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.

Fall color as of Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Fall color is just beginning to appear in the trees at The Morton Arboretum. Most trees are still mostly green, because hot, dry weather for the past several weeks has slowed their color change. Still, red is beginning to appear in the Maple Collection and yellow leaves are starting to be seen on trees throughout the Arboretum. Cooler nighttime temperatures should help bring out more color.

In the Arboretum’s tree collections and landscapes, you will see pines with their oldest needles turning yellow and falling—a normal occurrence. The leaves of corktrees, redbuds, honey-locusts, catalpas, lindens, coffeetrees, and hackberries are turning yellow.

So far, most color is to be seen on stressed plants, which are beginning to show mostly yellow leaves or are dropping them early. This is especially true in our parking lots, in areas in full sun, and in the very dry areas of the woods.

In the East Woods and other woodlands, plants in the understory have finished blooming and are showing more yellows and browns than greens. The trees’ leaves are still mainly green, although black walnut and buckeye leaves are turning yellow and dropping. Throughout the grounds, native oaks and walnuts are dropping and continue to drop nuts.

In the Schulenberg Prairie grasses are maturing. Color highlights are added by a variety of fall asters, mainly in shades of blue.

Fall color is late this year because of the dry, warm weather, but the change is coming. The colors are likely to come and go rapidly once the weather cools, so visit often to enjoy the constantly changing experience of color, sounds, and fragrances in the Arboretum’s tree collections, woodlands, and landscapes.

Fall Color Highlights

Fall color as of Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Early fall color is slowly developing in scattered locations throughout The Morton Arboretum, although the overall picture is still green.

Some trees and shrubs are showing the effect of dry weather, heat, and lack of rain, with leaves that are changing early with muted colors. On some trees, especially those where cicadas laid eggs during the 2024 emergence of 17-year cicadas, a combination of heat and dryness is causing leaves to turn brown at the edges and drop.

The effects of stress from dry weather are most marked on trees growing in full sun, on south exposures, and in very dry areas, as well as in difficult environments such as parking lots.

Trees and shrubs in parking lots tend to change color early every year because of their stressful environment, with restricted space for roots, heat reflected from nearby pavement, and heat from car engines. In parking lot P-1, look for early yellow and brown colors on Freeman’s maples, coffee-trees, tree lilacs, hackberries, and redbuds. All are showing early yellows and are dropping some leaves.

Out in The Morton Arboretum’s tree collections and landscapes, evergreens such as pines are dropping some of their needles, as they do every year. On pines, the oldest needles, which are three years old, have started to turn yellow and fall.

Near parking lot P-6, some buckeye trees have already lost their leaves and show bare branches. A few yellow leaves can be seen on corktrees, redbuds, honey-locusts, and hackberries. Branches with cicada damage from last year’s 17-year emergence are showing more yellow leaves. In the Maple Collection near parking lot P-14, Freeman’s maples are beginning to turn red early, though the rest of the trees are still green.

In the Arboretum’s East Woods and other natural wooded areas, the green of plants along the forest floor is turning paler. There are still flowers, including goldenrods (yellow), Drummond’s aster (blue), and snakeroot (white). The canopy of leaves above in the trees is still green.

A few vines of Virginia creeper and poison ivy have begun to turn red, though the vines in deep shade remain green.

Grasses are gold and brown in the Schulenberg Prairie at parking lot P-25. A variety of fall asters are blooming among the grasses, mainly in shades of blue and purple.

What the upcoming fall color season will bring will depend on the weather and rainfall. Northern Illinois is still dry and warm, conditions that tend to result in paler, duller colors and earlier leaf drop. Cool nighttime temperatures, bright sunny warm days, and rainfall that brings adequate moisture will allow plants to develop brighter and longer lasting colors.

Autumn is a season of change, and the tree collections, woodlands, and landscapes at The Morton Arboretum always offer a constantly changing experience of color, sounds, and smells. Visit often to enjoy the succession of fall color.

Fall Color Highlights

Fall color as of Wednesday, September 24, 2025

The full color of fall is yet to come, but there are hints of color scattered throughout the trees and shrubs of The Morton Arboretum. These plants are changing color early mainly because they have been stressed by the hot, dry weather this growing season. You will see most of this early fall color in places where it is especially hot and dry or where other conditions such as limited space make it hard for plants to grow.

Trees in our parking lots reflect this each year by turning earlier than other trees on the Arboretum’s grounds, usually with muted or dull colors. Look for early yellow and brown colors on Freeman maples, coffeetrees, tree lilacs, hackberries, and redbuds.

In the Arboretum’s East Woods and other natural wooded areas, the green of plants along the forest floor is turning paler. There are still flowers, including goldenrod (yellow), Drummond’s aster (blue), and snakeroot (white). The canopy of leaves above in the trees is still green.

A few vines of Virginia creeper and poison ivy have begun to turn pale pink on their way to red, though the vines in deep shade remain green.

Acorns are falling from oak trees and walnut trees are dropping their fruits, with a round green outer husk surrounding the hard nut.

Grasses are gold and brown in the Schulenberg Prairie at parking lot P-25. A variety of fall asters are blooming among the grasses, mainly in shades of blue and purple.

What the upcoming fall color season will bring will depend on the weather. So far, the growing season has been dry and warm, which typically results in paler, duller colors and earlier leaf drop. If the coming weeks bring cool nighttime temperatures, bright, sunny warm days, and enough rain, the moisture will allow trees and shrubs to develop brighter and longer-lasting colors.