This question has been asked for centuries.  Many times, folks came up with their own answers, making theories and developing legends to appease the question.  One legend explains that a tiny elf-like person called Jack-Frost would come along in the dark of night with little buckets of paint and magically paint each leaf by morning. That is a fun and whimsical idea, but hardly a good explanation. 

How about those theories: The leaves simply get cold, or the leaves simply grow old?  Well, you can put a green maple leaf in the freezer and take it out again, still a green maple leaf, only frozen stiff, and you could keep a green leaf in your room for a month and it would only shrivel and turn brown.  So those theories don’t hold up any better than the Jack-Frost legend.  Perhaps the answer is a simple one, all designed by God, with a specific purpose.

 So where do fall colors come from? The answer is in three substances found in every leaf on a tree. The first is chlorophyll.  It gives leaves their green color.  Chlorophyll is necessary for photosynthesis which helps the plant use light and make sugars to keep it alive.

 The second is carotenoids, which produces the yellow, orange, and browns in many plants. The last ingredient is anthocyanins, which gives reds and purples to many plants.  All these components take part in the fall colors, and all are always present in the leaf.

 When the sun is out the tree continues to make chlorophyll, but as the nights grow longer, the chlorophyll production slows down, allowing the carotenoids and anthocyanins to stand out more.  Now, since a tree much get rid of its leaves in order to protect itself in the winter and produce more leaves in the Spring, the tree gradually closes the veins in its leaves.  This stops the sugars and chlorophyll from getting to the leaf.  That leaves the carotenoids and anthocyanins to change the leaves’ color from green to an assortment of reds, oranges, and yellows.  That’s when we see God’s artwork in how He gave each type of tree a different color in fall to please and delight us.  His grand design has specific purpose for the survival of the tree, and in doing so, also provides a beautiful jeweled palette to paint the mountains with every fall. Knowing how it all works only makes it all the more Awesome.

For more information - check out these resources:

North Georgia Fall Color

Fall Foliage network

More than 500 foliage reports posted twice per week from now through November.Foliage Network

Foliage Info

Find a list of fall foliage-related toll-free numbers for states in various regions of the united States here. Review current foliage conditions and link to state web sites from this page. Foliage Conditions