Category: Cove Life

The summers are so green and lush in the cove you sometimes forget fall and winter will soon come sweeping in. Yet inevitably the green pigment in the leaves known as chlorophyll will give way to the other colors of the leaves that are typically covered up.

Chlorophyll is the tree’s primary means of producing nutrients during the summer. But with autumn this green compound breaks down. This demise of the green pigments allows other, previously masked colors to come forward.

These colors become markers for certain tree species abundant in the cove. The two other pigments responsible for fall’s colors are:

• Carotenoid, which is yellow, orange, and brown
• Anthocyanin that gives the red color. 

Which Trees Have Red Leaves?

You need sunny fall days and colder fall nights for the Reds to become abundant.

Leftover food in the leaf is transformed into the color red through anthocyanin pigments. The red pigments in the leaves are the same as those in cranberries, red apples, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and plums.

Maples, sweetgum, and oaks have red fall leaves. Dogwoods, black tupelo trees, sourwood trees, persimmons, and some sassafras trees also have red leaves.

Which Tress Have Yellow and Orange Shades?

As the autumn conditions destroy Chlorophyll it reveals the orange and yellow leaf colors, or carotenoid pigments.

Deep orange is a combination of the red and yellow color-making process. These same pigments color carrots, corn, daffodils, bananas, and even egg yolks!

Look for the most stunning yellows in hickory, ash, and some maples. The yellow poplar (tulip tree), some oaks (white, chestnut, bear), certain sassafras, sweetgum, beech, birch, and sycamore trees have yellow leaves in the fall but they quickly turn brown.

Weather’s Effect

In general, you want cool but not freezing temperatures for the most brilliant colors. Often these conditions are aided by wet weather which keeps things cool but above freezing in the night.

Peak season in Western North Carolina is typically all of October through the first couple weeks of November depending on your elevation. Obviously, the higher, more chilly climates begin to change first.  

When are the peak leaves at The Green River Ranch? The last week of October through the first two weeks of November is our favorite, but if you’re willing to drive a short 20 minutes you can find incredible colors the entire months of October and November.

Final Tip: Some Trees At The Ranch Stay Green!

Not all broadleaf trees change colors and drop their leaves in the fall.

Found mostly in southern climates, some evergreens broadleaf trees can survive tough winters. Magnolias, for instance, stay green all year long around here!

The Wineberries have come and gone.  The delicious Black Raspberries are in their prime.  The Blackberries are just coming in and we still have another few weeks until the Blueberries ripen.  It goes without saying berry season is in full swing!

The Green River Ranch is situated in the perfect location to take advantage of nature’s delicious bounty.  Perched at around 1000 feet elevation on the banks of the Green River this area is the first part of Western North Carolina to see wild berries come in.  Just across the river Walcott Bottoms is truly one of the best foraging places anywhere.  When the season has passed at Walcott Bottoms a short (but steep) hike can take you a 1000 feet up to Long Ridge Trail where the berry season is usually about two weeks behind the valley floor.  This makes for an incredibly long and diverse harvest season!

Along with berries there are countless other edible plants, mushrooms and fruits thriving in the Green River Gorge.  Below is a list of prime seasons for most of the the wild edibles on and around the Green River Ranch and please remember to always be careful when eating anything out in the wild. Lastly if you ever stay at the ranch in late September through October ask us where on the property our delicious Persimmon Trees are.  We promise you won’t be disappointed!

January

onion grass, bittercress, rose hips, sassafras root, dandelion root, honey locust pod, turkey tail mushroom & chaga fungus (both year-round)

February

rose hips, onion grass, bittercress, sweet birch twig, pine needle, honey locust pod, chaga fungus

March

pine needle, sweet birch twig, bittercress, wintercress, onion grass, chickweed, dead nettle, garlic mustard, daylily tuber, wild ginger, burdock root, evening primrose root, chaga fungus, tree syrups

April

black morel, ramp, wild ginger, violet leaf & flower, redbud flower, forsythia flower, daylily shoot and tuber, burdock root, Japanese knotweed shoot, creasy greens, bittercress, onion grass, stinging & wood nettle, dandelion leaf & flower, dead nettle, evening primrose root, waterleaf, sweet cicely, sochane, chickweed, wild mustard, garlic mustard, daisy leaf, oyster mushroom, toothwort leaf & flower, spring beauty leaf & flower, spiderwort, basswood leaf, solomon seal leaf, stone crop, sweet birch twig, spicebush twig, trout lily leaf, angelica leaf & stem, cattail pollen

May

waterleaf, violet flower & leaf, onion grass, ramps, yellow morel, wild ginger, bamboo shoot, wisteria flower, black locust flower, milkweed asparagus, dryad’s saddle mushroom, chickweed, money plant pods, stinging & wood nettle, sochane, reishi mushroom, greenbriar tips, spruce & hemlock (tree) tips, strawberry, elder flower, chicken of the woods, pine pollen, rose, Oregon grape fruit, sassafras leaf, sweet birch twig, spicebush leaf, stone crop

June

chicken of the woods, strawberry, reishi mushroom, greenbriar tips, mulberry, serviceberry, feral cherry, elderflower, day lily bud, daisy, honeysuckle & other flowers, blackberry, wood nettle, milkweed flower buds, sassafras leaf, sweet birch twig, mimosa flower

July

chanterelle mushroom, lambsquarter, wineberry, blackberry, may apple fruit, purslane, elderberry, bee balm leaf & flower, day lily, milkweed & rose of Sharon flower, sassafras leaf

August

elderberry, blueberry, lambsquarter, purslane, milkweed pod, paw paw fruit, lobster mushroom, leatherback milk cap, boletes, and other mushrooms

September

honey mushrooms and many others, fairy potato, autumn olive berry, amaranth seed, paw paw, persimmon, wild black cherry, chestnut, kousa dogwood fruit, pears, apples, quince, lambsquarter seed

October

acorn, hen of the woods mushroom, brick top mushroom, fairy potato, autumn olive berry, kousa dogwood fruit, persimmon, chestnut (for grubs), chickweed, beauty berry, calendula, honey locust pod, nettle, sochane, waterleaf, fox grape, prickly pear fruit, red sumac berry, quince, hickory nut, spicebush berry, hawthorne berry, black walnut, evening primrose seed

November

brick top mushroom, jerusalem artichoke, burdock root, dandelion root, sassafras root, lambsquarter seed, chickweed, nettle, acorn (for grubs),  black walnut, beauty berry, prickly pear fruit, passionfruit, red sumac berry, acorn grubs

December

burdock root, dandelion root, sassafras root, chickweed, foxtail millet

The steep and rugged Green River Gorge is home to an incredible abundance of biodiversity. In fact, many species of plants and animals living here cannot be found anywhere else on Earth! The combination of temperate climate, abundant rainfall, and fertile soil produces a rich cocktail of life.

One unfortunate downside of all this abundant rainfall and fertile soil is groundskeeping can sometimes be overwhelming. If you don’t keep up the ‘jungle’ can quickly shape the landscape on its own. This was the case when we purchased the property. Due to various reasons beyond the previous owners’ control, the temperate rainforest started to take over.

Our first order of business was managing the water coming off the mountain. The natural spring on the property flows year around and after some heavy floods rerouted the creek that borders the property into the field. We rented an excavator and spent a solid week fixing the creek and cutting back the brush encroaching the field. It was amazing how much the trees had grown in the last 10-15 years!

With the arrival of spring, we just about have everything cleared away and lush grass is already beginning to fill in the areas we improved. All in all this work reclaimed half an acre of field and opened up some prime camping areas. Stay tuned for the next #covelife post as we unveil some of the new trails were adding to the property!

Flower Update In The Cove!

There’s a saying, ‘you can heal your mind with nature’s beauty’ and science says it’s true. Flowers’ bright colors and beauty can actually improve our moods, reduce anxiety, and be mentally healing.  There is even such a thing as flower therapy and we feel it down at The Green River Ranch! 

Springtime in the Cove is such a magical time.  After roughly 5 months of brown and bare, nature comes alive in such brilliant colors.  From deep red trillium low on the ground to Carolina Silver Bells high above, nature puts on a show from  April – June here in the Green River Gorge.  Read on to find out where and when you have the best chance to see some spectacular blooms here deep in the Green River Cove. 

Flowers

Dwarf Iris (April) – Trillium (April) –  Lady Slippers (April/Early May)
BushesAzaleas (April/May) –  Flaming Azaleas  (Early/Mid May) – Mountain Laurels  (Late April/May) – Wild Roses (Late April/Early May) – Rhododendrons (Late May/June)

Trees

Tulip Magnolia (April) –  Redbuds  (April) – Carolina Silver Bells (April) – Dogwood, NC State Flower – (April)

One Special mention if you’re ever here in April, is it’s worth the 30-minute drive from The Green River Ranch to see the NC Arboretum and its Azalea garden. Representing nearly every species that grows in the United States. It is a sight to see for anyone who loves flowers.  Plus the cultivated gardens are beautiful all spring long. 

Enjoy some of these pictures from around The Green River Ranch and we hope someday you get to see the magic of this place during the Spring! 

Sign up for Covelife to get the latest!