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Fall Color Report

See where fall color is showing in the tree and plant collections at The Morton Arboretum and visit throughout the season to see the colors change.

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Fall color as of Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Fall color is developing fast in the gardens, woodlands, plant collections, and landscapes of The Morton Arboretum.

Look for bright reds and oranges on sugar maples and Freeman’s maples, as well as rich reds on sumacs, dogwoods, and tupelo trees. Yellows are showing on silver maples and Miyabe’s maples, hackberries, shagbark and bitternut hickories, corktrees, redbuds, American elms, and lindens.

An especially vibrant and varied display of fall color can be seen in the woodlands of the East Woods via Main Trail Loops 3 and 4, which take you through the Maple Collection. The trails, with a surface of wood chips, stretch from parking lots P-8 through P-14.

There is also plenty of fall color to see from the accessible paved paths near the Arboretum’s central area and around Meadow Lake near parking lot P-1. Take the paths around the Visitor Center, Arbor Court, and through The Gerard T. Donnelly Grand Garden to see festive seasonal displays of pumpkins, mums, and fall’s final blooms.

Venture to the Arboretum’s West Side, where there are some notably colorful trees and plants that are worth the hike (or drive). Look for a purple Freeman’s maple along the DuPage River in the Willow Collection (parking lot P-33), deep red sugar maples near the DuPage River bridge as you exit the Walnut Collection (parking lots P-31 and P-32), red sumacs at the Schulenberg Prairie Visitor Station (parking lot P-25), and sugar maples near Lake Marmo and Sterling Pond (parking lots P-27 and P-28).

The leaf peeping season is underway at The Morton Arboretum, and colors are changing with each passing day. This coming week is a great time to get outdoors, enjoy sunny days, and visit for gorgeous fall colors!

Fall Color Highlights

Corktree

Corktree leaves change to a clear yellow in autumn, with female trees developing small, black, berry-like fruit.

Dogwoods

Dogwoods are shrubs and small trees known for their vibrant fall foliage in shades of red, orange, and purple, as well as their spring flowers.

Freeman’s maple

Freeman’s maple is a sturdy hybrid of red maple and silver maple with leaves that turn a brilliant, red-orange color in the fall.

Redbuds

Redbud trees are best known for purplish-pink flowers that bloom in April and May, but their heart-shaped leaves turn to a clear yellow or yellow-green in fall.

Sugar maple

Sugar maple is a Midwest native tree loved for its exceptional fall color, ranging from brilliant yellow to burnt orange.

Sumacs

Sumacs bring outstanding color to the autumn woodlands, from yellow and orange to deep red and purple. Dense, fuzzy clusters of dark red fruits appear in early fall and often last through the winter.

 

About the Fall Color Report

The Fall Color Report is written by The Morton Arboretum’s manager of plant records, Ed Hedborn. It is typically published on Wednesdays throughout the fall to help guests plan their weekend visits. The Arboretum also publishes a weekly Bloom Report in springtime.

Fall color as of Tuesday, October 13, 2026

The trees and other plants are increasingly colorful this week at The Morton Arboretum, with leaves changing throughout the living collections, gardens, and woodlands. Look for more color developing on Freeman’s maples, hackberries, walnuts, hickories, corktrees, redbuds, and Kentucky coffeetrees. Dramatic reds can be seen on sumacs, dogwoods, poison ivy, and Virginia creeper.

The beauty of autumn is everywhere at the Arboretum, but the Maple Collection has an especially fine variety of fall color. The trail through the collection, with a surface of wood chips, runs between parking lots P-7 and P-14 on the East Side, with connections to other trails. You also can enjoy the changing colors from paved accessible trails around Meadow Lake at parking lot P-1 and in the Temperate Asia Collection at parking lot P-16, as well as all along the Arboretum’s roads.

In the woodlands of the East Woods and the West Side, native sugar maples are showing deep oranges and reds on the tops of their canopies. As leaves fall from the trees’ branches, the light appears brighter as you drive or walk the trails in the East Woods. Breezes can bring down a colorful sprinkle of autumn colors.

Some particularly notable trees are on the West Side. A sugar maple near Illinois Route 53 is bright reddish-orange. The Schulenberg Prairie (parking lot P-25) is golden. Sugar maples near the DuPage River Bridge as you exit the Walnut Collection (parking lot P-31) are red and orange. A Freeman’s maple along the DuPage River in the Willow Collection (parking lot P-32) is dark purple.

There also are color highlights on the East Side. Sumacs across from parking lot P-18 show a variety of reds. Watch the Miyabe’s maples between parking lots P-17 and P-18; they will be turning a bright yellow over the next week or so. Near the Visitor Center, the display gardens are bright with flowers and jolly with pumpkins.

The weather forecast is for cool nights and bright, warm, sunny days with showers in the middle of the coming week. That should encourage the trees and other plants to develop more color.

Every day in autumn brings new colors, sounds, and smells to the gardens, living plant collections, woodlands, and prairies of The Morton Arboretum. It’s time to get outside and experience the wonders of fall!

Fall Color Highlights

Corktree

Corktree leaves change to a clear yellow in autumn, with female trees developing small, black, berry-like fruit.

Dogwoods

Dogwoods are shrubs and small trees known for their vibrant fall foliage in shades of red, orange, and purple, as well as their spring flowers.

Freeman’s maple

Freeman’s maple is a sturdy hybrid of red maple and silver maple with leaves that turn a brilliant, red-orange color in the fall.

Redbuds

Redbud trees are best known for purplish-pink flowers that bloom in April and May, but their heart-shaped leaves turn to a clear yellow or yellow-green in fall.

Sugar maple

Sugar maple is a Midwest native tree loved for its exceptional fall color, ranging from brilliant yellow to burnt orange.

 

About the Fall Color Report

The Fall Color Report is written by The Morton Arboretum’s manager of plant records, Ed Hedborn. It is typically published on Wednesdays throughout the fall to help guests plan their weekend visits. The Arboretum also publishes a weekly Bloom Report in springtime.

Fall color as of Tuesday, October 6, 2026

The colors of autumn are gradually increasing in the tree collections, gardens, and woodlands of The Morton Arboretum.

Asters are still blooming in our woodlands and prairie. Some trees, including Freeman’s maples, hackberries, redbuds, and Kentucky coffeetrees, are showing more fall color, and scattered golden leaves have appeared in linden and walnut trees. Look for red leaves on sumac shrubs and Virginia creeper vines that climb some trees. Acorns and walnuts are still dropping from trees across the Arboretum’s collections and landscapes.

The Maple Collection, located between parking lots P-7 and P-14, is a good place to take a walk to enjoy the early fall tree color. Sugar maples, which are native to Midwestern woodlands, are just starting to show hints of fall color on the tops of their leafy canopies where leaves are most exposed to sunlight. In the East Woods, the trails and roads may seem lighter, as every leaf that falls opens the canopy to let more sun through.

The forecast for the next few days is for cooler nights and bright, sunny days with cool to moderate temperatures. That kind of weather should stimulate the development of fall color. The best fall color develops when we have bright, warm, sunny days and cool nights.

In the coming days, look for changes in Miyabe’s maples, coffeetrees, tree lilacs, hackberries, sumacs, honey locusts, elms, ironwoods, and redbuds. We should also see more vivid fall colors start to appear in the tops of our woodland sugar maples.

Every day will bring new colors, sounds, and smells to experience at The Morton Arboretum, wherever you go in the gardens, tree collections, woodlands, and prairies. Take time to get outside and experience the wonders of fall!

Fall Color Highlights

Asters

Many fall-blooming asters are native to the Chicago region, often with blue or white daisylike flower heads.

Freeman’s maple

Freeman’s maple is a sturdy hybrid of red maple and silver maple with leaves that turn a brilliant, red-orange color in the fall.

Lindens

A popular shade tree in cities and suburbs across the United States, lindens are large trees with heart-shaped, dark green leaves that change to pale yellow in fall.

Sumacs

Sumacs bring outstanding color to the autumn woodlands, from yellow and orange to deep red and purple. Dense, fuzzy clusters of dark red fruits appear in early fall and often last through the winter.

Virginia creeper

Virginia creeper is a vine often found growing up tree trunks in native woods. Its leaves turn a brilliant red in early autumn.

 

About the Fall Color Report

The Fall Color Report is written by The Morton Arboretum’s manager of plant records, Ed Hedborn. It is typically published on Wednesdays throughout the fall to help guests plan their weekend visits. The Arboretum also publishes a weekly Bloom Report in springtime.

Fall color as of Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Asters, goldenrods, and white snakeroot are blooming in the woodlands at The Morton Arboretum, while golden grasses set seed in the prairies. Most trees are still green, but fall color is surely coming.

The most color can be found on trees planted in sites where their living conditions are stressful, such as in parking lots and near pavement. There, leaves of Freeman’s maples are showing some red. Hackberries and Kentucky coffeetrees are turning yellow. Scattered leaves in lindens and walnut trees are starting to turn yellow as well.

Acorns and walnuts are dropping from trees across the Arboretum’s collections and landscapes. Squirrels, chipmunks, and blue jays are busy processing this year’s crop for winter storage.

The best fall color develops in trees when there are bright, warm, sunny days and cool nights. The forecast is for cooler days and nights in coming days, which may slow the development of more intense fall colors.

As you visit the Arboretum over the next week or so, look for hints of yellowing leaves in Miyabe’s maples, Kentucky coffeetrees, tree lilacs, hackberries, and redbuds. Reds are also beginning to show in sumac, Virginia creeper, and dogwoods.

As we head into autumn, each day will bring new colors, sounds, and smells to the Arboretum’s gardens, collections, woodlands, and landscapes. Visit often to enjoy the outdoors and experience the changing wonders of fall.

Fall Color Highlights

Asters

Many fall-blooming asters are native to the Chicago region, often with blue or white daisylike flower heads.

Freeman’s maple

Freeman’s maple is a sturdy hybrid of red maple and silver maple with leaves that turn a brilliant, red-orange color in the fall.

Goldenrods

Goldenrods have sprays of upright yellow flowers that bloom from late summer to early fall.

Virginia creeper

Virginia creeper is a vine often found growing up tree trunks in native woods. Its leaves turn a brilliant red in early autumn.

White snakeroot

White snakeroot has slightly branched clusters of bright white flowers in late summer and fall. It is commonly found in shaded woodlands.

 

About the Fall Color Report

The Fall Color Report is written by The Morton Arboretum’s manager of plant records, Ed Hedborn. It is typically published on Wednesdays throughout the fall to help guests plan their weekend visits. The Arboretum also publishes a weekly Bloom Report in springtime.

Fall color as of Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Autumn is just around the corner in The Morton Arboretum’s tree collections, gardens, and landscapes. Hints that summer has ended and fall is beginning can be seen in the blooming of asters, goldenrods, and white snakeroot in the woodlands. Prairie grasses are setting seed, amid blooming prairie asters and goldenrods.

The earliest trees to turn color, such as Freeman maples with hints of red, are in parking lots and other sites that are stressful for trees to grow in. Meanwhile, yellow leaves are starting to appear in the crowns of linden and walnut trees throughout the Arboretum.

Another sign of fall is the abundance of acorns and walnuts dropping from trees across the Arboretum’s collections and landscapes. Squirrels and chipmunks are busy processing this year’s crop for winter storage.

In the coming days, look for hints of yellowing leaves in Miyabe maples, coffee-trees, tree lilacs, hackberries, and redbuds. Meanwhile, enjoy the fall-blooming flowers in beds around the Visitor Center and the Thornhill Education Center.

The color of trees this autumn will depend on a combination of factors, such as dry weather in much of the summer, recent rains, and the temperatures and rainfall in the coming weeks. Cool nighttime temperatures, bright sunny warm days, and adequate moisture will allow the plants to develop brighter and longer-lasting colors.

Autumn is always a season of change, and the Arboretum’s collections, woodlands, and landscapes offer a constantly changing experience of color, sounds, and smells. Come outside often this fall and enjoy!

Fall Color Highlights

Asters

Many fall-blooming asters are native to the Chicago region, often with blue or white daisylike flower heads.

Goldenrods

Goldenrods have sprays of upright yellow flowers that bloom from late summer to early fall.

White snakeroot

White snakeroot has slightly branched clusters of bright white flowers in late summer and fall. It is commonly found in shaded woodlands.

 

About the Fall Color Report

The Fall Color Report is written by The Morton Arboretum’s manager of plant records, Ed Hedborn. It is typically published on Wednesdays throughout the fall to help guests plan their weekend visits. The Arboretum also publishes a weekly Bloom Report in springtime.

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