Comments on: whither goest my winterberries?

By: margaret

margaret — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 11:59:52 +0000

Welcome, Lynda. The bad news: no berries for us. The good news: We are really managing some very successful wildlife gardens, aren’t we? :) My other hollies were likewise picked over, as well as my Aronia. All gone. ALl that’s left at this point: the yellow-fruited crabapples, which they leave for very, very last or don’t even eat some years. Thanks for starting the New Year with us, and come back soon.

By: Lynda

Lynda — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 03:13:38 +0000

I too, was disappointed to go out to cut my winterberries for Chrismas only to discover completly bare shrubs, not even one berry left. My holly had only a handfull of berries, as did my chokeberry bush. This was my first Christmas without those beautiful red berries.

By: margaret

margaret — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 22:02:34 +0000

Welcome, Jennifer. Glad you mention this. Guess what? Since I wrote of the rape fo the winterberries, my crabapples have similarly been ravished. Uh-oh. What do the birds know about the weather that’s just ahead?

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:47:54 +0000

Walking in the woods two weeks ago, I noted a stand of Russian olives (which also have red berries) and some rose hips from the wild roses that grow in the woods. I went back this week to cut a few modest branches for the house and the bushes were stripped clean of both the Russian olive berries and the rose hips. Maybe it isn’t just winterberries….

By: Terra

Terra — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 23:35:13 +0000

The photo of the winterberry holly shows a strikingly beautiful plant. I am not familiar with them, out here in CA.
Like you, I consider the birds when I select plants; they love my weeping mulberry.
Terra
co-author of “Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts: Stories to Warm Your Heart and Tips to Simplify Your Holiday”