Fall colors especially vibrant this year

I noticed a lot of yellow and red trees from a Wilshire high-rise this morning, and I read now from Roy Rivenburg at the Times' gardening blog that it's more or less official. Cool temperatures and lighter than usual winds get the credit. "I've been here 12 years and never seen this," says Frank McDonough, botanist at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden in Arcadia. That's him giving a recent tour of the foliage in the video above. Fall leaves are blazing across the state, says John Poimiroo of the California Fall Color blog. "The color arrived late just about everywhere across the state and generally has been spectacular throughout, with wet weather hardly shortening or lessening this year’s gorgeous display," he writes. "California’s urban forests continue to show impressively."