When I first saw these trees, I was immediately reminded of my childhood when I lived in Colorado. My favorite time of year has always been autumn because I love watching trees turn colors. In Colorado, there are lots of trees that turn yellow, orange and red. When I moved from Colorado to Texas, I was so sad that there weren't as many trees that changed colors. Every place I have lived since then has had a very warm climate with few deciduous trees. When I moved to Bulgaria and saw these beautiful chestnut trees, I was reminded how much I have missed this part of fall.
The horse chestnut tree, which is one of the main species found here, is originally from the Balkan region, which is the geographical region in southeast Europe that includes Bulgaria. This tree can now be found in other places too, such as Europe, North America and Asia.
Bulgaria has a mild climate, with moderate temperatures since it is close to the Black Sea. It also gets a moderate amount of rain because of its proximity, or closeness, to this big body of water. Both of these factors are perfect conditions for the chestnut tree to grow.
In recent years, people have noticed that chestnut trees in Bulgaria are turning yellow and losing their leaves starting in midsummer. This is not normal and when the problem was researched, they discovered that a moth called the horse-chestnut leaf miner is laying eggs in these trees and the larva are causing the leaves to fall early.
