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When’s the Best Time to See Fall Color?
"New
England Fall Foliage Guide" is included in The Easy Traveler self-guided RV tour of New
England.
Our scenic drives and day trips are perfect showcases for the full glory
of the fall foliage season.
In spite of the many claims that fall foliage peak
comes as early as mid September in northern Vermont/New Hampshire, we
have never found this to be true.
While the leaves may
begin to turn that early, the peak color almost always comes later – about
mid October.
If the fall foliage is of great importance to you, we advise you to
plan your stay so that you start south from northern Vermont or New
Hampshire beginning in EARLY mid-October.
The leaves start changing in
northern New England during the last two weeks of September. The color
moves south the first week of October. Peak color follows the same
pattern.
Remember that cooler, high
elevations will color up before the valleys.
Weather affects color
intensity.
Temperature, light, and
water supply have an influence on the degree and the duration of fall
color.
A warm wet spring, favorable
summer weather, and warm sunny fall days with cool nights should produce
the most brilliant autumn colors.
A succession of warm, sunny
days and cool, crisp, but not freezing nights seems to bring about the
most spectacular color displays.
A severe summer drought or a
late spring can delay the onset of fall color by a few weeks.
A warm period during fall
will also lower the intensity of autumn colors. Rainy and/or overcast
days tend to increase the intensity of fall colors.
Low temperatures above
freezing tend to produce bright reds in maples. However, early
frost will weaken the brilliant red color.
The best time to enjoy the
autumn color is on a clear, dry, and cool (not freezing) day.
The National US Forest
Service's Fall Color Hotline: 800/354-4595 (weekly update on
fall color changes across the country) Web:
www.fs.fed.us/news/fall
Maine: 800/533-9595 or
888/MAINE-45 Web:
www.state.me.us
New Hampshire Fall Foliage
Hotline: 800/262-6660 or 800/258-3608 Web:
www.visitnh.gov
Vermont:
800/VERMONT or 800/828-3239
Massachusetts:
800/227-MASS (6277)
New York 800/255-5697 or
800/CALL-NYS Web:
www.empire.state.ny.us/tourism/foliage
Why Do Leaves Change Color?
As days grow shorter and nights grow
longer and cooler, biochemical processes begin to color the leaves with
Nature's autumn palette.
THREE SUBSTANCES CREATE THE
AUTUMN COLORS:
Chlorophyll, which gives leaves
their green color and is needed for photosynthesis, the chemical
reaction that enables plants to use sunlight to make sugars for their
food.
Carotenoids, which produce yellow,
orange, and brown colors in such things as corn, carrots, and
daffodils, as well as rutabagas, buttercups, and bananas.
Anthocyanins, which produce
purple and red colors in such things as cranberries, red
apples, concord grapes, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and plums.
Both chlorophyll and carotenoids are
present throughout the growing season in the chloroplasts of leaf
cells. Most anthocyanins are produced in the autumn, in response to
bright light and excess plant sugars within leaf cells.
During the growing season, leaves appear
green because chlorophyll is continually being produced as it’s broken
down. As night-length increases in the autumn, chlorophyll production
slows down and then stops. When chlorophyll no longer hides the
carotenoids and anthocyanins that are present in the leaf, they show their
colors.
All of the LEAF COLORS are
due to the mixing of varying amounts of the chlorophyll residue and other
pigments in the leaf during the fall season:
Some mixtures produce the reddish and
purplish fall colors of trees such as dogwoods and sumacs,
while others give the sugar maple its brilliant orange.
(Maples differ, species by species: Red
maple turns brilliant scarlet; sugar maple, flaming orange-red;
and black maple, glowing yellow.)
Certain colors are
characteristic of particular species: Oaks turn red, brown, or russet;
hickories, golden bronze; aspen and yellow-poplar, golden yellow;
dogwood, purplish red; beech, light tan; and sourwood and black tupelo,
crimson.
Most conifers (pines,
spruces, firs, hemlocks, cedars, etc.) are evergreen in both the North
and South. Their needle- or scale-like leaves may last two to four (or
more) years.
COLOR MAY VARY FROM TREE TO
TREE: Leaves directly exposed to the sun may turn red, while those on the
shady side of the same tree (or on other trees in the shade) may be
yellow.
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