December Birth Flowers: Holly and Narcissus (gouache style)

Holly, Ilex aquifolium, is a native evergreen whose glossy leaves are usually spiny low down and often smoother higher up, out of reach of grazing animals. Plants are either male or female, and only females carry the red berries, which need a male holly nearby to form. The narcissus of December is usually the paperwhite, Narcissus papyraceus, a Mediterranean species with clusters of small, white, strongly scented flowers.

Holly grows in sun or shade, and bare-root plants go in from November to March. Trim it in late summer. Its berries feed blackbirds, thrushes and redwings through winter, and the holly blue butterfly lays its eggs on holly's spring flower buds, so it's worth leaving plenty of berries when you cut sprigs. Paperwhites aren't reliably hardy here. Pot the bulbs in autumn, staggering plantings for a run of flowers, and keep them somewhere cool and bright so the stems don't flop.

Glossy holly with red berries is set beside white narcissus on a deep green ground. It's the evergreen and the indoor bulb of midwinter together, one from the hedge and one from the windowsill. The deep green background picks up the holly's leaves, so the red berries and white flowers stand out as the brightest notes.