Trees begin to turn with the official start of autumn

A reddish hue develops along the ridgelines of the Northwest Corner as cold air begins to turn the leaves with the arrival of fall.
Nathan Miller
A reddish hue develops along the ridgelines of the Northwest Corner as cold air begins to turn the leaves with the arrival of fall.
Sunday, Sept. 22 marked the beginning of astronomical fall, and our trees are showing it.
Flecks of red, yellow, orange and gold dot the hillsides and maples wear mottled coats of green and fiery orange alongside the roadways. It’s certainly still the early stages of foliage season, but Kent Tree Warden Bruce Bennett said in a recent interview that this timing was not always the norm.
“I’ve been around for 70 years,” he said, explaining that fall color used to begin around Sept. 5 and peak near Sept. 21. That peak date has “slowly but surely moved almost a month” to mid-October, he said, as a product of warmer and later autumns resulting from climate change.
A late-September leaf change matches the pattern of recent fall seasons. Bennett said red maples are among the best indicators for when autumn arrives. “They’re always the first tree to start to change,” he said, further explaining that the red maple usually provides the most vibrant color — “some pretty good red and deep orange.”
Bennett maintained that while people tend to think of sugar maples as the star of our fall season, it’s actually the red maples that really make the show. However, this year, he has high hopes for the sugar maples: “when they have a good year, they’re spectacular, and it looks like this might be a good year for the sugar maples.”
Predicting a foliage season is notoriously difficult. Bennett said that while people often talk about dry or wet weather in the fall as indicative of how bright the colors will be, “no one really knows.” He explained that there are many other complicating factors that can alter foliage vibrancy, including weather going back to the previous year and beyond. He said that last year’s season was spectacular during a really dry year, while five years before that was equally striking, but during a very wet year.
This maple tree on Mygatt Road in Amenia, New York, is starting to take on a yellow shade in some of its leaves. Leaf peepers traveling down the residential country lane should be aware the area is populated and caution is appreciated. Nathan Miller
Despite the uncertainties, Bennett said it will probably be another week or two before the region’s foliage reaches the 50% mark.
Further complicating things is the presence of disease in the region’s trees. Large numbers of maples this autumn have already had leaves shrivel up and turn brown, and in many cases have already fallen from the tree. Bennett explained that this is due to a common fungal disease called anthracnose that has proliferated in the canopy due to the unusually hot and humid summer.
While it will dampen the color by taking many of the brighter trees out of the picture, it is normally not harmful to the tree itself — the tree is simply shedding diseased leaves. Bennett said that leaves where the foliage is dense are the most affected as the fungus spreads by moisture. Well ventilated trees, such as those in clearings or more spacious forests, should remain free of the disease and produce their normal color.
Wake Robin Inn Innkeeper Michael Loftus upheld that these uncertainties and inconsistencies in the foliage season have caused any vestige of a foliage tourist season to largely disappear. “Is fall foliage even a ‘season’ anymore for our parts,” he asked. He said the fall was still a great season for the Inn, but due to group bookings for weddings or parents weekend visits for the region’s boarding schools, not foliage tourism.
Susan Sweetapple, owner of the Falls Village Inn, agreed that it can be hard to parse out the leaf peeping crowd from other types of autumn visitors, like parents weekend trips or events at Lime Rock Park, which has a busy program this season.
Other innkeepers felt that foliage tourism is alive and well in the region. John Ciliberto, manager at the White Hart Inn, maintained that “fall foliage will always be a reason to come to the Northwest Corner of Connecticut.” He maintained that leaf peeping, alongside other autumn-themed events such as Salisbury’s Fall Festival and Handmade Fair, causes a noticeable uptick in traffic from mid-September through the end of October.
Innkeeper Kevin Bosquet, who has been at the Interlaken Inn for 41 years, agreed that the region “absolutely” still has a foliage season. The season is enchanting, he said, especially for visitors from the cities who don’t have the same access to trees at home – “it takes everyone back to their childhood,” he said.
As for residents, the season is certainly here, and the trees show it. Bennett is confident that this year won’t disappoint for those who are willing to look for the beauty: “We always have a good fall,” he said, “it’ll be good.
Built in 1820, 1168 Bangall Amenia Road sold for $875,000 on July 31 with the transfer recorded in August. It has a Millbrook post office and is located in the Webutuck school district.
STANFORD — The Town of Stanford with nine transfers in two months reached a median price in August of $573,000 for single family homes, still below Stanford’s all-time median high in August 2024 of $640,000.
At the beginning of October there is a large inventory of single-family homes listed for sale with only six of the 18 homes listed for below the median price of $573,000 and seven above $1 million.
July transfers
79 Ernest Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 6.87 acres in 2 parcels sold to Matthew C. Marinetti for $1,225,000.
29 Drake Road — 3 bedroom/3.5 bath home on 2 acres sold to Harper Montgomery for $850,000.
6042 Route 82 — 4 bedroom/2 bath home on 1.09 acres sold to Spencer Thompson for $795,000.
125 Tick Tock Way — 3 bedroom/2.5 bath ranch on 1.9 acres sold to Fleur Touchard for $475,000.
August transfers
102 Prospect Hill Road — 3 bedroom/2 bath home on 6.35 acres sold to Karl Creighton Pfister for $565,000.
252 Ernest Road — 2 bedroom/1 bath cottage on .85 acres sold to Meg Bumie for $465,000.
1196 Bangall Amenia Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 2.16 acres sold to Roderick Alleyne for $875,000.
Hunns Lake Road (#759929) — 59.1 acres of residential land sold to Argos Farm LLC for $3,325,000.
* Town of Stanford recorded real estate transfers from July 1 to August 31 provided by Dutchess County Real Property Office monthly transfer reports. Details on each property from Dutchess Parcel Access - properties with an # indicate location on Dutchess Parcel Access. Market data from One Key MLS and Infosparks .Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office Harlem Valley area activity reportSept. 18 to Sept. 30.
Sept. 23 — Deputies responded to 1542 State Route 292 in the Town of Pawling for the report of a suspicious vehicle at that location. Investigation resulted in the arrest of Sebastian Quiroga, age 26, for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree. Quiroga to appear in the Town of Pawling court at a later date.
Sept. 30 — Deputies responded to Woodside Street in the Town of Pine Plains for a past-occurred verbal domestic dispute between a stepfather and stepson.Matter resolved without further police intervention.
PLEASE NOTE:All subjects arrested and charged are alleged to have committed the crime and are presumed innocent until proven guilty and are to appear in local courts later.
If you have any information relative to the aforementioned criminal cases, or any other suspected criminal activity please contact the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 845-605-CLUE (2583) or Emaildcsotips@gmail.com.All information will be kept confidential.
Hunt club members and friends gathered near Pugsley Hill at the historic Wethersfield Estate and Gardens in Amenia for the opening meet of the 2025-2026 Millbrook Hunt Club season on Saturday, Oct. 4. Foxhunters took off from Wethersfield’s hilltop gardens just after 8 a.m. for a hunting jaunt around Amenia’s countryside.
Joining in the fun at the dedication of the new pollinator pathway garden at The Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4, local expert gardener Maryanne Snow Pitts provides information about a planting to Lorraine Mirabella of Poughkeepsie.
MILLBROOK — Participating in a patchwork of libraries that have planted pollinator pathway gardens to attract insects and birds to their native plantings was one of the accomplishments being celebrated at the dedication of a new pollinator garden at the Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4.
“A lot of work went into it,” said Emma Sweeney, past President of the Millbrook Garden Club, who started the local library’s initiative two years ago.
The Pollinator Pathway program is a national effort to plant native plants that native insects depend upon for sustenance and preferred plants for their own seasonal reproduction.
Jana Hogan of Ridgefield, Connecticut, Executive Director of the Pollinator Pathway program, was on hand to present a plaque to the library for its successful participation.
“A garden is not just a garden,” said garden designer Andy Durbridge of Wassaic, designer of the library’s garden. “It may serve as a model for other gardens along the line.”
Speaking to the 50 visitors at the dedication, Durbridge said that the library’s garden has a mission, that it is a working garden, planned to serve insects and birds over their seasons. The earliest plants support pollinators, while the full range of plants continues to serve the needs of those they attract, offering habitat, shelter and food.
A pollinator garden is akin to a prairie, rather than a formalized European garden, Durbridge noted.
The garden project was supported by the library’s Friends group using funds raised during the Holiday Silent Auction and ongoing book sale. A grant from the Millbrook Garden Club also provided support.