Kentucky Color: Winter Beauty
2019-02-01 - Columbia, KY - Photo by Billy Joe Fudge
During the cold winter days from Christmas through February, American Holly falls into my "Winter Beauty" category. Their glossy green foliage and fire engine red berries make for fool-proof identification even from a distance.
American Holly is r-e-a-l-l-y slow growing. Because they are such slow growers they almost always are found in the understory of the forest. Even when transplanted into our urban landscapes like this one, they almost never exceed 50 feet in height.
As you can see this one is loaded with berries. Birds will eat them when their normal food sources are scarce or unavailable. When the ground is frozen and snow covered for extended periods of time, flocks of Robins will attack Holly's in a must see act of nature to completely strip even large trees like this one in a matter of hours.
Columbia has more than it's share of large Holly trees.
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2019-02-01 - Columbia, KY - Photo by Billy Joe Fudge
During the cold winter days from Christmas through February, American Holly falls into my "Winter Beauty" category. Their glossy green foliage and fire engine red berries make for fool-proof identification even from a distance.
American Holly is r-e-a-l-l-y slow growing. Because they are such slow growers they almost always are found in the understory of the forest. Even when transplanted into our urban landscapes like this one, they almost never exceed 50 feet in height.
As you can see this one is loaded with berries. Birds will eat them when their normal food sources are scarce or unavailable. When the ground is frozen and snow covered for extended periods of time, flocks of Robins will attack Holly's in a must see act of nature to completely strip even large trees like this one in a matter of hours.
Columbia has more than it's share of large Holly trees.
- Do you recognize this Old Friend?
- If so, where is it?
- I think it would be a great idea to catalog all the larger American Holly in Columbia, don't you?
Next: Kentucky Color: Winter Beauty II Comments | Permalink