Found this article from Science Made Simple. I always wondered what exactly caused the leaves to change to such amazing colors. Now I know.
http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/leaves.html
Leaves are nature's food factories. Plants take water from the ground through their roots. They take a gas called carbon dioxide from the air. Plants use sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and glucose. Oxygen is a gas in the air that we need to breathe. Glucose is a kind of sugar. Plants use glucose as food for energy and as a building block for growing. The way plants turn water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and sugar is called photosynthesis. That means "putting together with light." A chemical called chlorophyll helps make photosynthesis happen. Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color.
As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter. This is how the trees "know" to begin getting ready for winter.
During winter, there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis. The trees will rest, and live off the food they stored during the summer. They begin to shut down their food-making factories. The green chlorophyll disappears from
the leaves. As the bright green fades away, we begin to see yellow and orange colors. Small amounts of these colors have been in the leaves all along. We just can't see them in the summer, because they are covered up by the green chlorophyll.
The bright reds and purples we see in leaves are made mostly in the fall. In some trees, like maples, glucose is trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. Sunlight and the cool nights of autumn cause the
leaves turn this glucose into a red color. The brown color of trees like oaks is made from wastes left in the leaves.
It is the combination of all these things that make the beautiful fall foliage colors we enjoy each year.
Sandy is Naughty but Nice
Audrey is a clown complete with the giant floppy shoes.
Terri turned Biker Chick ...
Here is an update on the new cooler. Getting all the walls and ceiling glued on.
And here is a snapshot of our bouquet chicks making some bright bouquets!
Look at these amazing, cut, novelty orchids we just got in today!
Candle Ring
Swag
Here are some photos of the boys building the cooler in the greenhouse. I can't wait to see the finished product. The walls have all gone up today, so we shouldnt have to wait too long...
Sandy finally decided to decorate her corner of the neighborhood. We have the new smiling addition of Stanley the scarcrow.
I love the idea of notching out fun and festive designs without carving out the whole pumpkin. Less mess :)
