I love these pure white berries hanging from spindly bare branches. This photo was taken Dec. 4. but even now the bushes are still filled with the puffy berries. The birds will get around to eating them soon I’m sure. These are tough shrubs, Symphoricarpos albus, are native to the Pacific Northwest. My row of snowberry bushes started out as bare root sticks from the Kitsap Conservation District Tree Sale about three years ago. They have thrived in the mostly shade. Our honeybee hives are close by and surely contribute to the abundance of berries. Cut branches with berries are striking in flower arrangements. We probably won’t have snow on Christmas, but we can enjoy the beauty of the snowberries.

The honeybee hives are close by and when it’s warm enough for them to leave the hive I can usually find a few feeding on the pretty pink blossoms of red-flowering currant, Ribes sanguineum. I dug out our old Nikon Coolpix 4500 and captured this macro shot. I love that camera, it’s slow, but is great for capturing bugs on flowers. Naturally the hummingbirds love this plant as well. About two years ago I planted three bare root sticks of red flowering currant I got from the Kitsap Conservation district annual native plant sale. Actually I planted ten sticks around the property. At the time they did not look very impressive. But the three nearest my studio have thrived, become monsters actually, this year the were covered in blossoms and are pushing 6 ft tall.

Red-flowering currant, Ribes sanguineum

I love licorice ferns. They wither in our dry Summers, but a bit of rain comes and they emerge fresh and stay lush all winter. The snow and a serious cold spell we had in November, made no difference to them.

Licorice fern, Polypodium glycyrrhiza, grow in shady forests on the trunks of bigleaf maples, and on dead logs. If licorice ferns are the stars of the moist PNW Winter woods, moss plays a colorful supporting role. Glowing acid greens seem illuminated from within, a vivid contrast against brown-gray bark and dead wood colors of winter.

I spent a couple hours this damp morning pulling invasive English ivy. The Great Peninsula Conservancy, owns and manages the Indianola Waterfront Preserve and organizes the Ivy Pulls (Kate makes great cookies for the ivy pullers). It’s satisfying tugging and rolling up long ivy vines and roots, freeing ferns and cedars of the smothering ivy. Ivy grows too well in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, it crowds out native plants, and climbs up trees. If left unchecked the forest floor becomes a ivy monoculture. Volunteers have cleared much of the Preserve of ivy and native plants are flourishing, its a beautiful spot for all to enjoy. Still there’s plenty of ivy left to pull, I’ll try to be at the next pull scheduled for Nov. 28.

P.S. What a beautiful sign! It’s a fairly new addition to the Preserve. Jay Zischke and his son Karl found the wood on the beach and constructed the sign and kiosk. That’s a beach rock in the center. A sign painter added wonderful lettering.