Geraniums are protected from frost, being under an extended eave, but snow blows in. They don't seem fazed so far. White breasted nuthatch with an angel wing begonia in front. I don't have room to bring this start into the hous and I already have 3 of them anyway. This has survived a lot of nights in the low 30's. We'll see how it did with this morning's temps (22* right now at 5 am). I just noticed how close that house catty corner to my property seems. In actuality, it is 150+ feet away. Rhodies in the front yard.
I've got a couple of angel wing begonias too, that I forgot about and left in the screened-in porch. We'll see... some of those plants that like it dry do OK in a cold snap. I did remember to bring in the rosemary.
We are fortunate here that rosemary seems to survive outside all winter. Mom spent several years dragging a pot inside each winter until she finally gave up and planted it outside. It is now a very over grown bush. Mine is working towards the same thing. We found out how easy it is to start new ones this summer.
As I got home from the dump run yesterday afternoon, I saw some golden grass fronds in the driveway garden. Took me a couple of seconds to figure out what it was (since I don't have decorative grass, and everything else is brown). The Japanese iris foliage, although pretty much dead, is still sticking straight up and was catching the sunlight in a beautiful display. Unfortunately by the time I got the truck parked and got my phone ready to take a picture, that exact moment was gone. Still pretty in the picture I did get.
It's a type of holly, that loses its leaves. Winterberry, maybe. It's something the birds planted a number of years ago. There's a few of them around here.
Winterberries are very visible now. Just look along swamp edges or highway ditches for the bright berries. I believe a Male and female plant are needed for them to produce berries.
The local garden shop sells them at $35 a plant. We have some low ground here and I suspect they would do well. I should stop and see if they are having end of season sales.
Im thinking winterberry too We have some bush type, red sprite and a Jim dandy. Like fishingpol said, they need to be couples, like Holly. Or at least one boy in the yard Came across a tall one, more like a skinny tree, down at the bridge. Not near as many berries as in your pictures
Winterberries only need one male for every 3-6 females (as with evergreen hollies - as long as their blooming seasons coincide). That being said, sometimes the plant propagators don't do so well at identification of the sexes (or tags get switched at the nursery), so planting at least a couple males is better. Even better, getting males from different nurseries if you can. I planted some several years ago next to a drainage area and they do well but the birds eat all the berries well before the snow flies. That is fine with me - I planted them for the birds. The Blue Prince/Princess hollies on the other hand, will have berries until next spring because apparently the birds around here don't like them.
Same here. I planted crabapples for the birds. Winterberries would be a good addition. I have some small maples and a non-native honeysuckle I could clear for winterberries in a wet area.
Interesting about your hollies. Mom's big bush/monster tree holly is the only one that has berries of all the ones that have sprung up on her property. It barely comes ripe with the red berries and the crows swoop down and strip it bare if she gets a dusting of snow before Christmas.
Birds and squirrels love Bradford pear fruit too. But I would never in a million years advise you to plant them. Thorny seedlings everywhere, with taproots down to hell.
