2024 Fall Colors Award: Blanketed in Color

Along with photos of her two daughters and two Yorkies, Edina resident Missy Brooks’ camera roll is filled with something unexpected: annual photos of three vibrantly colored maple trees. Dating back 12 years to when she and her husband first moved in to their house, Brooks has taken a yearly photo of the three large maple trees in her neighbor Bob McPherson’s front lawn.

Out her kitchen window, Brooks has a perfect view of the maple trees across the street. For three months during the fall, McPherson’s trees are covered in gorgeous auburn, orange and yellow leaves. Like a rainbow, the three trees move from red to orange to yellow leaves, the perfect fall color palette.

View of the three maple trees from McPherson's deck“They’re just really pretty,” said Brooks. “Every season looks a little different looking out my kitchen window.”

Across the street, McPherson built a deck off his second-story living room to take in the maple tree’s fall colors, his favorite part about the trees. The deck directly overlooks the trees giving McPherson a close-up view of the tree’s red, orange and yellow hues.

Maple trees are known for their striking colors in the fall and their color varies by species. During spring and summer, maple leaves are a bright green color due to the chlorophyll pigment in the leaves used during photosynthesis—the process that turns light energy into food for the tree. In the fall, chlorophyll production declines, revealing the remaining pigments that give maple leaves their fall colors.

View of the three maple trees out Brooks' kitchen window

With a range of fall colors, the leaves on McPherson’s maple trees contain a variety of pigments that give them their distinct red, orange and yellow hues. Pigments such as carotenoids and flavonoids result in yellow and brown leaves, carotenoids result in orange leaves and anthocyanin results in red leaves.

“They’re all a little different. They turn at different times. Within about a week, they’re all a pop of color,” said Brooks.

After learning about the 2024 Tree Recognition Campaign from a flyer at one of the City’s tree sales, Brooks was inspired to nominate the maple trees outside her kitchen window. With their beautiful fall hues, it’s no surprise that they won the inaugural campaign’s Fall Colors award.

If you know of a tree with great fall colors or another tree that deserves special recognition, you can nominate it during the 2025 Tree Recognition Campaign before Oct. 15 using the Tree Nomination Form.

“It’s a nice touch. We’re lucky to live in a pretty established city with a lot of tree coverage. It’s a nice extra value add the city has.”