It has been a berry good year.

You have obviously planned over the years for a lot of Autumn berries they look lovely.

It's nice you've got such a lot of berries to brighten up the garden, and feed the birds :)

Thank you Bjs and Hywel. When I first planned the garden, to be in it, a plant had to be either evergreen or deciduous, but special in some way. These shrubs and trees have been a continuing joy for us and the birds. Most have been here for upwards of thirty years. The Yew tree we inherited and it might even date back to 1876 when the house was built. It was a mess when we arrived but by careful pruning I now have a nice green column with an umbrella of longer branches which I do intend to round off one of these days. I also needed an easy to care for garden as I was working. Shrubs are great if they are happy where you want them to grow. Behind the cotoneaster in the 9th photo is a clematis Montana. It took several attempts before this one finally decided it was happy to be where it is. It is the windiest most exposed site in the whole garden and OH reckoned I was wasting my time and money trying to grow a clematis but it looks lovely in the spring.

Lovely shrubs, Scotsgran. The berries are lovely. I have a large cotoneaster tree - John Waterer, I think, and I love the way some of the leaves turn bright red. It was planted over 30 years ago, but has only produced any berries for the last 3! I imagine it needed a neighbour so someone must gave planted one somewhere nearby. Your cotoneaster growing over the wall by your drive is really attractive.

lovely shrubs scotsgran and a timely reminder to think about our feathered friends as winter draws near.

I have few berries on my pyracantha this year despite wonderful blossom in the spring. One of my berberis has blackcurrant sixed friuits with a bluish/black colour. I wish I had a red one as it is so pretty.

Lovely selection of Berries in your garden Scotsgran. I saw a flock of about 25-30 Starlings earlier today feasting the ripening white berries of a Cordyline in my garden ... something I have never seen before.

Mel I am a great fan of cotoneaster. I know its not fashionable and very taken for granted but in the right places it fills a very important role in my garden. Its evergreen, has lovely autumn foliage, it makes a lovely show covered in white flowers in Spring, followed by berries in the autumn. Did yours flower prior to it having berries, I mean in earlier years?
SBG I wonder if the lack of bees is the reason for yours not fruiting. I was at a gardening club meeting last evening. The speaker showed a wasp nest in the rafters of an outhouse. He said it cost him £37.00 to have the local council send someone to kill off the occupants, then the chap told him he could have done it himself using a cheap fix found in a Pound Shop. It never ceases to amaze me that there is such a mad rush to kill off something that builds a wonderful nest. The wasps are always busy in my garden pollinating early flowers before the bees put in an appearance in Springtime. Wasps do not return to a nest the following year so it is totally unnecessary to go mad like that unless there is a real threat to humans. Wasps are not by nature aggressive. If you want some seeds of the red berried berberis I can send you some. pm me your address.
Shirley tulip my heart hardens when it comes to Starlings. For me their only saving grace is their lovely colours. There is no shortage of them around our area. I had not realised that Cordylines could have white berries. I've only seen the red and purple ones. I am not sure if the red ones turn purple or if they are different shrubs.
We had hailstones yesterday afternoon. Thank goodness it was only a short shower. I'm hoping the glut of berries does not mean a harsh winter.

I love to see all your berry shrubs, Scotsgran, especially the one along the wall making a nest for your lovely topiary. I have a few cotoneasters in my garden which have arrived via the birds I suppose. Two of my pyracanthas haven't a single berry between them this year - they blossomed so not sure why. Hopefully they will be OK.

Gee, Sbg also found a lack of berries this year. I think it must be down to a combination of fewer bees, and or wasps who also love the flowers and help in pollination or maybe it was wet and the pollination did not happen. Lets hope next year is more 'normal'. If you want a rooted piece of the one on the wall send me a pm with your address.

Yes, Scotsgran - it always produced flowers!

I agree about wasps. OH positively likes them. We had a nest above our "gardener's toilet" a few years ago. They were in the roof space, and caused no problem at all. Some years before that, we had what we thought was a nest above our airing cupboard. That was not quite so trouble free. Our children were a bit intimidated by finding between 8 and 12 wasps in the bathroom each morning. OH did battle each day, most successfully. Eventually, of course, the wasps disappeared. However, this summer we had a bees nest above one of the front bedrooms. Again - no trouble whatsoever (they were bumble bees) but the man who advised us about them told me that our earlier wasps' "nest" was probably a false nest. Apparently, where there are several similar houses in a row, wasps will sometimes try to find their nest in the wrong house. He said that if there really had been a nest there, they would not gave strayed into the bathroom. Fascinating, eh?

People think that wasps have no useful function, but they are quite important pollinators. I have to say that this year, although warm and sunny, has been one in which we have had no wasps or bees indoors. (Despite having an active nest up near the roof).

When I was younger, I found many insects, spiders, flying creatures threatening. I like to think I have learned better these days!

We have two large Cordylines and they have both produced many flowering stems this year ... I dislike them but cannot reach up to cut them off! The Starlings feast on the white berries, knocking many off onto the lawn ... grr!