Our front and backyard are literally littered with holly trees. They pop up in some of the most inopportune (and opportune) places and poked and prodded us throughout the spring, summer, and fall. In a fervor, I pulled a couple of them out of the ground in the sweaty, angsty month of August.
In this winter season, though, I have our lovely holly trees to thank for vast numbers of winter birds that frequent our feeders. Before we bought the house, I had a gardener friend visit to consult me on what plants, shrubs and trees should stay where they were, be relocated or removed. She remarked that the holly trees, while not beautiful, would provide shelter for winter birds to roost in the winter.
And roost they do. Chickadees, cardinals, blue jays, wrens, woodpeckers, doves, and so many more. The red berries (which are a flowering white in the spring and summer months) are toxic to humans (although, it seems, not as toxic as we have been led to believe) but are loved by our winter birds. The holly tree is obviously an evergreen so the birds do find shelter in its greenness while so many of our other trees are naked during this time of year.
So, in the end, I am grateful for these hollies of ours. I just hope that I remember this in the heat of the summer...
3 comments:
I love holly trees! I keep waiting for ours to produce berries, but nothing doing so far. I've heard there are male and female trees??? Maybe that's an urban legend? So nice to know they're shelter for the birds; I'm going to keep hoping for berries!
Wow, we don't get them here! How pretty..and you say they attract winter birds!
It is good to remember that holly trees can actually be beneficial for wildlife. I'm constantly tearing mine out, too, but maybe I should leave one or two sprigs for the birds. Hmm...
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