Thanksgiving oak leaves in NO?

September 9, 2010 8:41 AM

Have the New Orleans area oak trees already dropped their leaves by Thanksgiving usually?

Considering a Thanksgiving photography trip to New Orleans vicinity, but I only want to go if the local oak trees still have leaves. When I used to live in Houston, the oak trees dropped their leaves over the winter, but I can't remember the timing of when that starts. Any locals recall the answer? Thanks in advance!

posted by bluesky78987 to travel & transportation around Austria (7 answers total)

The live oaks in New Orleans also slowly drop their leaves through the winter; there is no autumn to speak of.
posted by chicxulub at 9:08 AM on September 9, 2010

No. About the only trees in New Orleans that drop leaves are poplars and they don't do it until well after Thanksgiving; some years not until after 1 January. The oaks will be fully leaved.
posted by bukvich at 9:08 AM on September 9, 2010

They're starting to drop, but for the most part, they're on the trees. I looked through my Flickr photostream and found a few pics that show City Park and Baton Rouge around Thanksgiving 2008 and another NOLA park in Nov 2009.

There might be some more pictures in my photostream archives, too.
posted by pyjammy at 10:40 AM on September 9, 2010

Seconding bukvich. The oaks you hear about in New Orleans are not your standard oak tree but are live oaks (aka evergreen oaks) which do not shed all their leaves during fall like most deciduous trees do.
posted by komara at 11:39 AM on September 9, 2010

Also, to make it clear: the live oak leaves do not turn fire-y red and golden orange like regular oak leaves. Don't come looking for a fall color show.
posted by komara at 11:40 AM on September 9, 2010

Thanks all! Thanksgiving in New Orleans it is!

(Yeah, and komara, no fall color expectations.) I wish there was someplace in the world that had color over thanksgiving, but it always seems to fall at an awkward time. They should move Thanksgiving to October, like Canadian Thanksgiving! :-)
posted by bluesky78987 at 4:20 PM on September 9, 2010

No, no, no. Thanksgiving in October here would probably be hot! And at least let us have a cool Thanksgiving, since we don't get the pretty leaves. :)
posted by pyjammy at 12:34 PM on September 10, 2010