Ilex macrocarpa...I bet you've never seen this plant before!

Hey, I know I never have. Its an Asian deciduous holly, and though the scale isn't obvious from the the picture, the fruits are large, right around a half inch in diameter. One of the nice things about working at the National Arboretum is the regular opportunities I am afforded to see plants I have never seen before. I guess its a bit embarrassing to admit that I have been driving past this particular plant for the last 4 years without noticing it, but in my own defense, it is a bit nondescript until the fruit appear and this is the first year it has fruited. I would love to add information about it but, while it is not ungoogleable (bad word, sorry), I found nothing other than the fact that it is on some lists and planted in a few other gardens. Well, it seems happy in an exposed position in the warm part of USDA Zone 7 and it has cool fruit~

Now we're pointed in the right direction

Whatever winter festival you celebrate: Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza, or something else, there is no denying that it is good to pass the Solstice. They days are getting longer....slowly; we gained 2 seconds on the 22nd, 6 seconds today, 10 seconds on the 24th and it just keeps getting better. Actually, I guess its not even a bad time for residents on the other side of the equator...mid-summer?


Daylength is a funny thing; it's assymetrical; sunrise and sunset change at different rates. The earliest time for sunset in the DC area is 4:46 and we sit on that for almost two weeks. Sunset has already moved 5 minutes in the right direction. The problem is that sunrise hasn't reached its latest time (it will rise at 7:27 December 31) so, while we are adding sunlight in the afternoon, we are still losing it in the morning. Anyway, post-Solstice, we are making net daily gains even though they are at this point very small ones. Baby steps, but by the 8th of January we will be gaining a minute a day and it gets better after that until we reach the Summer Solstice.