Holly and the Wren (gouache style)

Holly, Ilex aquifolium, is a native evergreen tree or shrub, and each plant is either male or female. Only females carry berries, and they need a male close enough for insects to carry pollen between them. Leaves low on the plant are usually spiny, while those higher up, out of reach of grazing animals, are often smoother. The wren that shelters in it is tiny, brown and finely barred, with a short tail it holds cocked upright.

A holly tree or hedge gives birds shelter all year and berries in winter. Plant holly between October and March, and trim hedges in late summer or early autumn, once nesting birds have finished. Ivy is worth having close by: its autumn flowers feed late insects and its berries ripen in late winter, when food is scarce. Together they also support the holly blue butterfly, whose spring caterpillars feed on holly and summer ones on ivy. Wrens suffer in long freezes, so dense evergreen cover really matters.

A small brown wren sits among glossy holly leaves and red berries, with ivy trailing through. It's the old seasonal pairing of holly and ivy, with a bird that's easy to miss when it's this deep in the leaves. The picture shows how well a wren disappears into cover, and how bright the berries look in the middle of winter.