Short, pleasant days and crisp, cool nights are often credited for the ripening of berries and fruits, as well as the changing of leaf pigment. Yet as gardeners in search of knowledge, the understanding of a plant's genetic factor and the weather patterns of our clime can bring autumn landscapes to our own gardens. Plants contain chlorophyll. This is the pigment produced by leaf cells that color leaves green and feeds sunlight to the plant. Dominant in spring and summer, come autumn it gives way toother pigments. These emerging pigments in turn give us the harvest of fall. There are two sets of secondary pigments to keep in mind: carotenoids that contain yellow to gold pigments and anthocyanins that contain red to purple pigments. It's interesting that once we identify the pigments that are genetically present in shrubs and trees, our approach to landscape and garden design takes on a new insight. Just as we coordinate certain colors for our flower and perennial beds, we can create fall foliageand fruits in spectacular combinations that nature sometimes gives us.
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