Skip to content
Elisabeth C. Miller Library

Keyword: Ilex

Hollies for the Puget Sound area

We are planning a 30′ x 100′ planting bed to screen a metal building
and have been thinking about using a variety of holly for the background evergreen tree in this bed. Do you have any recommendations for varieties that do well in the Puget Sound area and are as pest free as possible, and yet have good color, berries and form. Setting has: sun, good soil, irrigation if needed and no height restrictions.

 

The local resource, Great Plant Picks, recommends the following hollies:

  • Ilex aquifolium ‘Ferox Argentea,’ or hedgehog holly. Note that this clone
    does not produce berries, which is considered by some to be a positive
    attribute, as berries can lead to nuisance plants sprouting in the
    garden.
  • Ilex crenata ‘Convexa’ (convex-leaf Japanese holly)
  • Ilex crenata ‘Mariesii’ (columnar Japanese holly): this is a female clone
    whose flowers will develop black berries if pollinated.
    Great Plant Picks offers more information and images.

Ilex aquifolium (the species) is now considered an invasive plant in our
area. The Tacoma News Tribune published an article on this topic, with suggested alternatives. Excerpt:

“Just don’t plant English holly (Ilex aquifolium), the species with the
dark, glossy leaves and bright red berries that most people picture when
they hear the word ‘holly.’ This non-native species has become invasive
here and isn’t recommended for home gardens (see box for more
information), so leave it to the professional growers.
But that still gives gardeners about 400 species of holly to choose from,
and many can be seen at the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle, which
has the second-largest holly collection in the U.S.
‘Our U.S. native Ilex opaca (American holly) and its many cultivars are
underutilized and in many cases better ornamentals than (the) Ilex
aquifolium counterparts,’ said David Zuckerman, horticulture staff
supervisor at the arboretum, which is part of the University of
Washington Botanic Gardens.”

Like American holly, some hollies have the ‘traditional’ holly look,
while other holly species display different charms.
One of Zuckerman’s favorites is the deciduous Ilex verticillata. Although
the plant’s oval leaves drop in the fall, ‘the berries persist through
winter and can really liven up the winterscape,’ he said.
Japanese holly (Ilex crenata) is a family of ‘quite handsome shrubs’ with
small evergreen leaves and black berries, Zuckerman said. These hollies
look more like boxwood than holly, and lend themselves to hedging and
topiary. ‘I really enjoy some of the whimsical dwarf-forms,’ he said,
such as Sky Pencil, which grows 6 to 8 feet tall but just 12 to 18 inches
wide, adding a vertical accent to the landscape.

When adding holly to the garden, remember that hollies are dioecious and
both male and female plants are needed for the female to produce berries,
Zuckerman said. Good companion plants for evergreen hollies include
deciduous choices like witch hazel, lindera (spicebush) and corylus
(filbert), Zuckerman said. And Asian plants such as Japanese maple and
bamboo can partner well with the more formal-looking Japanese hollies, he
said.

I wonder if you might also consider other plants which have colorful
fruit but are less likely to become invasive. This article,
from local website Rainy Side Gardeners, lists a few possibilities, like
Arbutus, Gaultheria, Mahonia, Skimmia, Nandina, and Sarcococca.

Plants for privacy screens

Could you recommend some plants for a privacy screen that are also narrow? These would be planted in front of a fence in our backyard.

 

Here is some general information on plants for creating a screen.

Trees for Problem Landscape Sites — Screening from Virginia Cooperative Extension

Bet on Hedges by local garden writer Valerie Easton.

Landscaping for Privacy: Innovative Ways to Turn Your Outdoor Space into a Peaceful Retreat by PNW author Marty Wingate.

Here is a list of narrow plants for a screen from local garden designer Chris
Pfeiffer: “Fastigiate shrubs for naturally narrow hedges.” Compiled by Chris
Pfeiffer. 2005.

Zones 5-6:

American arborvitae ‘Rheingold’ (Thuja occidentalis ‘Rheingold’) 5’h x
3’w

Barberry ‘Helmond Pillar’ (Berberis thunbergii f. atropurpurea
‘Helmond Pillar’) 6’h x 2’w

Boxwood ‘Graham Blandy’ (Buxus sempervirens ‘Graham Blandy’) 8’h x 1-1/2′
w

English yew ‘Standishii’ (Taxus baccata ‘Standishii’) 4’h x 1-1/2′ w

Irish yew (Taxus baccata ‘Fastigiata’) 20′ h x 4′ w

Japanese holly Jersey pinnacle (Ilex crenata ‘Jersey Pinnacle’) 6′ h x
4′ w

Japanese holly Mariesii (Ilex crenata ‘Mariesii’) 3′ h x 1-1/2′ w

Zones 7-9, in addition to the above:

Dwarf yeddo rhaphiolepis (Rhaphiolepis umbellata Gulf GreenTM) 3-4′ h x
2′ w

Heavenly bamboo ‘Gulf Stream’ (Nandina domestica ‘Gulf Stream’) 4′ h x 2′ w

Japanese euonymus ‘Green Spire’ (Euonymus japonicus ‘Green Spire’) 15′ h x
6′ w

 

You might also consider installing a trellis to increase the height of
the fence, and then growing an evergreen vine such as Clematis armandii,
evergreen hydrangea (Hydrangea seemanii), or star jasmine
(Trachelospermum jasminoides).

This link is also helpful (scroll down to
“Evergreen Vines” and look for appropriate height and light requirements).

You could grow bamboo, but I would recommend growing it in a container,
or a series of containers, as you do not want the roots to spread. I have
seen an effective bamboo screen between two houses growing in a long
rectangular lined wooden trough (lined with bamboo barrier). Some species
of bamboo are more tolerant of partial shade than others. Look for a
clumping, rather than a running, bamboo (like Fargesia) to be on the safe
side.

Growing Bamboo
in Georgia

Running and Clumping Bamboos

Bamboos for hedges or
tall privacy screens

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ilex crenata and cross-pollination

I want to be sure to get berries on my (female) Ilex crenata convexa
so went looking for male Ilex crenata cultivars. It is not that easy.
So my question is: will Ilex species pollenize each other? For example, I have
a big male holly tree (Ilex aquifolium) close by, will that pollinate the
female Ilex crenata convexa?

 

The best berry production will come from planting a male and female of the
same species, but you can sometimes get away with using a different
species as long as both the male and the female plants are the same type
of Ilex (that is, both deciduous or both evergreen) with the same
(potential) color berries (red or black-berried species). Also, you want
two plants which flower at the same time.

Ilex crenata potentially produces black fruit. Ilex aquifolium produces
red fruit, so this would not be a good match. I. aquifolium is also
considered an invasive species in our area.

This link to a page from Clemson University Extension, describes various species and cultivars of Ilex. Ilex glabra is another species which produces black fruit.

There are some male cultivars of Ilex crenata, such as ‘Green Dragon,’
‘Hoogedorn,’ ‘Nigra,’ ‘Rotundifolia,’ and ‘Beehive.’

According to the website of a local gardener, there are other hollies
which will cross-pollinate with Ilex crenata, but she does not specify
which ones.

You are in good company in your quest for male Ilex crenata
cultivars–a local (Seattle) garden writer had a very similar question
recently. I hope you are able to get berries on your plant–you could try
waiting to see if perhaps you do get fruit (if there are other hollies in
the neighborhood), and then mail-order a male specimen or ask your
favorite local nursery if they sell any of the varieties mentioned above.

red and green plants and Christmas

Are the colors red and green associated with Christmas solely due to holly leaves and berries? And what is the origin of kissing under the mistletoe?

 

Holly’s red fruit and evergreen foliage is at least one reason for that color combination, as the plant has had ceremonial connections dating back to Roman Saturnalia. This carried over into Christianity, where holly was the locally available plant in Europe that called to mind the Crown of Thorns. The actual plant from which the crown was made was not Ilex aquifolium, however, but more likely Sarcopoterium spinosum (a common shrub in Israel, but not widespread in Europe).

Advertising also played a role in popularizing the red-green combination, as this story from National Public Radio mentions:
“Victorian Christmas cards used a lot of different palettes (red and green, red and blue, blue and green, blue and white) and they often put Santa in blue, green or red robes. All that changed in 1931. ‘Coca-Cola hired an artist to create a Santa Claus,’ Eckstut says. ‘They had done this before, but this particular artist created a Santa Claus that we associate with the Santa Claus today in many ways: He was fat and jolly — whereas before he was often thin and elf-like — and he had red robes.'”

Roy Vickery’s Garlands, Conkers and Mother-Die: British and Irish Plant-Lore (Continuum, 2010) mentions holly, mistletoe, and conifers used as decoration:
“It is often stated that Christmas evergreens are a survival from pre-Christian times, but it seems more probable that they were brought in simply to provide extra colour. In earlier times, it seems as if any evergreen plant was brought in at Christmastide, but since the end of the nineteenth century only holly, mistletoe, and various conifers have been regularly used. In theory, if not in practice, Christmas greenery should not be brought in before Christmas Eve, and should be taken down before Twelfth Night (January 6), or, more rarely, New Year’s Day.”

About mistletoe (obligate hemiparasitic plants, either Viscum album in Europe, or Phoradendron leucarpum in North America), Vickery says:
“Following Pliny the Elder’s report of Druids collecting mistletoe, it has been regarded as a pagan plant [Druids associated it with the sacred oak tree], and as such was banned from churches. One of the attractions of hanging up mistletoe indoors is the custom of kissing beneath it, a custom which is said to be unique to, or have originated in, the British Isles.”

That tradition may have developed because of mistletoe’s associations with fertility and death. According to The Green Mantle by Michael Jordan (Cassell, 2001), “the tradition was begun in the 18th century in England when a ball of mistletoe was hung up and decorated with ribbons and ornaments. We are , in fact, performing a small rite, in the part of the year when nature appears dead, guarding ourselves against the powers of the netherworld and strengthening our ability to procreate as winter turns to spring.”

Traditions wax and wane, and apparently the early 1970s were a low point for mistletoe, as this item in The Guardian, December 20, 1972 states:
“Covent Garden traders reported that this year’s sales of mistletoe are the worst for years. One reader said, ‘It’s a different sort of age. When they strip off naked in Leicester Square you can see why. They don’t need mistletoe today.'”

plants for narrow planting areas

I am redoing the narrow planting areas (2-3′ wide) on either
side of our 20′ long entry. Garages from next door townhouses butt up
against the outer edge on each side, causing morning sun and afternoon shade on one
side, and vice versa on the other side. I have picked out some
euphorbias, heucheras, and carexes which should do well. I’m wondering
if I should have some taller, more dramatic plants to offset these and if
you have any suggestions of ones which might work. Also, any bulb ideas
would be appreciated.

 

Have you considered putting up trellises on one or both sides? Then you
could grow vines which require little width, but still have the
advantage of height. You could also grow taller plants (maybe some
grasses like Miscanthus or even a well-restricted–using root
barrier–Bamboo) in containers, and keep them shaped to suit the narrow
space. Some shrubs and trees are naturally narrow or fastigiate in growth
habit.

Here is a list of narrow plants compiled by local garden designer Chris
Pfeiffer, c2005. Some will be too wide for your planting area, but you
might want to research those that fit the site.

American arborvitae ‘Rheingold’ (Thuja occidentalis ‘Rheingold’) 5’h x
3′ w

Barberry ‘Helmond Pillar’ (Berberis thunbergii f. atropurpurea ‘Helmond
Pillar’) 6’h x 2’w

Boxwood ‘Graham Blandy’ (Buxus sempervirens ‘Graham Blandy’) 8’h x 1-1/2’w

English yew ‘Standishii’ (Taxus baccata ‘Standishii’) 4’h x 1-1/2’w

Irish yew (Taxus baccata ‘Fastigiata’) 20’h x 4’w

Japanese holly Jersey pinnacle (Ilex crenata ‘Jersey Pinnacle’) 6’h x
4’w

Japanese holly Mariesii (Ilex crenata ‘Mariesii) 3’h x 1-1/2’w

Dwarf yeddo rhaphiolepis (Rhaphiolepis umbellata ‘Gulf Green’) 3-4’h x
2’w

Heavenly bamboo ‘Gulf Stream’ (Nandina domestica ‘Gulf Stream’) 4’h x 2’w

Japanese euonymus ‘Green Spire’ (Euonymus japonicus ‘Green Spire’) 15’h x
6’w

There are also a good number of tall perennials you might try, such as
(for your afternoon sunny side) Helenium, Verbascum, Baptisia,
Eupatorium, and bulbous plants like Allium and Eremurus, and for your
shadier morning sun side, Macleaya, Digitalis, Filipendula ulmaria,
Anemone x hybrida, Actaea (formerly called Cimicifuga), Lilium martagon, Thalictrum, and Veronicastrum.

There are many excellent gardening books you could consult for ideas.
Since you have a small, narrow space, I highly recommend local garden
writer Marty Wingate’s book, Big Ideas for Northwest Small Gardens
(Sasquatch Books, 2003). You are welcome to visit the Miller Library,
where you can do further research and also borrow books.

plants to form a small tight hedge

Can you all give me some recommendations for plants that will form a tight hedge? I want a fast growing plant that does not get more than 2-3 feet tall and 2-3 feet wide. I do not want boxwood. Evergreen with glossy leaves is preferable; flowers do not matter to me.

 

I collected some information from websites and a couple of books for you. I am making one other plant suggestion, and it is the last item.

Euonymus japonicus ‘Microphyllus’

Text

Images

Ilex crenata ‘Northern Beauty’ is described on the website of Great Plant Picks

Ilex glabra ‘Shamrock’

See Missouri Botanical Garden for information and an image.

Osmanthus delavayi

This can be grown as a dense hedge. It can reach about 8 feet, but takes pruning well. Evergreen and attractive all year. Small, oval, tooth-edged leaves. Fragrant tiny white flowers in spring. Here in Seattle it can take the full sun but partial shade is okay too.

Great Plant Picks is a local organization with information about plants that do particularly well in the Pacific Northwest.

Plants poisonous to pets

Is a holly tree toxic to animals (dogs/cats)?

 

The ASPCA website on plants which are toxic to animals lists holly (Ilex spp.), as does the Humane Society website.

According to Plant Alert, A Garden Guide for Parents (by Catherine Collins; 2001), and Plants That Poison (by Ervin M. Schmutz and Lucretia Breazeale Hamilton; 1979)
the red or black berries on holly are poisonous to humans as well, and can be fatal to small children if eaten in quantity.

If you believe your dog or cat has consumed holly berries, call your veterinarian for advice as soon as possible, or call the ASPCA Animal Poison Control number, 888-426-4435 (not a free service).