Plant Hardiness Zones. Plant hardiness zones help gardeners understand which plants will most likely survive at a location. It is important that your plants can thrive year-round, surviving extreme temperatures. Note: Zone maps do have shortfalls; if the information is inaccurate, you may live in a microclimate.
In normal years, colors peak in the first week of October on the U.P., the second week of October in northern Lower Michigan and the last two weeks of October in southern Lower Michigan. When the colors do peak, here are some of the best bets for fall foliage viewing from Pure Michigan:
The green areas on the map have some color. Isolated trees have already changed, but much of the landscape is still mostly green. The colors are changing rapidly also in southern Lower Michigan, and should peak between October 7 and October 14. This again is one week ahead of most years.