14 years of professional noticing

Since I started STILL on January 1st, 2012––14½ years ago––I have never seen our staghorn sumac turn such inviting and varied colors. I wish I knew what the magic formula of rain, temperature, and daylight that produced this stunning display this year. All these earthy secondary and tertiary color combinations in natural–– and yet somehow unexpected––gradients has my head whiplashing from one side of the other to the other on every errand. I have been gathering sumac every day for the past week or so, but I haven’t wanted to gorge you on sumacs. So most of the leaves are drying, and will make their debuts this winter when we all start to get a little tired of brown and gray. (p.s. don’t worry, you will see a few more in the coming days too :-)

staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina)