Merry Christmas!

Deck the Halls!

 

Hollies

It didn't quite look like holly, but it is-Yaupon holly. (see here)  It's latin name is: Ilex vomitoria, named after the unfortunate aftereffects if you eat it.

And here is our more common, American holly (see here).

 

Deck the Halls

Holly is a native tree in North Carolina.  

 

Red and Green

I can see why holly became a symbol of Christmas.  The berries are bright red and the leaves are evergreen.  Color in the winter when everything else is brown.  Some say the Christmas colors of red and green came from the holly.  NPR says it was Coca Cola.  See here for the story.

Ms. Anole returns

She was NOT happy with me.  I followed her across the driveway, into the holly hedge with my camera.  She scampered along flashing her dewlap.  She was brown on the driveway, and started to become more green on the holly.  She's a she, because she has a pinkish dewlap, and a white stripe on her back. See here.

Holly buds

Even the Holly is getting excited about spring.  The buds are forming, and soon we'll have flowers.

First snow

It's not sticking, in fact it's melting as it lands.  But we are having our first snow!