Have you ever wondered why and how the Leaves change color? Leaves are colored by molecules called pigments. The pigment that causes leaves to be green is chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is important for plants to make food using sunlight. During spring and summer when there is plenty of sunlight, plants make a lot of chlorophyll. In autumn when it starts to get cool or in some cases cold, some plants stop making chlorophyll. Instead, those plants break down chlorophyll into smaller molecules. As chlorophyll goes away, other pigments start to show their colors. This is why leaves turn yellow or red in fall. So the different colors in leaves are caused by changes in the pigments. When the weather changes, some plants break down all the green pigment. This lets different colors yellows, oranges, and reds come through in the fall. The colors in the higher elevations peak mid to late October and the lower elevations peak late October into early November. Most leaves are past peak by the middle and end of November most years. Leaves really start to change when we get crisp cool nights and mornings in the 40's and 50's.
