I have a few pictures of Hollies, thought I'd post some here.
Hollies are one of the predominant understory trees around here in the coastal plain of Maryland, along with Sassafras, Nyssa, Clethra, highbush blueberries, dwarf chinkapin oaks, and maybe the occasional dogwood that hasn't died from anthracnose.
This message was edited Oct 25, 2007 5:07 PM
They're pretty thick some places. Briars grow up through them too, so you can get scratched up pretty good walking around here, if you're not careful. I go around them.
This is what regular plain old American Holly / Ilex opaca looks like. No berries on this one
Of all the thousands of Hollies in this woods, I found one with almost pointless leaves.
I don't know, I guess it's not very rare, I just thought it was neat.
Here's a shot with the flash - that's a Blackjack Oak / Quercus marilandica behind the Holly.
There are no berries on this tree, so I guess it's a male. Or maybe it's just not old enough. The trunk is about 4 inches in diameter, less than twenty feet tall - I do see berries on some trees that size but not many.
I'm sure there's a thornless Ilex opaca selection out there somewhere. I'll probably try some cuttings just for the heck of it, but it would have been nicer if it were female and produced berries. Oh well.
Here's a deciduous holly Ilex verticillata and Sour gum / Nyssa sylvatica growing about twenty feet away. I might post more pictures later on.
Go ahead and post some Holly pictures here if you want, I'd like to see some. Thanks for looking!
Mike
Here is a small Ilex verticillata growing by water in full sun. This shrub has the largest fruit of all the shrubs around it.
Nice mgarr, that's about as red as it gets.
I saw this today, this one goes up to eleven:
Anyone have any experience with Ilex x meserveae 'Honey Maid' a new varigated holly? Hard to find in the nurseries.
claypa, is Sourgum the very common and very red (fall color) tree in wet spots around here, horizontal branches. AA Co. I've been calling it black gum or tupelo, maybe I wasn't far off.
Am hollies seed like crazy here but don't transplant easily for me.
your last picture certainly 'made its point' groan
Sally, yes, although some would argue against calling them tupelos. AKA pepperidge. What's really nice is seeing one that has turned red early and still has the deep blue fruit on it. I thought I had a picture of that but I can't find it.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/186415/
edit: changed link
This message was edited Dec 17, 2008 6:11 PM
Claypa, that's exactly what my huge American Holly looks like out front with the leaves even down to the little brown on the sticky edges.
I'm enjoying your tour :)
Ilex aquifolium
Resin
Thanks, claypa.
Anyone with barefooters around would do well to consider those pointless hollies.
Love the wild pics of Ilex opaca, claypa. In Minnesota we have very few wild broadleaf evergreens, and nothing more than a few feet high. I've seen Ilex opaca planted farther south, but never in a wild setting. Always wondered what they looked like in native habitat. Thanks.
I have a few wild American hollies. One of them is about a foot in diameter and probably 30 feet tall.
Okay, you've got my interest, E. That's more narrow than my Degroot Spire Arborvitae! Is this a single mutation, or an extreme variant in a population?
LOL, I meant the trunk.
LOL, I meant the trunk
All I can say is that I am presently suffering from sleep deprevation. Too many things simply must get done before the real cold sets in. Happy to make you chuckle, though.
Wow, I never knew Ilex would have such smooth bark at that age. Impressive!
Here's one of my Yaupon hollies. They will be covered in more berries in another month or so.
Leftwood, glad to share the pictures. There are quite a few big ones in that woods too. I'll be back in Md. tomorrow and get some more pics. Meanwhile, this is the biggest one I've seen. It's at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pa. The bark is a little bit rough.
LeBug, I remember talking about your Holly, I bet there aren't that many that size in Indiana. Let's see a picture!?
Resin, I read up on the Ilex aquifolium, they have entire leaves up high on the tree where the deer can't get them. Ours here are still protected against very tall deer, I guess.
Wow!
It's hard to imagine that Yaupon with more berries than that, escambiaguy. I don't think they grow quite this far north. I took your advice from last year about the Dawn Redwood, by the way. I'm really happy with it. You can almost see it grow!
Last pic from Longwood - there are four big Hollies, two on either side of an entrance to the conservatory, in the distance. The tree in the last two pics is one of them:
I'm having problems with my young American hollies getting twig dieback. It's mostly the central leader that turns black and dies off. A new leader forms and then it eventually dies back too. None of the other hollies are affected, just I.opaca.
claypa, I don't have a camera right now, sore spot lol My holly is as big as those by the conservatory though, I got a couple of new ones in a trade last year here's what they are:
I. Apollo (the male pollinator) "New for 2006 Developed at the National Arboretum, Apollo is the male selection of a cross between Ilex verticillata and Ilex serrata and provides pollen to fertilize Sparkleberry. Like the species, Apollo is a tough versatile plant which grows in full sun to part shade and tolerates most soils, though it prefers moist areas. Male hollies are not showy like the females..."
I. Sparkleberry (female) " New for 2006 For winter interest and color, few plants are more prized than the deciduous holly with their showy display of bright glossy red berries. Developed at the National Arboretum, Sparkleberry is the female selection fo a cross between I. verticillata and I. serrata. Sparkleberry is a large multistemmed upright shrub, up to 12 feet high by 12 feet wide. The cross produced a vigourous plant which fruits heavily, like I. serrata, and is adapted to a wide range of conditions like the native I. verticillata. A great plant for winter interest, attracting birds, or for berry covered cuttings to brighten up a Christmas centerpiece."
These are new ones so can't wait to see them grow, looks to be slow growers, I've had them in the ground since spring of last year.
Ok, I just got three nice sized roots from a generous gardener on here of:
Winterberry Holly, Black Alder
Ilex verticillata
I figure you Claypa are a good one to ask lol What should I do about a male pollinator, the plant files suggests 'Southern Gentleman' are there any other ones I should look for that you know about so my choice isn’t limited to one, I figure I’ll have a hard time trying to find a male pollinator for a trade :) I do have the I. Apollo for the Sparkleberry but figure I will need a different one for the Black Alder?
If you can help me out on this I'll start looking at the nurseries around here :)
I don't know if the Ilex 'Apollo' (Ilex serrata x Ilex verticillata) would pollinate a regular Ilex verticillata / Winterberry Holly. I wouldn't be at all surprised, but I can't find info about it.
'Apollo' and 'Southern Gentleman' are both late season bloomers. 'Jim Dandy' is an early blooming pollinator I. verticillata.
'Jackson', 'North Star', 'Quansoo', 'Raritan Chief', 'Rhett Butler', are other male cultivars.
OK, nevermind, I found this article that says 'Apollo' will pollinate Winterberry hollies:
http://walterreeves.com/landscaping/article.phtml?cat=13&id=344
But if you have the space, maybe you can add another just because you can... the more the merrier. I've read that American Holly / Ilex opaca is suspected of being able to pollinate other species too. Also, it's possible there are native Winterberries near enough to where you live to pollinate your Hollies.
Well that news is great! I don't think I will go out an buy a male then if I don't have to but I do think I will let some of the hollies grow in the field I have all kinds of babies up there from the American Holly and they say on one of the fact sheets that 1 out of 10 are males in the seeds.
Claypa you are so much better than I am of trying to look this information up and then I go from there lol Thank you, if I see any sprouts coming up in the back yard I will let them grow but 4-7 yrs. is a long time to wait to see if they are a male or female lol I don't see anyone around here with a holly tree in their yard and our woods I'm afraid is going to disappear from the mighty hand of progress it keeps getting smaller all of the time, so sad!
I think the Black Adler is going to be more of those nice pointy leaves for me :) I'm really looking forward to that! lol
