Perhaps everyone has tired of pretty leaf pictures, but I decided to chance it and post three snaps of a ginko tree.
The ginko doesn’t leap to mind as a go-to for autumn foliage.
It seems like a lot of years, the leaves just turn yellowish-brown and drop to the ground.
But this year I’ve seen a number of them putting on a spectacular golden show.
I’m always pleased to spot one of these, they’ve got all sorts of positive associations.
It’s nice to see something that’s survived for over two hundred million years.
Dinosaurs of the Jurassic, like one of my favorites, the brachiosaurus, could graze on them.
When Frank Lloyd Wright built his first home (in Oak Park, Illinois) he selected the property because there were beautiful ginko trees planted there.
I’ve seen the leaves countless times in artwork from Asia, especially Japan and read that the trees are treated as sacred at Shinto shrines.
Old arboretums in the eastern states of our country inevitably have specimens, some planted in the first years of the republic.
It’s cool for our republic to have these “living fossils” around, like most of our political leadership.
And as an “herbal supplement,” it’s supposed to remedy insufficient blood flow to the brain.
That problem seems to be pervasive right now during the political races, so there’s another good reason to keep these ancient trees in circulation.
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If I’d seen that second photo without any context, I’d have thought it was cottonwood. The faint hint of green in the gold is beautiful. We’ve yet to have any particular color in our trees, so I certainly haven’t tired of seeing photos from other areas of the country. Your photos led me to this:
red for the maples
cottonwood gold
brown for the oak leaves
tattered and old
now comes the ginko
sporting its yellow
appealing to eyes
of the girls and the fellows
Did you make that up?! That’s great!😊
I did make that up! You make a great muse!
Well among all the photos of leaves in autumn colors I have not seen any Ginko. I saw Ginko growing in China and I have always been fascinated by their history of being able to survive the last ice age. It seems this is a result of their using a similar process to ferns to procreate. Every year I tell myself I will get a Ginko and plant it somewhere in my garden.
Thank you, Anne, I’ve always been surprised it survives the northern winters, but clearly it does. That would be fun to add to your garden.
Gingko biloba can be a pretty spectacular autumn color species. I’m planting two of them in the front of my house to replace street trees I lost because of our construction. the variety we’re going with are highly drought tolerant, a good thing for our increasingly very hot Mediterranean-like summers. they;re nice street trees because of their upright shape. Used to have a little ginkgo on the side of my house, too. it only wanted to grown horizontally after my kids whacked it too many times (it was on the smaller side). I love the shape of the leaves. They can be funny sometimes in that they will drop their leaves all at once, I think.
That’s nice you’re planting a couple of them in front of your house. And if some mad paleontologist reintroduces the dinosaurs they can just stop by for a bite.
that little gingko had stunning pretty autumn color, though
Yellow is such a cheery color, I doubt anyone will find these three photographs wearisome.
Thank you, Steve, I agree it’s a cheery sight.
They are lovely trees. We have a few near us, too.
Thank you, Mick, I just read about the one planted at Kew Gardens in 1762 (!)
I didn’t know about that one – I’ll have to have a look.
We have a few in our neighborhood, and it’s always impressive just how intense the yellow is. They just glow.
I’m glad they’re used for urban streets, I think most cities have them, including Milwaukee, I get tired of Norway maples and box elders, which seem to be the standard issue.
When most all other trees have dropped their leaves or faded to dullness, Ginkgo (sounds like Gingold) maintains some nice cheery yellow to brighten the landscape. The one I saw the other day shone in the somber overcast.
Thanks, Steve. I was thinking some might object they’re not a native species, but read that they were widespread in North America millions of years ago.
Stay safe out there, friends.
Safe from falling leaves and those fallen into error, disgruntled over falls from power.
Possibly my very, very favorite tree – thank you!
Oh, thanks Lynn, I’d have guessed the madrone or Douglas fir maybe. I guess the U of Washington has an arboretum with “living fossils” trees together – dawn redwood, those “monkey puzzle trees” I saw in Chile, etc that’s a fun idea.
Most of my ginkgo memories are from NYC, where they’ve been planted on streets for years because they tolerate pollution and grow slowly. Seattle has them but I’m never there anymore. Around here I only know of a few recently planted trees.
I used to gather the leaves that fell on the sidewalk- the variety of shapes is very cool and of course, the basic fan shape is very attractive. When I learned about the history I was even more enamored. And the brain food aspect doesn’t hurt. OK, you got me going!, 🍃☺️🍃☺️