Leafy Christmas Trees: Wintercreeper Berry Trim

Wallpaper Description:

This leafy design is quite different from other "Leafy Kaleidoscope designs that I've uploaded. The main difference is that the photograph I made this wall from has only one Autumn leaf in it; unlike the others where I use a photo of straight leaves. Also, the "snow" in it isn't taken from or created from the photo itself, unlike the rest of the wallpaper.

I took the photo itself out of curiosity, more than anything. I had discovered that a green leafed shrub near my front door had seemingly sprouted amazingly beautiful berries. They were rather triangular; mostly white with some orange striping.

I wanted to get a good picture of the berry, but, they were heavy. Every time I tried to pose a couple, pretty side up, they wouldn't stay put. Finally, I took a red stemmed yellow Norway maple leaf from the lawn, set it on the shrub, put a couple of the pretty berries on it, and took a picture.

I figured out what the pretty berry was with help from my daughter in law. Unfortunately, it's an invasive species called wintercreeper. It's native to east Asia, which includes China, Korea, the Philippines and Japan. I doubt that it's harmful in those countries, but in the USA it can crowds out native plants. It can also smother or kill shrubs & small trees. Next Spring, I'll try to start uprooting it.

This unexpected wallpaper came about when I decided to see what kind of design I could make out of the pretty wintercreeper berries. I wanted to try making a white and orange abstract with them, but didn't like the results. Once I started using the entire photograph, I had a lot more fun with it, especially when I got the Christmas tree pattern.

CollieSmile

PS. Be sure to check out the very center of this wallpaper. I put one of the wintercreeper berries there, exactly as I photoed it. If you've seen this kind of berry before, I'd love to know about it!