Premium Comfort Colors
Order today and get between
Free U.S. shipping. No minimum.
Couldn't load pickup availability
Botanical graphic print · 80% cotton / 20% polyester fleece · eight garment-dyed colors · Comfort Colors 1566 · printed graphic, nothing stitched on
Garment-Dyed Sweatshirt · Eight Colors · Designed in Colorado
Six winter berry sprigs laid out like specimens on a naturalist's plate — winterberry, holly, rose hips, crabapple, juniper and snowberry, each with a little frost — painted in watercolor with no text.
Garment-dyed 9.5 oz heavyweight brushed fleece, soft from the first wear.
Six sprigs in two rows, each one a different winter fruit, the way a naturalist would press and label them — except there are no labels. Top row: winterberry, a bare twig packed with bright red berries and not a leaf on it; holly, the glossy spined leaves with red berries and a cap of snow; rose hips, orange-red with the dried brown sepal tuft still on the tip and a thorn or two on the stem. Bottom row: crabapple, small dark-red fruits on long stems with a frost bloom on their skins; juniper, scaly blue-green with the frosted blue berries; and snowberry, pure white berries on thin reddish twigs. A little snow sits in the forks. No frame, no ribbon, no bow, no painted background — the shirt color is the paper. Watercolor on soft paper grain. No text, no slogan.
The Design
Large front-centered chest print — not a back print
Subject: six winter berries — winterberry, holly, rose hips, crabapple, juniper and snowberry — in a naturalist's study
Style: fine-line watercolor in the manner of a vintage botanical plate — each berry the right color and shape for its plant, with the frost drawn in
No text. There is no lettering, slogan, Latin name or wordmark anywhere in this design
Technique: a printed graphic — the ink sits in the fleece, straight onto the garment color with no background panel, and nothing is stitched or sewn on
Shown in White. The print runs large and centered on the chest, straight onto the garment color — no panel, no frame, not a back print.
A berry that is still on the bush in January is there on purpose. Most fruit is sweet and gone by October; these are the ones the plants make bitter, waxy or low in fat so the birds pass them over in autumn and come back only when everything else is eaten — a pantry with a lock on it. Winterberry is a holly that drops its leaves, which is why by December the twig is nothing but red. Rose hips are the one on this plate you can eat yourself; they have more vitamin C than an orange, and in the war years children in Britain were sent out to pick them for syrup. A hard frost does not ruin a crabapple, it sweetens it — the cold breaks the starch down to sugar, and the waxwings know the exact week. Juniper's blue berries are really tiny cones. And the snowberry, the white one, is the one even the birds leave till last, which is how it gets its name and why it is still there in March.
The Story Behind It
✦ ✦ ✦
Every year in the first week of December her grandmother cut the winterberry. One armful, no more, from the big bush by the pond, and it went in the blue jug on the kitchen windowsill where the birds could not get at it. "That is ours," she would say. "The rest is theirs." The rest was most of the bush.
She watched the arithmetic of it every winter from that window. The robins came through in January and stripped the holly by the fence in two days. The cedar waxwings arrived in February, all at once, forty of them, and took the crabapples in an afternoon and were gone. The winterberry went slowly, a few at a time, to whoever was left. By March there was nothing on any of it but the snowberries, which nobody wanted, and the one armful in the blue jug, which had dried to a deep rust and stayed.
The bush by the pond is hers now. One armful, the first week of December. The jug is on her own sill, and the rest is theirs.
✦ ✦ ✦
Wear it for the one who leaves most of the bush to the birds.
A gift for the gardener in the off-season, the wreath-maker, the one who keeps the feeder full, the forager who knows which hips to pick, or anyone who likes the bright things winter leaves behind. It has no wreath, no ribbon, no bow and no lettering — berries, not Christmas — so it goes on in November and is still right in March. Pair it with the Evergreen Study Sweatshirt and the Snowflake Study Sweatshirt, the other plates from the same winter notebook.
Details
Large front print, centered on the chest — not a back print
Relaxed unisex fit, side-seamed body, roomy through the chest
A pullover crewneck — no hood, no zip and no front pocket
1x1 ribbed collar, cuffs and waistband; rolled forward shoulder
Twill-taped back neck with woven label and back neck patch
Eight colors — Butter, White, Blue Jean, Grey, Light Green, Chalky Mint and Orchid in every size S to 3XL, plus Terracotta in 2XL and 3XL
Ready-made design — choose a color and size, nothing to upload or customize
Made to order in the USA, printed and shipped in 2–5 business days
Fabric
Printed on a Comfort Colors 1566 garment-dyed crewneck sweatshirt blank
80% ring-spun US cotton, 20% polyester, 9.5 oz heavyweight — substantial, and warm enough to be the layer rather than something under one
Three-end fleece with a 100% cotton face and a brushed fleece interior, warmer than a lighter French terry
Dyed after the garment is sewn, using salt-free pigment dyes; OEKO-TEX certified
Holds its shape through the wash, with almost no shrinkage at home
The graphic will not crack or peel. It is printed flat into the face of the fleece — no heavy vinyl patch, no rubbery texture, nothing to pull loose
Choosing a Color
The design is red, orange, dark red, blue and white berries on brown twigs, one sprig of holly green, and a little frost — and no painted background, so the shirt color is the page of the notebook.
Butter. A soft warm cream — old paper. The most botanical-plate reading of the eight, every red at full strength; the one on the hero photo and the one to start with.
White. Snow on snow — the reds and the holly carry the whole design, and it is the cleanest of the eight.
Blue Jean. A mid washed denim. Red berries on blue is the classic winter pairing; the snowberries nearly vanish and the reds pop.
Grey. A soft heathered grey. A snow sky; quiet, and it wears with everything.
Light Green. A soft washed sage. The holly and juniper run with it and the reds glow against it — the most hedgerow of the eight.
Chalky Mint. A frosty pale green, cooler than Light Green. The reds look sharpest on it.
Orchid. A pale washed lilac. Red on lilac is unexpected, and the one that reads least like a holiday sweater.
Terracotta. A warm washed clay, in 2XL and 3XL only. The reds settle into it and the white snowberries and the frost do the contrast.
Garment-dyed colors look softer and more muted in person than on a screen, and each piece varies slightly. That lived-in tone is part of the charm.
Sizing
Fit at a glance: relaxed fit, roomy through the chest · length hits at the hip · full-length sleeve with ribbed cuff · 9.5 oz heavyweight fleece · runs true to size
A relaxed unisex cut that most people wear true to size. Size down one for a closer fit; size up for an oversized, layer-under-a-coat fit.
Adult sizes only, S to 3XL. Between sizes? We will make it right, free.
Care
Machine wash cold, inside out. Tumble dry low. Avoid bleach, high heat, and ironing directly over the artwork.
Pairs Well With
The other plates from the winter notebook, and everything else for the cold months.
Evergreen Study SweatshirtSnowflake Study SweatshirtWinter Chickadees SweatshirtButterfly & BotanicalWinter CollectionOne armful for the jug. The rest is theirs.
Find Your Garden
Every gardener has an answer. Tap yours.
New Blooms
Fresh from the artist's table. Tap one.
Guaranteed safe & secure checkout
