The answer? It's what white pines do every year, though this year, it has been pretty spectacular! Some pines keep their needles two years and some keep the needles for three years. White pines keep their needles for one-and-a-half years, then drop the old needles at the same time! The needles that emerged last May will remain green until next September or October when they will turn yellow and drop.

The yellowing can hit all at once, like this season, or it can creep up with some of the old needles dropping over a period of several weeks. It looks like some strange disease, like a needlecast, has hit or juniper spider mites have hit. I've learned to appreciate it as another form of fall color!

Speaking of fall color, the cold snap a couple of weeks ago, followed by the warm spell have made many trees change color in a spectacular fashion, especially maples (reds and oranges), undamaged ash trees (yellows and purples), and hickories (bright yellows). The sycamore, cottonwood and oak leaves seem to be turning brown and dropping! And, I've noticed that the urban tulip trees got a lot of disease which seems to be knocking out their traditional bright yellow displays.