The fall colors of New England

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”

It was a long flight across the Atlantic. Relieved that finally we were reaching Boston, I lazily looked out of the aircraft’s window as it descended to approach the Logan airport.. holly moly..was I in for a treat!! My eyes opened wide, struck by a kaleidoscopic burst of colors of the glorious foliage that was celebrating the famous fall of New England.

The little red bridge

I beamed realizing that nature had conspired in my favor as my drab business trip had just turned into a memorable sojourn.. first hitting an ‘Indian Summer’ and getting the best of both worlds — summer and fall together!, later to be heightened by spectacular ‘leaf peeping’ in the peak season.

Every autumn, nature puts on a brilliant show of color in New England when the leaves and forests transform from green to bright yellows to vibrant reds, showing their rich hues.

Fall colors in my work place

The leaves start turning colors in the northern regions of Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire typically around mid-to-late September and peaking around mid-October.  In the more southern states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island and along the coast of New Hampshire and southern Maine, color starts later and often lasts up until November.

yellow leaves in Boston streets

However, the timing of fall color change depends upon so many variables that the exact dates of “peak” season are impossible to predict in advance. The unpredictable factors that influence the rate at which leaves change colors are rain, the amount of sugar in the leaves, the number of daylight hours and temperatures.

Peak foliage in New England works its way down from the north. The further north you go, the earlier the peak. The fall color maps and reports show you foliage hotlines and where colors are reaching their peak across the province.

Whether it be an acknowledgment of the inevitability of winter, or simply thanking the bounty of the harvest, fall isn’t short on any number of reasons to celebrate and rejoice 🙂

See more fall colors in Jake’s Sunday Post: Autumn.