Winterberry Holly | nichepoetryandprose

nichepoetryandprose

poetry and prose about place

Posts Tagged ‘Winterberry Holly’

beech leaves and berries

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One more poem about winterberry holly …

winterberry holly in early winter

beech leaves and berries

watch the wretched shudder

of the second hand, clutch

at the day, a beech leaf, intent

or winterberries persistent

through December

peeling paint on the door

of the shed, insistent –

resist new color

parchment leaves and paint chips rattle

on a day in January

a grey-green flake of paint

is tumbled by wind

and vermillion berries surrender

drop

indifferent snow

Written by jane tims

March 17, 2014 at 6:57 am

Posted in strategies for winter, where plants grow wild

Tagged with nature, plants, poetry, snow, winter, Winterberry Holly

the colour of November #1 (Winterberry red)

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Last week, we went out to our cabin to do some reading and cutting of the ever-growing vegetation. In spite of the mower and the thinning saw and regular prunings, the field seems to grow vegetation behind your back. When you turn around, an alder or a birch tree has filled in a patch you thought was only grass.

As we planned a new path across the field, we considered each sapling before we cut. To our surprise, we found another bush of Winterberry Holly (Canada Holly, Ilex verticillata (L.) Gray). Many grow down by the lake, but up in the field by our cabin, we know only of one other.

This time of year their leaves are bronzed and brown and their berries are orange-red. The berries will persist on the leafless branches all through the winter.

The berries of the Winterberry Holly are so much fun to paint. I started with a layer of red, added orange and then layers of white, yellow and red in turn. I finished with a dot of black and a dot of white on the majority of the berries.