An early morning walk brought me nose-to-no! with a delightful (not) smell – the slightly sulfurous stench of the ripe Ginkgo fruit. This is the one real problem with this otherwise interesting tree. While not natives, ginkgo trees are great in cities – tolerant of pollution, good upright form, decorative foliage. But there are boy ginkgos and girl ginkgos – and when they get together, well, stinko!

They aren’t always this prolific. But when they are, watch out!

They do make fab fall foliage.

Little sidebar: Ginkgo fruit contains an edible nut that’s said to be tasty. But before you work up the courage to try one, you might want to read this entertaining article on the subject from Serious Eats.