It’s hard to argue that we get much of a winter here in San Jose, and we certainly can’t expect any snow anytime soon. So just use your imagination …

Little pockets of “snowfall” have been spotted around Willow Glen, a blanket of beautiful yellow leaves dropped from Ginko trees in the neighborhood. The Ginkos also provide most of the Autumn color you see around town, with the brightest yellow leaves of any tree grown here.

The funny thing is that those trees hold those leaves longer than most others, too. This has been the week of falling Ginko leaves, especially along Curtner Avenue, which might boast the largest collection of the trees. Homeowners may dread the sudden intense raking required, since the trees typically lose all of their leaves over the course of only a few days. But the color is spectacular, and deeper than any snowfall we could imagine.