New England produces an intense color season, but it is limited in scope and duration. Aspens, sugar maples, red maples and birches all turn at about the same time, flashing red and yellow for about three weeks. In the Appalachians the color parade will last for six to eight weeks. Sumac, sourwood, blueberry, mountain ash, Virginia creeper, and others will begin turning in late September. Although fall foliage is broadly classified as red, orange or yellow, the southern Appalachian forests are bathed in a varied collage of shades and hues.
Yellows run the gamut from the lemon-colored tulip poplar to the golden hickories.
Crimson maples and maroon sourwoods are lumped as red. Oranges range from the grapefruit colored basswood to the burnt umber of beech and white ash. Many factors contribute to the myriad of fall colors. The physiology of the species, the health and vigor of the particular specimen, soil types and climatic conditions are just some of the parameters that come into play. The genesis of the color change is the approaching winter.