Thanksgiving is a good reference but not a perfect one for watching the progress of fall. The holiday migrates a bit from year to year, but even considering this is an early year we seem to have a lot of leaves still on trees, and a lot of color. Many years we would be down to the subtler shades by now, like these metasequoia. This year many of the Japanese maples are hanging in with fiery colors too brilliant to seem real (there's a little one in the middle of the picture) . Crape myrtles here and there are spectacular and the
Cotinus aren't quite over. Every season is different every year though; the large hickory in the left background is usually an electric golden yellow for a week or so and seems to have skipped that this year. Temperatures, though still a few degrees below average, have come up enough to be pleasant and we're having our share of sunny days: perfect conditions for fall camellias.
It's been a good fall so far!
