Jolly Holly

 

This year many people have noticed that hollies have kept their berries longer. This could be that there are more berries because there were more insects to pollinate the flowers in a milder spring, or that a milder autumn produced more other food for birds to eat. The picture above was taken in my garden today.

 Only the female trees have berries but they need pollen from a nearby male tree for fertilization, when they flower in March. Holly trees in Filnore Woods are mostly too young to have much in the way of berries, but they are one of the few trees that can tolerate the shade cast by other trees, so you will often find them in shady places like beech woods.  This one below is in Cuckoo Pen.