Botanic Beet: Tree-Forming Hollies

by Barry Fugatt

Poinsettias and mums are the botanical stars of the winter holidays, but for my money, hollies add even greater value to home landscapes.

Years ago, when I first planted my garden, I so wish I had planted more tree-forming hollies. The three I did plant: Warren’s Red Holly (Ilex decidua); Foster Holly (Ilex x attenuate); and a yellow fruiting American Holly (Ilex opaca attenuate) are spectacular. Each is weighted down with sparking berries and each visually dominates its section of garden.

I can’t say enough good things about Warren’s Red Holly. Its gracefully arching branches are smothered with tiny reddish-orange berries and soon, after it sheds all its foliage, is smooth grey branches will sparkle like a big red lollipop in a corner of my garden. Even now, I can hardly stop staring at it through my dining room windows. Beauty isn’t the only thing this deciduous holly has going for it. It’s a tough, trouble-free native species that easily handles Oklahoma heat and droughts. And, it’s highly insect and disease resistant.

Warren’s Red has many landscape uses. I enjoy using it as a background specimen in a mixed-shrub border. And it’s equally effective as a large single specimen plant in a courtyard and/or entry garden. It matures into a perfectly formed miniature tree 15 to 20 feet tall and 10 to 12 feet wide. The large specimen in my garden also sustains lots of hungry bird species during the dead-of-winter. Warren’s Red truly is underutilized by Tulsa area gardeners.

Foster Hollie was first introduced decades ago when I was a young horticulture student. Sadly, through no fault of its own, its star has dimmed in recent years as new holly species have entered the nursery trade. New isn’t always better, however. One has only to look at a mature 20-foot-tall, berry-laden Foster Holly to know it is still a winner. It has glossy, evergreen foliage, bright red berries and a graceful pyramidal form. Foster Holly No. 2 is a female (berry producing) cultivar and Foster Holly No. 4 is a male (pollen producing) cultivar. Some gardeners recommend planting a male and female cultivar to insure heavy berry set. After decades of growing Forster Holly No. 2 (the female cultivar) I can assure readers that this wonderful old holly produces loads of berries without the help of a nearby male variety.

Yellow fruiting American Holly is a true garden treasure that (sadly) is seldom planted in local garden. It has long been a sentimental favorite of mine, however. But don’t take my word for it. When you have a free moment, stop by the Woodward Park Arboretum, and check out the awesome 35-foot-tall and 15-foot-wide specimen that grows near a walk that circulate through the arboretum. It always stops traffic over the winter holiday season. Its bright yellow berries viewed against glossy dark green foliage truly are enchanting.

The three holly species mentioned are all long-lived species that grow increasingly lovely with each passing decade. A degree of patience is required, however. Tree-forming hollies are not fast growers. Six to eight inches of new growth per year is about average.

But such beauty is worth waiting for. Years ago, I sat in a friend’s garden just outside of Boston and practically hyperventilated over the sight of a huge and gorgeous 150-year-old red fruiting American Holly (Ilex opaca) that dominated his courtyard garden. I reluctantly asked the owner for permission to take a few softwood cuttings back to Tulsa. He reluctantly agreed. Apparently, my garden “mojo” wasn’t working that day. The cuttings didn’t survive the trip home in my suitcase. I’m consoled, however, by the three beautiful holly specimens growing in my garden. I only wish I had planted more.