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| When I was little my parents got a decorative Holly Tree one Christmas. We were told it was a breed that wouldn't grow outside in Zone 6. I planted it anyway, and it survived anyway. It got huge, but had brown around the leaves most of the time. The leaves were spikey and edged with white.
A couple years ago I planted a Blue Prince Holly, hoping it would pollinate it. The tree never produced fruit, so I assumed it was male. I asked about this before, but two developments happened this year.
a.) What type of Holly is this?
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Follow-Up Postings:
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| There isn't such a creature as an Oregon Holly. This looks like a variegated English Holly, to me. |
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| There is a plant with the Common Name "Oregon Holly" (Mahonia aquifolium), but I'm not sure it matches. If this is English Holly, why doesn't the Blue Prince hybrid holly I have a hundred feet away or so away pollinate it? I planted the male holly a year ago and got no berries, this year I only got as few. What can I plant to pollinate it? |
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- Posted by gardengal48 PNW zone 8 (My Page) on Sun, Sep 30, 12 at 15:28
| Mahonia aquifolium is referred to as Oregon grape or sometimes Oregon grape holly or just grape holly but not Oregon holly. And the plant in the photo is not a mahonia. This is definitely an Ilex, most likely Ilex aquifolium or as Dorie indicates, a variegated English holly. It most likely did not produce berries previously because there was nothing available to pollinate it. Holly cross-pollination is complicated - flowering times must be concurrent as well as using compatible species. The Blue Prince could cross-pollinate as one of its parents is I. aquifolium. American holly (Ilex opaca) could also serve to pollinate. The male plants do not need to be extremely close by (within ~400' or so) but the bloom periods must coincide. Berries may or may not be present or produced in much quantity otherwise. You would have much better success if you obtained a distinctly male cultivar of English holly, like 'Silver Queen' (yes, its a male, despite the name :-)). 'Gold Coast' is another male cultivar. |
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| As gardengal states, the bloom periods must coincide, and you must have 2 hollies that work together. I can think of a few other factors...for instance, is your 'Blue Prince' large enough to have many blooms? Were there a lot of insects around at that time of year that seemed to be visiting both plants? You don't mention blossoming of your original plant...I assume it always has plenty of blooms? |
Here is a link that might be useful: pollination info for hollies
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| Mytime, in answer to your questions: After I planted the Blue Prince Holly, I figured my original Holly was male and planted a Blue Princess Holly. It has plenty or red berries, so there was some source of holly pollen around. I haven't seen a lot insects on either. However,there is a neighbor down the street who I hear has bees. I've never seen a single flower on the original mystery holly. I suspect this probably is a bloom timing issue...which is why I'm asking. Can anyone figure out what kind of Holly I should plant? I have a finite amount of space I can devote to male Holly trees. Does Blue Prince pollinate English Holly? If so, it would tell me that this *ISN'T* English Holly. The holly tree is big, has white edges to it's leaves, and yellow orange berries. Also not happy in Zone 6. Does that give anyone a clue to what I have, and what I should plant? |
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| OK, *DOES* Blue Prince bloom at the same time as English Holly? If not, what breeds of Hollly Do? What kinds of holly have orange berries and white edges to the leaves? |
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- Posted by gardengal48 PNW zone 8 (My Page) on Sun, Sep 30, 12 at 19:29
| Re-read my post - you most likely have English holly and you will have the best luck with a male cultivar of of the same (Ilex aquifolium) - 'Silver Queen', 'Elegantissima' etc. Males and females of the same species can be expected to bloom simultaneously, which is not necessarily the case for two different species or for a species/hybrid combo. Blue Prince can cross pollinate English holly but there is no guarantee you will have (or consistantly have) simultaneous bloom periods. If you want a guarantee of berries, purchase from one of the suppliers that grows both male and female plants together (ie. Monrovia's China Boy & China Girl) or a self-fruiting type like Nellie R. Stevens. |
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| Are we putting the cart before the horse? Perhaps the problem is...nothing to pollinate... "I've never seen a single flower on the original mystery holly. " |
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| I've never seen flowers...the fact that I just saw a couple berries suggests it must have flowers sometimes. |
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| True, but wouldn't you have noticed them if there were many every year? |
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| Then...why would the holly tree not be producing flowers? |
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| You just didn't notice the flowers. Holly flowers are very small and insignificant. If yours only produced a few here and there, they surely wouldn't attract your attention. As I said EARLY on, this is a variegated English Holly...there are several different cultivars. American Holly can also perform as a pollinator for English hollies, so that should increase your choices. Simply look up male American and English Holly cultivars. That's Ilex aquafolium and Ilex opaca, respectively. |
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