It's hard to believe this is North Texas. Photo: Naheed "Leafgazer" Rajwani-Dharsi/Axios
North Texas is an artscape right now, with red, orange and green hues that are more stunning than last year.
The big picture: Leaf pigments, the length of the night and the weather all contribute to fall colors on trees, per the U.S. Forest Service.
Trees' chlorophyll production slows down during the fall, causing their leaves to show off color-producing pigments.
The intrigue: Maple, Bradford pear and cherry trees tend to be most vibrant around this time of the year, Megan Proska, the Dallas Arboretum's associate vice president of horticulture and collections, tells Axios.
The rainfall in November and a relatively warm fall in North Texas have contributed to the colors really popping this year.
Zoom in: "The people that come through the arboretum who don't see it every day are really amazed by the colors this year," Proska says.
Fun fact: Once the leaves fall, the arboretum keeps some of them on the ground for the insect populations. The rest are composted or placed in other areas offsite.
What's next: North Texans probably have until late December to enjoy the beautiful treescapes — unless a big rainstorm or windstorm knocks off the leaves before then, Proska says.
