Possumhaw holly is berry beautiful in winter
January 26, 2014
The possumhaws (love that name!) were in fine form at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center yesterday.
Wowza! Bright red berries against the olive green of live oaks and juniper and a scrubbed, blue sky. 65 degrees. This is what winter should always be.
All material © 2006-2014 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Oh so pretty! I love the deciduous hollies with their beautiful berries! The berries on my winterberry hollies lasted for quite awhile – the birds finally found them though. I wonder if they have to go through several freezing and thawing cycles before they get soft enough for the birds or have to get more ripe or something?
Good question, Indie. My American beautyberry berries get devoured right away in the fall, for example. But the possumhaw berries last until late winter, when flocks of robins or cedar waxwings find them. —Pam
Lucky you having such a beautiful winter. I am not complaining today though. It got up to 52F. Feels wonderfu. Almost can’t tell it got so warm because the wind is whipping at 20mph +. Still the sun is shining. Feels wonderful.
Well, the reason I say this is what winter should be is because this has been a cold winter for us. Which is to say, we’ve had a number of hard freezes in-between our 65-degree days. 😉 —Pam
Charming common name, but what is the botanical name for that berry factory? I think I need one.
Sorry I didn’t include the botanical name in this post, though it’s in the “Plant This” post I linked to (click the link for lots more info and images, if you’re interested). It’s Ilex decidua, and grows well throughout the southern U.S. —Pam
Yes, it really brings a bright color to the garden. I had three in my garden before I moved, and was surprised by how slow it grew.
Is that right? I have one that’s about 2 years old in my garden. I’m hoping for good growth this spring — 3 years to leap, and all that. We’ll see! —Pam
Just gorgeous. Can’t wait for ours to grow bigger.
I’m eagerly watching mine too, Tiffany. —Pam
Winter here is looking very different with sub zero temperatures, but it has been a great berry year with our hollies, virburnams and grapes. I hope it helps the birds.
Berries against the snow are lovely too. We rarely see that kind of winter beauty here, but I admire it on your and other cold-climate gardening blogs, Commonweeder. —Pam
Beautiful! I picture this cut and in a big vase inside. It’s not the first time I’ve seen photos of this. I’d love to find some.
That would be quite pretty! Although I can never bear to cut anything for bringing indoors — ha. —Pam
I know the possumhaw you photographed by the metal building…incredible. Reminds me of an allee of them at college, where we walked to our design studios most days. Winter – ha!
Local gardening personality Tom Spencer had at his former home a secret garden walled with possumhaws. He called it Possumhaw Hollow. I thought it was a fun idea. —Pam
Beautiful against that steel!
I love that steel siding — so Austin. —Pam
I love my possumhaws. It is my favorite small native tree. Regarding the speed of growth, in my experience, the root suckers always out grow the original plant. This happened with four of my plants and I ended up pruning out the original trunks.
Interesting! Thanks for sharing, Michael. —Pam
Mine leaped third year and really put on some growth. It’s finally starting to have more than a few berries too. Lovely small tree.
Yay! I’m ready for mine to leap. —Pam