Fall Foliage

It is rather late in the year to write a post on fall foliage, but I really want to share some photos I made. We had an amazing fall this year, rainy but warm. Lots of trees kept their foliage well into December and the colors were absolutely wonderful. I was also lucky that our family actually found time this year to drive around and take pictures ( we did it after a lunch out one weekend when the kids wanted to be taken to a park but fell asleep on the way).

The most colorful and consistent fall displays here are provided by Chinese Pistacchio trees which also have big clusters of bright red or pink (and occasionally black) berries. They turn multiple colors, from yellow to orange to bright red to purple, often on the same tree. Our street is lined with them and what an amazing sight they are!

I love the gentle rolling hills all around us, and orderly rows of grape vines.

The quality of light is amazing in late fall and winter. The sunlight is soft and gentle, and the hills are a misty blue.

When I posted these fall pictures on another site, someone helpfully noted that all the trees that turn color here are not native, but introduced by settlers from the East who missed that fall color. The hills covered in native California vegetation stay green year-round.

Sweet gums (Liquidambar styraciflua - I think) were beautiful too this fall, wonderful multicolor foliage.

Japanese maples do not always turn color here, but this year was pretty exceptional.

California native oaks are evergreen and do not turn color, but they look wonderful when well pruned with those long majestic gnarled branches. There are lots of olive trees around here too, like the one on the right in the picture below, they have wonderful shimmery silver evergreen foliage (and a big mess of ripe olives underneath).

Lastly, here is a view of our neighborhood with lovely misty hills in the background.