{"id":17327,"date":"2017-09-22T08:11:40","date_gmt":"2017-09-22T12:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=17327"},"modified":"2017-10-04T11:05:06","modified_gmt":"2017-10-04T15:05:06","slug":"the-golden-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2017\/09\/22\/the-golden-season\/","title":{"rendered":"The Golden Season: Fall foliage and festivals"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo

Chimney Rock at Catoctin Mountain National Park; by Tim Ray<\/p><\/div>\n

A<\/span>fter the candy is eaten and the costumes are put away, our focus shifts to our natural world\u2019s final glorious display of the year.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s official. It\u2019s autumn in Maryland. Living in the Old Line State, you know how lucky we are. Although small geographically, the landscape is quite diverse and complex, often referred to as America in Miniature.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

A leaf by any other color
\n<\/i><\/b><\/span>One of the best parts of the season is watching the leaves change from green to gorgeous shades of orange, red, yellow and brown. After the colorful show, the leaves fall and trees stand bare until the arrival of spring. Why does this happen? It has to do with plants\u2019 food and the time of year. Plants make their own food using sunlight and chlorophyll\u2014the chemical that makes leaves green. Fewer hours of sunlight in the fall tells trees that winter is coming and they can stop making so much food. The chlorophyll then breaks down\u00a0<\/span>and reveals the reds, oranges and\u00a0<\/span>yellows typically hidden by green.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the meantime, cells grow over\u00a0<\/span>spots where the leaves are attached\u00a0<\/span>in order to save water. Once the \u00a0<\/span>water is gone, the leaves dry out and\u00a0<\/span>fall to the ground.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

From the barrier islands, cypress swamps and Delmarva bays of the Eastern Shore to the mountain boreal bogs, caves and limestone woods of the Appalachian Plateau, our state boasts a wide range of typography and habitats that support an impressive variety of flora and fauna. In fact, more than 160 native or naturalized <\/span>tree species are found here.<\/p>\n

When you finally put that lawnmower away in late September, summer falls into autumn, first in Western Maryland. Over the course of the coming weeks, fall foliage tours and festivals are family weekend fare. Soon after the last leaf has fallen in Leonardtown, Thanksgiving Day will herald winter\u2019s imminent arrival and the whirlwind holiday season.<\/span><\/p>\n

With input from the Maryland Office of Tourism, the Department of Natural Resources publishes a weekly Fall Foliage and Festival Report online<\/a> to give Marylanders and our visitors a heads up on the coming weekend\u2014where the leaves are turning, recommended driving routes and events along the way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Fair Hill International Eventing Competition\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span>Oct. 12-15 in Cecil County
\n<\/span>A showcase of world-class horse sport<\/a> features Olympic-caliber athletes taking on daunting courses with impressive speed and accuracy. The festival also features a kids\u2019 corner, live music, miniature horse demonstrations, a trade fair and more.<\/span><\/p>\n

Westminster Oyster Stroll \u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span>Oct. 14 in Carroll County
\n<\/span>This free event raises awareness about farm-raised oyster aquaculture<\/a>. Learn how our local community is restoring wild oysters while creating new reefs from recycled shell and concrete reef balls.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tilghman Day\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span>Oct. 21 in Talbot County
\n<\/span>A celebration boasts<\/a> boat-building demonstrations, nautical crafts, crab picking, oyster shucking and a look into the life of a waterman.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Pleasant Diversion at Fort Frederick State Park\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span>Oct. 21-22 in Washington County
\n<\/span>Experience pleasant diversions<\/a> during the French and Indian War with colonial games and musket firing demonstrations. There also will be a bonfire at 7 p.m.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Oyster Festival; courtesy of St. Mary’s County<\/p><\/div>\n

U.S. Oyster Festival in Leonardtown\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span>Oct. 21-22 in St. Mary\u2019s County
\n<\/span>A celebration of the opening<\/a> of the Chesapeake Bay oyster season, <\/span>this event includes the National Oyster Shucking Championship and the National Oyster Cook-Off.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fall Fest at Martinak State Park\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span>Oct. 21 in Caroline County
\n<\/span>Activities include<\/a> an apple butter boil, corn shelling, pumpkin <\/span>decorating, Scales & Tales, scarecrow wizardry, food and live music.<\/span><\/p>\n

Invasion at Point Lookout State Park\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span>Oct. 28-29 in St. Mary\u2019s County
\n<\/span>Point Lookout was a target of British raids during the War of 1812. <\/span>This event showcases<\/a> American and British camps, living history programs and weapon demonstrations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mountain Maryland Studio Tour \u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span>Oct. 28-29 in Allegany and Garrett counties
\n<\/span>Self-guided art studio tour<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Photo

Pumpkin patch in Frederick; by Julie Brune<\/p><\/div>\n

Downrigging Weekend in Chestertown <\/i><\/b><\/span>Oct. 27-29 in Kent County
\n<\/span>One of the biggest annual Tall Ship gatherings<\/a> in the Atlantic region, the waterfront is packed with schooners, ships and wooden boats, plus world-class musicians. <\/span><\/p>\n

Alsatia Mummers Parade in Hagerstown\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span>Oct. 28 in Washington County
\n<\/span>The largest nighttime parade<\/a> on the East Coast, the Alsatia Mummers is a lavish event with bands, floats and mummers in outrageous feathered garb.<\/span><\/p>\n

American Indian Heritage Day at Jefferson-Patterson Park\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span>Nov. 4 in Calvert County
\n<\/span>A re-created Eastern Woodland Indian village and demonstrations<\/a> honor the lasting legacies of Maryland\u2019s native peoples.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eden Mill Nature Center Fall Fest\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span>Nov. 4 in Harford County
\n<\/span>This free event<\/a> includes a park-wide scavenger hunt, honey and beeswax demonstrations, live animals, mill tours, music, a flying pumpkin cat-a-pult and much more.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Article by<\/i>\u00a0Linda Wiley<\/i><\/b>\u2014webmaster<\/i>.
\nAppears in Vol. 20, No. 4\u00a0of the Maryland Natural Resource magazine, fall 2017.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"Image<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After the candy is eaten and the costumes are put away, our focus shifts to our natural world\u2019s final glorious display of the year. It\u2019s official. It\u2019s autumn in Maryland. Living in the Old Line State, you know how lucky we are. Although small geographically, the landscape is quite diverse and complex, often referred to  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957],"tags":[3639,3168],"class_list":["post-17327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","tag-fall-foliage-and-festival-report","tag-magazine"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/140"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17327"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17845,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17327\/revisions\/17845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}