by Gretchen Lytle
Introduction
Fall on Bard’s expansive campus is a season of pivotal change for plants. Their metabolisms slow down as they prepare for winter when days are shorter and colder. Since Bard’s arboretum is diverse and spread out, expect to investigate it in bits and pieces. One might start with a walk around Blithewood to enjoy the beauty and sensory bounty of autumn. Meander down the footpaths from the center of campus or drive to the parking lot at the northeast corner of Blithewood Mansion, home of the Levy Institute. On your way, note the stately white pine allée, lining the Blithewood Avenue approach. Some of the venerable pines planted at the turn of the nineteenth century are still in place, and some younger ones have joined the ranks along the allée. The road forks to the parking area from where you can circle the mansion on foot, stopping along the way to enjoy the sights and scents of fall.
Black Birch
Start your walk by heading north towards John Bard’s coach house (later, Zabriskie’s ROTC Drill Hall) and now a storage barn. In front and to the left of the broad doorway is an old, tall black birch. Bard has many historic trees, some native to the area and some planted along the way. This one is likely from about 100 years ago. Note its plate-like bark sections. Like all deciduous trees, its leaves will lose their green color, as the then-yellow/golden leaves begin to drop, decompose, and contribute nutrients to the forest floor. This tree affords an unexpected treat, a surprising scent. Pinch off a little twig, crush it and get a whiff of wintergreen.
Blithewood Viewshed
Next, head out into the expansive lawn area on the north side of the mansion and look for changing colors among the trees. Some trees change color earlier than others. The viewshed across the river is also spectacular any time of year. One never knows ahead of the fall season exactly what will happen in colorways. There are many factors. Trees are genetically coded for leaf colors, but environmental factors also impact their color palette each year.
Fall Leaves
As the days shorten and nights grow cooler, the chlorophyll diminishes in the leaves. This means the end of seasonal support for photosynthesis. Plants will no longer be making food and growing. It also means the end of the green color in this year’s leaves. Chlorophyll is no longer there masking the other pigments in leaves, and eye-popping autumn leaf colors will fill the Hudson Valley. One never knows for sure what the most vibrant colors will be. That depends not only on the type of trees around but also the weather at this time of year. I always hope for a series of warm, sunny days followed by crisp overnights (not below freezing). That is what produces the richest and deepest range of colors. While there are always plenty of yellow to orange leaves once the chlorophyll is no longer present and active in the leaves, there are not always so many leaves in the red to purple range. One needs the right weather pattern for this to happen.
All Saints' Maple
Bard is home to many New York State Champions in the Big Tree Register. Montgomery Place has quite a few currently registered, but right here off the northwest end of the parking lot is a former NYS Champion, a red/silver maple hybrid, dubbed All Saints’ earlier in its life. Champion status is determined by measurements, the sum of the tree’s circumference in inches, height and one-quarter of the crown spread in feet. This former champion has survived many harsh experiences from a severe lightning strike to a smoldering fire of mysterious origin in 2005. There is obvious decay in its trunk. It is a remarkable survivor of 350 years. While the bark and trunk have taken a beating, each year it produces a full complement of leaves, which keep the tree growing until the fall when it drops beautiful golden leaves.
Larch
Continue on the lawn a bit north and look up into the canopy of the trees that edge the lawn on the northeast. You will see a tall, spiky larch. Height does reflect age to a point, and this tree probably dates from when the Drill Hall was constructed in the nineteenth century. Look up to see there are plenty of leaves higher up and into the crown. Interestingly, that needle-like foliage is not evergreen and will drop as golden yellow in the fall.
Black Maple
If you turn and head south towards the riverside of the mansion, you will see one of what used to be a pair of black maples overlooking the formal garden. It’s most certainly a historic tree, planted some 250 years ago. It is labeled black maple, but there is some question about whether it might be a hybrid, a hybrid of black and sugar maples. Its leaf is not exactly like a black maple leaf. While in general, maple leaves have some similar characteristics, there is actually considerable variation among the details, including the lobe shapes, the depth of the sinuses, and the angles at which parts relate to each other, as well as the curl of the leaves. Whatever its true identity, this hybrid drops beautiful golden leaves in the fall.
Blithewood Formal Garden
Looking down at the formal garden at the foot of the staircases, you may note how lush it looks in the fall and how much the flowering plants have grown since they emerged earlier in the year. The little calla lilies from spring are now spectacularly gigantic.
Black Locusts and Black Walnut
Make your way around to the front of the mansion where the circle is home to many trees, both historic and youthful. Some of them are evergreens and will retain their needle-like or scale-like foliage through the cold of winter. Their green foliage has a waxy coating and a fluid that resists freezing during the winter. Cross over the circular drive to the land between the driveway and Blithewood Avenue. There is a pair of three hundred-year-old black locusts that shed their leaves when yellow each fall. A little farther to the north and a step west is a black walnut tree which looks pretty raggedy these days. But it is fruiting! Those large, hard, green nuts (on which one can turn one’s ankle) make a wonderful substantive dark brown dye. You can dye your fingers with it, or you can soak the nuts in water and dye wool or use it as ink with a brush. Step on one of the nuts to release the distinctive, acrid, almost citric scent of black walnuts—and dye your shoes. Ah, now the scent of fallen leaves is just about here. As of this writing, New York is anticipating stellar fall colors. Enjoy.
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