You might wonder from where the colors of the Autumn Leaves in the Ozarks originate. Where does a leaf get the flashy hues for the great fall reveal? The answer stays hidden within the leaf’s layers, until the lighting and temperatures are just right.  Come to Beaver Lake and Eureka Springs to witness the great reveal of the Autumn Leaves of the Ozarks!

A Revealing Show!

Picture the leaf’s shades of greens in spring and summer as every day, practical garments. When you see the green, you know the leaf is at work, supplying its own nutritional needs. But you cannot assume that life is all mundane summer work for the leaf-even it will cut loose once a year.

With the onset of autumn, the lights on the leaf’s stage begin to dim as days become shorter. The leaf senses this development and starts to prepare for quitting time, after all the work it has done in the sunshine. Another cue that it takes, is the relief from summer heat. Nothing gets the leaf more prepared for an audacious display than “mood” lighting and cool temperatures.

When the stage is set, the leaf slowly releases the green layer from its surface as it dances in the autumn breeze. Yellow or orange, depending on which leaf is in which mood, begins to peak out from under the summer greens. If the leaf is encouraged in the performance by great conditions, the colors newly revealed deepen and become more resplendent. Before you know it, the leaf shows its most mesmerizing colors to you. It has been hiding these alluring undergarments all summer, but only now does it show them.

If the staging is just right for an encore, the leaf may also tint its unveiled garments even more. If you see a leaf’s display of red or purple hues, the performer has truly been inspired to be its most beautiful!

The final act of the leaf is another story. For now, you can hold its autumn performance in your mind’s eye, to be cherished for all time!