October 22, 2023

Going deeply into October in NYC brings the fall atmosphere around the five boroughs. With beautiful color spots on the trees, pumpkins standing on brownstones’ stairs, and Halloween crazy and fun decorations, you cannot deny it anymore – fall has arrived in the city. Low temperatures are moving things in the right direction. Although this fall has been pretty wet so far, which is not ideal for the colors, it seems that we’re still getting vibrant colors around the city. Some trees have reached their peak color and some are halfway there. Read the full report below for more details.

Foliage stage in NYC

In two weeks, you can see a significant change in many plants.
Virginia creeper, which is a very common climb-plant, have reached their peak color.
So are Thornless Honey locust trees which you can see in beautiful yellow.
Red and Silver maples are reaching 50% color these days and bring stunning colors to the streets.
It is also the Ash trees prime when they get fully yellow and also give the ground a layer of leaves.
Mature White Oaks are changing their leaves to beautiful yellow, about 50 percent changed.
Some of the Liquid Amber trees are still fully green. However, you can find some that are already 50 percent changed.
Red Oaks have made another progress and are about 30 percent changed, while thePin Oaks are

Here are some pictures I took yesterday in Brooklyn:

Maple Trees

Maple trees are prevalent in the northeast areas and can bring us bright colors during the Fall. But there are so many kinds of Maple trees. So how can you identify them?
It is easier once you become familiar with their shape differences.

Another prevalent Maple is the Norway Maple, an invasive European tree first introduced to North America between 1750 and 1760. I tended to misidentify Norway Maples as Sugar Maples or as Red Maples. However, there the small details can tell you the differences:
Norway maple will have more dense leaves grows.
Sugar and Red maples will have their seeds in early spring, while Norway maples will spread their seeds during fall.
A red maple leaf often has three lobes, while the Norway and sugar maples tend to look like they have five. Also, the edges of the leaf’s jagged sawtooth pattern can give you another clue. Red maples have that, but Norway and sugar maples have smooth-edged leaves.

Foliage outside NYC

Deciding where and especially where to go and watch the foliage in peak color can be a struggle.
However, there are many sources that can help you make a better decision.

NY – I love NY foliage report – This popular IG page with a website gives a weekly report on the foliage progression around NY state. Reports are obtained from volunteer field observers and reflect expected color conditions for the coming weekend. Reports are issued every Wednesday afternoon.
Maine – If you want to visit Maine this fall, you should check out the state’s official website, which gives the foliage report for Maine state. The report covers seven different zones and has six levels of foliage statues.
Pennsylvania – PA DCNR follows the fall season with complete reports with all PA regions. Like Maine, they also set 6 different levels of foliage progression.
Vermont – Vermont’s official website provides foliage reports based on the Vermont Department of Tourism and volunteer members of their “Leaf Squad” from around the state. Their foliage levels are simple and have only four stages.
New Hampshire – VisitNH website gives detailed foliage reports. While others use maps to visualize the foliage progression around the state, NH provides information about the seven zones.