Hicks Yew Hedge - First Berries (Arils) - September 2020

Posted by on

The past few days, I've added some entries to my garden diary showing off some late Summer growth on our Dawn Redwood tree and our front-yard Bald Cypress tree.  Today, I'm adding an entry showing how our Hicks Yews in the back of our lot are showing off some 'berries' for what I think is the first time.

The posted about these Yews just last month when they were looking fine.  And earlier this Spring, I posted a photo showing off their new growth after they suffered some frost/winter (and maybe rabbit?!?) damage.

I planted these last Summer, so I'm thinking that due to the transplant shock, we didn't see any berries in their first season.

But...turns out, these 'berries' aren't really berries.  They're "arils".  And they arrive mid-Summer - hence why I'm noticing them right now: Via this post on Four Season Foraging:
Yew produces red arils— berry-like seed coverings. (I'll just call them "berries" for simplicity's sake.) They are fleshy, cup-shaped, and 1/4 to 1/2 inch long. The inside of the cup houses the brown seed, which is less than 1/4 inch in diameter. This reproductive structure is unique to yew; most evergreens produce seed cones. If you find an evergreen with small red, fleshy berries, it is certainly yew. However, the berries typically mature from June to September, so they're not a reliable identification mark year-round.

These arils were part of why I selected the Hicks Upright Yews in the first place - as I know they're (potentially) a food source for birds and critters.   When we went through the NWF "Certified Wildlife Habitat" process, we had to identify three sources of food.  This now gets us an additional one beyond our various feeders and nuts from our Walnut and Oak trees.

Here's a post from Jennifer Tetlow in the UK where she talks about the birds (and critters) finding a lot of value in her yews.

I've seen a little bit of growth, but haven't figured out a way to document and measure that growth other than via visual cues from photos.  But, our end-state is something akin to this hedge with the swooping curves - a few years from now.
Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Be nice to each other here.

Popular posts from this blog

A Multimeter - Workshop Addition

Posted by on
Image
My father-in-law gifted me this Sears Craftsman 8-function Multimeter for Christmas and I've just gotten around to unboxing it and finding it's permanent home in my shop.  I wasn't quite sure what to do with a multimeter (or multi-meter as it is sometimes spelled), but Nat's Dad also sent along with CNET piece that explains all that this tool can do .   Here's the list: 1.  Test batteries 2.  Check extension cords 3.  Determine the life of lightbulbs 4.  Identify the 'hot' wire 5.  Find bad switches So...turns out, it wasn't all bird stuff at Christmas this year, right?!?
Read more

Lou Malnati's Salad Dressing Recipe as Published in the 60's

Posted by on
Image
Earlier this winter, I wrote about the old Lou Malnati's menu and mentioned that as I was waiting around for my pie to finish up, I spied an old Chicago Tribune article posted on the wall that included the original Lou Malnati's Italian Salad Dressing Recipe.  The Tribune reporter called it "prized".  We were set to host a little pizza party over the weekend, so I figured I'd give it a shot.  Here's the article as seen through my mobile phone's camera. I'm not a wine drinker, so the fact that the recipe called for Burgundy wine didn't strike me as odd.  I went shopping at Angelo Caputos in Addison - a really incredible shopping experience - and when I got to the wine section I found Burgundy wine was carried ONLY in those HUGE jugs.  And they were dirt cheap.  The only issue is that needed just 4 ounces.  We ended up with a whole-lotta-wine that Nat won't drink. I've taken the recipe and modified it a bit by eliminating the percentage
Read more

Frans Fontaine Hornbeam Planted - Hedgerow Spring 2018

Posted by on
Image
Yesterday, I shared a photo of our eight Frans Fontaine European Hornbeam 2.5" caliper trees that had been delivered .  These trees were a long-time coming and we've been planning, talking and thinking about them for almost a year.  Today, the trees went in!  Here's the guys digging the holes and placing the trees in the holes to check for placement and spacing.  We ended up going with six feet of spread between each one and 30" away from the fence. You can tell from the photo above that they are going into a low spot and that our neighbor's to the north truck and garage are pretty visible (right now) from the top of our property. Here's three of the eight placed in their holes.  Once we were all happy with the placement, the burlap and rope were removed (well...the bottom of the burlap was left on because our landscaper prefers to keep the rootball intact, but the top of the burlap was cut off and all the rope was removed) and these trees were stuck ba
Read more