December in the Garden

 Allowing leaves to remain where they fall, I have had to steel rake an area surrounding Mom's old Queen Elizabeth climber that has become over run with nasty White Snake Root, and English Ivy, and many 6 foot tall Canadian Horseweed (Conyza canadensis) with tiny daisies and milliions of seed heads ready to drop everywhere. I've pulled out fibrous roots that were 4 foot long. 

The Silver maple quickly dropped all it's leaves during the last windstorm. 

 Also, Greenbrier vines have grown decades here. These native plants are dioecious, meaning they are either male or female. Female vines bear 1/4- to ½-inch fruits that turn blue, red or black when mature in late Autumn. Each fruit contains one to four seeds. These fruits will often remain on the vines well into winter and provide food for more than 40 songbirds, including hermit thrushes, sparrows, cardinals, American robins, gray catbirds, fish crows, wild turkeys, common grackles, northern flickers and mockingbirds. This past winter I watched a mockingbird eating greenbrier fruits more than 26 feet above the ground. The fruits are also devoured by opossums and black bears. White-tailed deer, eastern cottontails, and swamp rabbits will eat greenbrier leaves and vines. Believe it or not, beavers will even feed on the rhizomes. Greenbrier is also important to a fascinating little butterfly known as the harvester. The small, rarely seen butterfly is our only carnivorous butterfly. The harvester lays its eggs on greenbrier leaves. The butterfly does not do this because its caterpillars feed on the plant's leaves. To the contrary, its caterpillars eat wooly aphids that suck juices from the leaves. The food value of the greenbrier has long been recognized by humans. Some folks mix greenbrier in their salad greens. Others use it to make jelly. Native Americans used greenbrier to treat urinary infections and joint pain. In the past, the perennial vine also was used to treat gout and skin diseases. Greenbrier tea was used to alleviate joint pain. I have saved some berries to experiment with and left some for the wildlife.