HOLLAND, MI (WHTC) – The fates may be conspiring to hamper the fall color scene along the Lakeshore this year.
A wetter and warmer early autumn has kept the leaves on the trees relatively green thus far in the Holland/Zeeland area, and strong winds that began on Monday evening and blew through Tuesday knocked down branches and limbs before those leaves had a chance to change color. Master Gardener Jan Meeuwsen of Debruyn Seeds in Zeeland said that, if the leaves had started to turn various shades of red and orange as they usually do by this time in mid-October, not many of them would be left on the trees now.
In her weekly Tuesday appearance on “WHTC Morning News,” Dr. Meeuwsen said that, “One of the staffers from (the) Michigan State (University Extension Service) told me that, when it gets colder and (the leaves) change colors, it will be very quick and (the leaves) will be gone, so enjoy the ‘two seconds’ we’re going to have of full color.”
Several hundred customers of Consumers Energy and the Holland BPW were without power at times on Tuesday, mostly due to downed lines caused by falling branches and tree limbs, but there were no reports of any injuries or substantial damage caused by the winds.
