The Show of Colors in Autumn:

The brilliant colors about the island where I live in New England are just amazing this fall. The peak of color is just about to happen. The deciduous trees that mix in the background with the evergreens are coming to the foreground with their fiery brilliance. Many "leaf-peepers" (those who travel to see fall foliage) visit where I live to catch nature’s show of color.

Fall foliage is enhanced as daylight hours lessen and the nights grow cold. This transformation occurs when conditions are just right, and as conditions vary from year to year, so does the peak season for viewing fall foliage.

Ever wonder what actually causes the leaves to turn red, orange, yellow, and golden? A number of hormonal changes take place in the leaves as we get into shorter days and longer nights. The connection between the leaf and stem changes with the temperature change, choking the movement of nutrients and moisture to the leaves. As the green color fades, the leaf exposes a yellow color underneath. The rest of the hues in the palette of fall foliage colors are encouraged by the production of sugars. These sugars are not in the leaf when it forms, but are generated in the late summer into fall. Shades of brilliant orange and deep red can result depending on the tree. The leaves of maple trees from which we get sugary maple syrup, turn red in the fall.

The amount of water tree leaves have received throughout the year determines how long a leaf will remain green. Rain showers, hot days and dry spells during the summer all play a part in the show of color. Many leaves can dry up and turn brown long before autumn, if the summer has been particularly dry.

For several consecutive years, a research plant physiologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service has studied the impact of stress on the change of leaf color. You may have noticed some years that the color red has been prevalent mainly in the woodland palette. That is probably the result of the stress of drought that year on the trees. According to his findings, in drought-stricken years, "leaf peepers" will see more red, and the color will show earlier. His studies indicate the color of fall foliage tends to be more brilliant as the result of dry summer months. Essentially, trees create the red color as the weather warrants. It can vary from year to year when the green and yellow pigments are consistent and hardly change from year to year.

If you are choosing your trees by their fall impact on your landscape, consider the following: silver maples show yellow in the fall; sugar maples will vary in shades of red, bright to dark; the birch family shows yellow hues; flowering dogwoods will turn red, and the oak family will exhibit from orange russet to yellow-brown.