This is no empty boast. Only three regions of the world support deciduous forests that display fall autumn color: eastern North America; the British Isles and parts of northwestern Europe; northeastern China and northern Japan. Forests in other regions are either tropical or dominated by conifers. Poconos Fall Foliage we feel is the best because of our unique mountainous Pocono Plateau.
Pennsylvania’s location between 40° and 42° North latitude and its varied topography from sea level on the coastal plain to over 3,000 feet in the Laurel Highlands supports 134 species of trees and many more shrubs and vines that contribute to the display of autumn color.
For years, scientists have worked to understand the changes that happen to trees and shrubs in autumn. Although we don’t know all the details, we know enough to explain the basics and help you to enjoy nature’s multicolored autumn display. Three factors influence autumn color — leaf pigments, length of night, and weather, but not quite in the way we were told as children. The timing of color change and leaf fall are primarily regulated by the increasing length of night. None of the other environmental influences-temperature, rainfall, food supply, and so on-are as unvarying as the steadily increasing length of night during autumn. As days grow shorter, and nights grow longer and cooler, biochemical processes in the leaf begin to paint the landscape with nature’s autumn palette so this year’s longer winter, wetter summer and brief cold spell we just got really has little effect on the peak color palette and it’s timing.
