The Holly and the Ivy are a familiar Noëltide pairing, thanks to the carol. But they earn their place as a true double act in nature. Think Suske en Wiske, Morecambe and Wise, Spirou et Fantasio.
Holly flowers in spring. The male trees offer pollen, the female trees nectar. Ivy flowers much later, in autumn, each bloom offering both. Between them, they cover the season.
Both are evergreen providers.
You may walk past holly all year and never notice its flowers. I don’t remember seeing them before, but last week they were there.
The pairing runs deeper than the carol. In older tradition, holly was taken as the male, ivy the female. Not in competition, but in balance.
One stands in armour. One climbs, wraps and binds.