Fall Foliage time will be arriving soon.

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

Fall Foliage time will be arriving soon.

As Fall arrives in New England so too will arrive the so-called “leaf peepers”.  I can’t stand the term. It sounds vaguely uncouth or unsavory.  Like Peeping Tom, or “wher’d ya get those peepers” from the song.

With our variety of tree species, we are blessed with a glorious potential for color that is renowned.  We don’t always get that potential realized.  Much depends on the subtle interactions between rainfall, average temperatures as well as high and low temperatures.  The length of the season is also a contributor, that is, the time from last frost in the Spring to the hard frost in the Autumn.

Fall foliage predictions…

There are many who, through folk wisdom or rolling dice, come up with a prophecy of exactly how spectacular the fall foliage will be.  A close examination of the person’s ties to the tourist industry is in order when evaluating the likelihood of the prediction coming true!

Since moving inland from Connecticut to New Hampshire, deeper into Fall Foliage territory, the role that this time of year plays in the regional economy has become more clear to me.  Everyone from gas stations, to diners, from B&B’s to lodges has a stake in the quality of the natural display.

So, what is the prediction for this year’s fall foliage?

Well, we had a really weird beginning of the season with the week of 90 degree days in the late winter.  That was preceded if you recall, by the major snowfall having occurred the October before!  This Summer we had a drought.  The upshot is that opinions are divided.  It has just been too different a season to have comparable data upon which to compare.

Next blog I’ll explain what it is about the structure and biology of deciduous leaves that makes them turn into the spectacular fall foliage the we so look forward to.