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Forever Jolly Winter Hollies

Sparkleberry winterberry forms a cloud of tiny red berries in December, and birds love them. (Image by Jessie Keith)

Berried holly branches are a ubiquitous holiday symbol, but these festive trees and shrubs come in more colors than just red and green, and many offer landscape interest beyond the winter season.  My favorite winter hollies (Ilex spp.) are forever beautiful, whether berried at the end of the season or clothed in new spring foliage. Here are five that continuously shine in the garden, offering year-round splendor and high landscape utility.

There is only one essential bit of information to know when growing any holly. The shrubs are dioecious, meaning that each shrub is either male or female. Only the females produce colorful berries, while at least one male is needed to provide pollen to the females for a successful fruit set. So, plan to plant at least one complementary, pollenizing male for female berry producers, and make sure that the male is a compatible variety.

Beautiful Winter Hollies

Variegated English holly is one of the prettiest hollies for gardens.

Variegated English HollyIlex aquifolium ‘Argentea Marginata’

(USDA Hardiness Zone: 7-9; Height: 12-24 feet)

Crisp white edges keep the variegated foliage of this classic English holly tree looking lovely all season. In spring, the shrubs are beautifully complimented by landscape bulbs, such as bright tulips and alliums, and in summer colorful annuals provide an equally complementary color boost. In late summer and fall, green berries turn to red and remain beautiful well into winter. The tree to large shrub develops a conical habit over time. Plant in full sun and provide slightly acid, well-drained soil for best growth. The equally variegated ‘Gold Coast‘ is the perfect male pollenizer for this variety.

 

Ilex crenata 'Drops of Gold' PP14420 JaKMPMGolden Japanese HollyIlex crenata ‘Drops of Gold’

(USDA Hardiness Zone: 5-9; Height x Width: 5-7 feet x 10-12 feet)

Truly golden boxwood-like foliage is the hallmark of this favorite Japanese holly. The golden outer foliage looks great all season and is complemented by red-, orange- and purple-flowered ornamentals in spring, summer and fall. Black berries develop on the shrubs in fall, but these offer little visual interest. The more sun this holly is given, the more golden and full the foliage becomes. Don’t be deceived by its compact size at purchase; ‘Drops of Gold’ grows to be quite large and broad over time.

 

Sky PencilJapanese HollyIlex crenata ‘Sky Pencil’

(USDA Hardiness Zone: 6-9; Height x Width: 4-10 feet x 1-3 feet)

Few shrubs reach up to the sky as well as the uniformly upright ‘Sky Pencil’. The popular evergreen shrub is revered for its architecturally clean verticality, and it looks super all year long. The all-male variety bears no fruit, but its fine, glossy, rich green foliage never stops looking good as long as plants are provided full sun and slightly acid soil with average to good drainage. This is a shrub that does not appreciate high wind, so plant it in a somewhat protected location.

 

066Variegated WinterberryIlex verticillata ‘Sunsplash’

(USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-8; Height x Width: 4-7 feet x 3-5 feet)

The unique winterberry ‘Sunsplash’ bears lots of red berries on deciduous stems in fall and winter, but it also has the added bonus of gold and green variegated foliage that looks especially pretty in spring and early summer. The variegation is not uniform, but it has landscape appeal. This Broken Arrow Nursery introduction makes a unique addition to the landscape, and like all winterberries, it will grow well in the moister ground than most other hollies. Specimens planted in higher light will have the lightest variegation. If you are not keen on variegation, try the compact ‘Sparkleberry‘, which produces many small, bright red berries. Plant them with the male counterpart, Apollo‘.

 

Dwarf Japanese HollyDwarf Yaupon HollyIlex vomitoria ‘Stokes Dwarf’

(USDA Hardiness Zone: 1-11; Height x Width: 2- 3 feet x 4 feet)

This little bitty evergreen holly looks so pretty in small garden spaces. The shearable, slow-growing shrub develops a low, mounding habit and boasts deep green foliage that never stops looking nice. Like all yaupon hollies, ‘Stokes Dwarf’ is fairly tender and best planted where winters are relatively mild. Plant this one as you would any dwarf boxwood. Sharply drained soil and full sun are necessary for good growth and appearance.

Caring for hollies is not rocket science. Full to partial sun keep their foliage full and growth uniform and attractive. Sufficiently drained soils that are slightly acid are best. Amendment and mulching with Black Gold Garden Compost Blend in mid- to late-fall is recommended as is light fertilization with an all-purpose fertilizer in spring. Please click here for planting details by plant expert, Russell Stafford.

Whether large, small, bushy, or tall, every one of these holly shrubs is glorious in the landscape and garden. So this year make all seasons holly seasons. Plan to plant one of these forever jolly hollies in your spring garden.

Spruce Up Your Holidays With Festive Branches

Hollies and evergreens of all types brighten winter decorating!

The gardening season is over by November for most in the country. Instead of looking out of my kitchen window and seeing roses, daylilies, and other perennials, I now look upon colorful, textural trees and shrubs with winter interest. Their festive berries, seedheads, and evergreen foliage add needed beauty to the garden in the drab winter months. Even better, their branches can be cut and brought indoors to spruce up decor for the holidays.

My winter-interest plants have been in the ground for some years, so I can now freely harvest branches from them. I recommend every gardener plant a few if they have the space. Not only are they lovely plants, but they are money-saving because fresh holiday branches are expensive when purchased at garden centers and tree yards. Here are a few of my favorites for the winter garden and winter-branch decorating.

Hydrangeas

Dried Hydrangea arrangements continue to look pretty past the holidays.

Hydrangea flowers of all kinds can be easily dried and will stay beautiful for months. My favorites are the panicle hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata, Zones 3-8) with their huge, cone-shaped flowers in hues of white, green, and even rose-red. The cultivar Firelight®, from Proven Winners, reaches 6 feet tall and has flowers that start out white, age to bright pink, and finally turn soft red. It is hardy and needs full to partial sunlight and well-drained soil. When dried, the flowers maintain a rosy-tan hue. Bigleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla, Zones 5-9), with their intense blue or pink flowers, can also be dried and saved in the same way.

To dry hydrangea blooms, cut the stems to the length you want when the bracted blossoms begin to feel papery. Strip the leaves off from the stems and then put them in a container with 2 inches of water. Place them away from direct sunlight to help maintain their color. Allow them to dry for one to two weeks. Spraying them with aerosol hair spray at the beginning of the process will give the dry blooms added durability.

Hollies

 

Harvest your own holly branches, greens, and pine cones for DIY wreath making (tutorial below).

Of course, one of my favorite classic Christmas plants is evergreen holly. I could not always find holly branches for sale, so years ago I planted two blue hollies (Ilex x meserveae, Zones 5-7) in my backyard. Now I have all I want at Christmastime. In order to get berries, I planted both a male and female plant. Only females produce berries and a male plant is needed to fertilize the lady. The blue holly varieties that I chose were China Girl and China Boy, which have shiny green leaves and the females provide profuse red berries. The shrubs get 6 to 8 feet wide and 8 to 10 feet tall, unless pruned. Planting them close to one another encourages cross-pollination and heavy berry production. Cut branches off as needed for indoor color.

Blue hollies like average, well-drained soil, and full to partial sun. They are also great landscape shrubs because they are deer resistant, and the birds like to eat the berries and make nests in them for protection from predators. If you must prune, the best time is just after flowering because these blue hollies only bloom on second-year wood.

Winterberries

Winterberry branches are expensive, so why not grow your own?

These deciduous hollies lose their leaves in the fall, leaving bare branches packed with berries. There are lots of bushy, colorful winterberries from which to choose. Like other hollies, one male shrub is needed to pollinate the berry-producing females. Proven Winners’ Berry Heavy and Berry Heavy Gold bear copious branches laden with bright red and gold berries. Plant Mr. Poppins® winterberry as the pollenizing male shrub. If you are looking for a shorter, more compact winterberry that bears large, abundant, bright, red berries, you might consider Little Goblin® Red (4 x 4 ft.). Plant at least one Little Goblin® Guy as a pollenizer–one male shrub can supply pollen to up to five females. Winterberries tolerate moist soil and produce the most berries if planted in the full sun, though they can tolerate partial sun. Cut off their festive branches for long-lasting indoor color.

Evergreens

Evergreen branches of all types look beautiful in indoor and outdoor arrangements. (Image by Jessie Keith)

Evergreens from my garden are essential for my Christmas decorations because every year I accent my manger scene on top of my old upright piano with evergreen branches and pine cones. I choose branches from many wonderful conifers in my garden, including Nootka cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis, Zones 3-8, 60-90 ft.), which has soft, evergreen branches, much like arborvitae, prickly silvery-blue spruce (Picea pungens, Zones 2-7, 30-60 ft.) boughs, and the soft branches of white pine (Pinus strobus, Zones 3-8, 50-150 ft.). All of these trees need space and make beautiful specimens if you have a sizable yard. One potential concern with growing blue spruce is the fungal needle disease called Rhizosphaera, which has slowly been killing them off, so disease management may be required (click here to learn more). Another comparable tree with no disease problems is the white fir (Abies concolor, Zones 3-7, 40-70 ft.). I also like white fir because its waxy blue-green needles are not prickly.

When decorating my manger scene with evergreens, I first put down artificial snow blankets, then the manger scene in the middle, a miniature church at one end, and an old piece of driftwood on the other. Evergreen branches and pine cones of all types and sizes are placed behind the whole scene with a chain of tiny rice lights twined through them. Finally, I sprinkle artificial, glittery snow over it all. In addition to greens from my yard, I also like to snip off some of the lower branches from my balsam fir Christmas tree to add fragrance to the display. My manger scene is one of the last things I take down after the holidays.

I also like to add evergreen branches around candles, in holiday flower arrangements, and to decorate outdoor pots (see the video above). Another perfect use is to make your own wreaths from them. Metal wreath forms are available to buy and make DIY wreath making a snap.  I also recommend sticking in a few winterberries or holly branches for color (see the video below).

Consider spending some time this season making your own decorations and displays from the garden. Or, you can plan to plant your garden up with hollies and evergreens next year if it lacks them. Happy holidays!

Leafy Holly for Holiday Clipping

Holly BerriesAfter the leaves fall, hollies stand out all over your neighborhood with their bright red fruit. The holly is a locally proven species making it the best choice for planting in your garden too. Hollies prefer well drained acidic soil, so amend your planting soil with Black Gold Peat Moss Plus. If you already have hollies growing in your landscape, use fertilizer formulated for acid-loving plants.