<The south is missing two things: maple trees and evergreens. Well, they've got evergreens, but not in such abundance. It seems strange to want "green" in autumn, when you get that color year-round, but there is just something about a mountain side greens mixed in with the warm colors. But it's the maple trees that are missed most. Maple trees turn BRIGHT red. The south has oranges and yellows but not much in the way of red.

I wonder if you are referring to a "South" that is different from the one where I live. We have abundant evergreens, mostly cedar and pine plus some other conifers in lesser numbers. We also have the broad leafed evergreens like live oaks, holly, and magnolias. Maple trees are also plentiful. I have one in my yard that is about 100 feet tall and more than two feet in diameter. Maybe it's the climate, but our maples sometimes behave strangly. Some will turn red one year and yellow the next. I'm not sure I call them by their correct names, but the "water maples" that grow along creek banks always turn yellow. "Sugar maples usually turn bright red, and the "northern red maples" vary from year to year.

We also have plenty of red leaves on dogwood, persimon, and sumak. Several varieties of oak are plentiful here and many of them turn red. Hickory, with several varieties and almost as plentiful as oak, turn golden yellow, as do poplars. Tennessee's state tree, the tulip poplar, grows to enormous sizes and is also yellow.

Spring brings out the best in dogwood, redbud, locus, wild plum, and wild cherry.

I guess I notice trees more than most people because I live in a forested area and have oak, hickory, tulip popular, basswood, gum, redbud, dogwood, maple, walnut, pine and cedar in my own yard. Along with a couple of unidentifieds, I guess that is a "mixed stand."

Southern forests vary from place to place more than those north of the Mason-Dixon line.

I travel a lot, and New England is the place to be in the fall, but if you can't be there, the southern mountains are a good substitute.
Howard