As I recently looked around my winter garden at all the seasonal die off, I noticed a bright pop of color at the corner of my garage. It’s an American Holly, showing off its festive red berries. American holly is one of several holly plants native to the Eastern Shore. While English and Chinese holly cultivars also produce colorful winter berries, native hollies provide food and habitat for native Eastern Shore and migrating birds.
American Holly Ilex opaca, the native species that most resembles a Christmas holly, is best planted as a small understory tree, normally growing from 15-30 feet and taking on a pyramidal shape when mature. It is highly adaptable to many sites but not especially salt-spray tolerant.
In addition to American holly, there are several other native hollies to consider, each with their own gorgeous berries;
Winterberry Holly I. verticillata, Yaupon Holly I.vomitoria, and Inkberry I. glabra.
All these holly species do best in acidic soils but differ in light and moisture requirements. Matching plants to suitable garden locations is one key to successful plantings.
Winterberry holly, with its leafless branches covered in bright red berries in the winter, is a showstopper. It is deciduous, grows 3-15 feet tall and needs six hours of direct sun for best berry production. It grows best in moist soil and doesn’t tolerate dry conditions.
Yaupon Holly Inkberry holly quietly shines in the winter garden with beautiful black berries amidst evergreen foliage. The straight species grows 5-8 feet and there are smaller more compact cultivars that top out at 3-4 feet tall. Inkberry hollies prefer moist to wet environments and tolerate partial shade.
All of these holly species are dioecious, which means it is necessary to plant both male and female of the species to get the colorful fruits. Fortunately, as the female plants produce the berries, its only necessary to have one male plant for as many as ten female plants provided the male plant is within pollinating proximity.
While it is always preferable when adding natives to your garden to use the straight native species rather than a cultivar, an exception for male plants can be justified to ensure fruit production. The most common male variety of American holly is ‘Jersey Knight’. For Yaupon hollies, the most common male varieties are ‘Will Fleming’ and ‘Stokes Dwarf’. For inkberry hollies, the only male variety I found is called ’Squeeze Box’. The situation for Winterberry pollination is complicated by the sheer number of varieties and their differing bloom times. Consult the article listed below from the Norfolk Botanical Garden to get a chart depicting how the different varieties should be paired.
If you do find a good source for the straight native species, buying multiple plants should give you a mix of males and females. If you are shopping in person, go in the spring when the shrubs are blooming. The female flowers will have an immature green berry at the center, while the male flowers will have stamens full of pollen.
Adding native plant species to your landscaping provides vital food and habitat for local birds, bees, and butterflies, but it has its challenges. Put this winter gardening down-time to good use and start researching and sourcing some native hollies for some gorgeous winter color!
Resources:
Winterberry – A Holly Like No Other, Les Parks; norfolkbotanicalgarden.org
Where to buy native hollies:
For local nurseries, see
https://www.plantvirginianatives.org/where-to-buy-es-natives
Online nurseries:
www.directnativeplants.com (Maryland)
www.toadshade.com (New Jersey)
www.soonerplantfarm.com (Oklahoma)
www.wilsonbrosgardens.com (Georgia)