BOYLSTON, Mass. - Dawn Davies at the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill is eagerly waiting for the return of fall. The shorter days and cooler nights mean fall foliage and color aren’t too far behind.   

“You’ll see reds, oranges, yellows and really quite bright colors,” Davies said.  

While it’s hard to predict just how colorful it will get, Davies said the weather, specifically the temperature and rainfall, provides a pretty good guess.   

“This year we had a pretty warm part of the summer," she said. "I don’t know if everyone remembers those heat waves we had in the 90s and relatively consistent rain up until the last week or so and I think that sets us up for a really good fall color."

In Massachusetts, we’re still a few weeks away from peak foliage season, but most of the colors we’ll see this fall already exists in the leaves.

“What happens is the green, which is the chlorophyll in the leaves, mask the color," Davies said. "So as the fall comes along, the sugars and starches get pulled back into the plant and within that process, those other colors are revealed."

Davies said we may start to see some leaves turn now, like the ones on this sugar maple tree at New England Botanic Garden, but the vibrant colors aren’t always a good thing, especially when they come early.   

“It’s not as much as last year, but it’s one to watch,” Davies said. “Usually when you see that it’s a sign it’s not super happy. This is sort of a protective thing trees do. They can drop their leaves to conserve energy.”

It’s not just the trees that show off in the fall, Davies said native shrubs like oak leaf hydrangea also take on a new look with the new season.   

“They consistently always get amazing fall colors,” she said. “For most of them, they usually start a creamy white and then fade to pink. I just think they are amazing.”

Places in New England like upper Maine and Vermont are seeing a lot more color now. Davies said in the Bay State we have to wait until mid-October.