A crazy foliage season this year here in Vermont. Dry, dry, dry. Many trees, especially Sugar Maples, just turned brown and lost their leaves. But across Central Vermont there are gorgeous patches of color, especially when seen either in the saturated light of this morning’s light rain or yesterday, back-lighted by a brilliant, low sun. Either way, anyone who came on tour would not feel cheated!
Other species are just “late bloomers,” notably Red Oaks, Tamarac and Gingko. A lovely Gingko I planted in front of our house a dozen years ago is now about forty feet high and beautifully shaped. These trees, once “lost” to most of the world but “re-discovered in Central China, in the late 1700s and now widely planted as street trees, tend to drop all their leaves on one day. This young tree, now brilliant gold, is probably a few days away.
Another Gingko in Montpelier, an immense tree, was probably planted in the 1880s and is a week or two away from turning gold and shedding its leaves. This is what it looked like three years ago on October 27th.
Having lived in Vermont for forty years, I know each autumn can be different, even if all are special and many simply glorious beyond words. Best of all, this one ain’t over yet!
Still Learning To See 
I love my tours with you and to learn about one of my favorite trees the Ginko, is so special.
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Lovely John! How very timely. I did errands on foot today and noticed for the first time the Ginko on Barre Street. I thought I’d take a leaf off the ground to show a friend whose very first book of poetry 50 years ago was entitled,The Ginko. But there was not a leaf to be found on the ground! They were all clinging to the branches. I was so puzzled. Thank you for your explanation of that phenomenon.