Fall foliage in Delaware

Delaware has no elevation to speak of, so the season arrives late and more or less at once. The Piedmont around White Clay Creek changes in the last week of October, and the cypress swamps at Trap Pond and the ponds around Lums a few days later. Red maple, sweetgum and tulip poplar supply the reds and yellows; oaks hold on into November. Bald cypress turning rust over still water at Trap Pond is the state’s most distinctive fall scene.

Those are the months when color is present somewhere in Delaware, from its highest ground to its lowest. Any one location changes over a much shorter period than that.

Why the timing shifts from year to year

Shortening days start the process, so most places in Delaware change at close to their usual time each year. Within the state, elevation and latitude account for most of the difference: higher and more northern ground generally changes first, and lower, sheltered ground last. Weather has more effect on how strong the color is than on when it appears. Cool nights and sunny days favor the reds, a dry summer mutes them, and a hard freeze or a windstorm can strip a slope in a day. What determines the timing goes through this in detail.

Nearby states

Fall color does not follow state lines. Delaware borders:

• Maryland fall foliage
• New Jersey fall foliage
• Pennsylvania fall foliage

Timing for a specific place

This page describes a whole state, which is about as precise as a season can be described in words. Conditions at one overlook on one weekend are a narrower question, and that is the one Fallcast answers: an expected period of color for a specific location, with a confidence attached, updated through the season as the trees change. It is coming to iPhone this fall.

Questions, or somewhere in Delaware you would like covered? Write to fallcastapp@gmail.com.