Fall leaves color change is a great tourist attraction in Northern Minnesota. That is especially true in Northern Minnesota where one could view mosaic of beautiful tree leaves color ranging from red, orange and yellow.
Fall color in Northern Minnesota. Photo credit MPR Andrew Krueger. 
Fall color in Northern Minnesota. Photo credit MPR Andrew Krueger. 
Fall color in Northern Minnesota. Photo credit MPR Andrew Krueger.
Why Leaves Color Change in Fall Season?
When temperature drop during the fall season, many trees change their color of leaves. Richard K. Simpson, a graduate student from Arizona State University answers the above questions by a 7th grader in a questions & answers forum as follows:
Leaves are colored by molecules called pigments. The pigment that causes leaves to be green is chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is important for plants to make food using sunlight. During spring and summer when there is plenty of sunlight, plants make a lot of chlorophyll. In autumn when it starts to get cold, some plants stop making chlorophyll. Instead, those plants break down chlorophyll into smaller molecules. As chlorophyll goes away, other pigments start to show their colors. This is why leaves turn yellow or red in fall.
Richard K Simpson, Graduate Student, Arizona State University
Leaves Color Change Around the Block
To see the fall tree color change, we don’t have to visit Northern Minnesota, we can see that around our own blocks. The other day I walked around the with my phone and took some beautiful images, a few samples are shown below.
Tree Leaves in the Yard
After the beautiful fall color follows lots & lots of leaves around the yard. Yards with tree leaves is the basic fabric of living here in Minnesota. Clearing (removing) yard leaves is one of the major task of house owners. Often, leaves are blown away by wind from neighbor’s yard this necessitates repeating the leaves removal activities several times.
Even we are not completely done with our yard clearing, the Minnesota cold winter is already here. Indeed, some parts of the Twin Cities (southern section) has already received couple of inch of snow on the ground this week. In our neighborhood, we were lucky to get just a few snow flurries only. But we all have to get ready for the winter snow & brutal Minnesota winter!
Welcome to Minnesota snowy winter season!