craft booths at the Maple Leaf Festival. Other attractions include food, a parade, a carnival, a quilt show a history tour and train rides to Nowhere, KS. There are strict vendor guidelines which ensure you’ll find lots of hand-made and local items.
Get Out, Kick Leaves, Love Fall
And Saturday is forecast to be the first sunny day in over a week for north east Kansas. It’s the perfect time to enjoy the splendor of our gorgeous native trees. The forecast high for Saturday is 54F – enjoy it while you can. Whether you head for the festival, or head out into the woods, it looks like Saturday should be the perfect day to be out.
Have you planned some time to enjoy the wonders of fall? Which trees do you love to see every year? Do you have a fall tradition you like to follow or a festival you attend?
Related posts:
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Wendy Gabriel, Alison Kerr. Alison Kerr said: new article Chasing the Beauty of Red Maples in Kansas http://lovingnaturesgarden.com/2009/10/chasing-the-beauty-of-red-maples-in-kansas/ [...]
Lovely, Alison. Fall really is an amazing season…even if I dread the coming of winter.
. Maples are pure magic. Thanks for reminding us all to take stock in the beauty of the season. Cheers- Bethe @balmeras
I love maples! Sugar maples and red maples are among my favorites. Fall foliage season is big tourist time here in the Northeast.
Thanks for the reminder to get out and enjoy this beautiful changing of the seasons.
I’m taking you up on it and heading out now….
I love the color of the maple. I grew up in the midwest and that was my favorite leaf to collect and iron between wax paper to save it!
Carole, I’m glad I reminded you to get out and enjoy.
Barbara, I’ve never used wax paper for leaves – I’ll need to look that up! Thanks for visiting and commenting.
Gorgeous! We’re going to view pretty leaves next week, although I doubt they’ll be as pretty as the maples. I think the majority of the trees are Aspens.
Melissa, aspens are gorgeous too, in their own special way. Enjoy!!!
[...] 3rd weekend in October, when the glorious Kansas maples are at their peak. I thank Alison Kerr at Loving Nature’s Garden for alerting me to the beauty of the Kansas [...]