In the course of a weekend, the autumn colours have become, as if by magic, much stronger, much deeper, and much more spectacular. These brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow, set upon acres of open ground, was utterly spellbouding. The autumn scenery here is truly and simply stunningly beautiful. I think of the heavy frost back in the UK which can greatly reduce the brilliance of autumn leaf colour by killing or severely injuring the leaves before the pigments reach their maximum development. Nor does it help with too many rainy or cloudy days without much light occuring near the time of peak colouration, which decreases the intensity of autumn colours by limiting photosynthesis.
