A moment of Ginkgo celebration

I have written previously about my love of the Ginkgo tree: generally and specifically.   My beloved ginkgo, as it is generally known, now lives in its container in the Side Garden where I can see it from the kitchen window.  It has gone full circle in this respect as when I first bought this tree more than twenty five years ago, it lived in its container where I could see it through the kitchen window of my previous house.

The last of the leaves are now falling from this tree, it turns the beautiful yellow that the ginkgo turns.  It is such a wonderful tree at all times of year but in Autumn it particularly shines.

But what about the other Ginkgo in the garden?  It doesn't get written about half as much and yet this is doing it a huge disservice.

The other ginkgo must have been planted in the garden a good ten years ago, maybe more.  It is about four foot tall and is a very slow grower as is typical of these trees.  I cannot remember what variety of ginkgo it is, it is not a standard biloba, I think it is a bit of a weeping one.  It certainly grows across more than up.  

I was walking in the garden the other day and suddenly stopped in front of it.  It turns a little later than the beloved ginkgo, so still has most of its leaves and they not quite as yellow as they will soon become.  

I love how the leaves start to turn yellow from the edges very delicately, very gently.

The leaves at the ends of the branches seem to go most yellow most quickly and then the colour ripples down the branch.

I realised when looking at this tree that it has slowly developed into a really nice little tree.  It has just been more like an elongated twig for years, but now it has developed into a nice shape.  It has sat there quietly all this time, just doing its thing.  I looked back and find I have hardly ever mentioned it.  This is such a terrible neglect on my part.

I admired the tree and told it I would pay it more attention going forward.  It would no longer be the 'other' ginkgo, but a ginkgo in its own right: the equally beloved ginkgo.

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