Why leaves change color early

In New England, summer spills into fall in a burst of pumpkin spice and vibrant color that makes the native foliage world-famous. To learn that summer is on its way out, all one has to do is look up into the nearest tree. Since summer is such a precious commodity, people start to take a little offense when nature wants to take it away early.

Some people try to not think about it, like Leominster resident Katie Bonin, who thinks the leaves are changing too early. The vibrant sea of reds, yellows and oranges in the Fall season is one of the best nature scenes of the year. The beautiful colors are a major draw for color touring tourists throughout the Midwest and Northeast parts of our country as well as many other areas. The timing of this typically ranges from late September through October.

Sometimes though you may start seeing some trees along the roadway or even in your yard starting to change colors as early as of right now or in the coming weeks. Why is that? Why do some trees change color so much earlier than the others? Trees leaves begin to change color due to the lack of chlorophyll production in the leaves. Most of the year these colors are masked by great amounts of green coloring. But in the fall, because of changes in the length of daylight and changes in temperature, the leaves stop their food-making process.

The chlorophyll breaks down, the green color disappears, and the yellow to orange colors become visible and give the leaves part of their fall splendor. At the same time other chemical changes may occur, which form additional colors through the development of red anthocyanin pigments. Some mixtures give rise to the reddish and purplish fall colors of trees such as dogwoods and sumacs, while others give the sugar maple its brilliant orange. The autumn foliage of some trees show only yellow colors.

Others, like many oaks, display mostly browns. All these colors are due to the mixing of varying amounts of the chlorophyll residue and other pigments in the leaf during the fall season. As the fall colors appear, other changes are taking place. Hide Caption. See the stunning views at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. Hawk Mountain Sanctuary is an observation, research and education facility in Kempton, Pa. Watch: Fall colors in Lebanon County.