Autumn Color and Holiday Cactus

We had freezing or near-freezing temperatures in early November and I expected all the tree leaves would have changed color then. Many waited, though, until this past week and there are still some spectacularly showy trees around the neighborhood.

Two Japanese maples in our woodland garden last week.
Brilliant color and texture from these two beauties.
And then there was a windy, rainy weekend, and here are those same leaves just a few days later–not a leaf left on the trees!
Here’s our new little buddy exploring all the fallen leaves.
Not a great photo, but this Japanese maple just a block away is gorgeous–and didn’t lose all its leaves yet.
My Thanksgiving cactus is blooming at the right time. This is a particularly colorful cultivar.