|
| How big does this male pollinator get? I can't seem to find any info on it. He's the beau of 'Sunsplash' and 'Red Sprite' and I'm afraid he may be too far away from the latter, though he's well within 150 feet. If I have to move him, I need to know his ultimate size. |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| The Monrovia website says 6-10 ft tall and wide, but it is slow growing. Other websites say 4-6 ft tall and 3-5 ft wide. I would plan on the larger size, but not be surprised if it stays smaller. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Monrovia
|
- Posted by shelovescomputers z5 GBMich (My Page) on Thu, Sep 27, 07 at 16:55
| The tag that came with my Jim Dandy says 4-6' tall and 3-5' wide. The nursery told me to plan him no farther than 10 feet away from my female (Scarlett O'Hara). |
|
| shelovescomputers, your nursery is certainly wrong about the distance, since another cultivar that also uses Jim Dandy is at least 40 feet away and was pollinated. I believe it's in the hundreds, but I'd like a better estimate. |
|
- Posted by cabosan1978 (My Page) on Tue, Oct 9, 07 at 19:45
| I was told no less than 8 feet but I would also like to know more details about this pollinization issue. My nursery didn't tell me about the need for a male until I bought 4 females and planted them in 4 different locations. I have one male now but on another side of the home as some of the females. Looks like I need to make another purchase. I am new to this as I recently bought my 1st house so any info is appreciated. But what I was told and have read up on is about 8-10' away is the limit. |
|
| Well, I'm still quite sure that 8-10 feet is way under the limit. As I said, one of my females was pollinated from at least 40 feet. I'd like to know where you read those figures? |
|
- Posted by cabosan1978 (My Page) on Wed, Oct 10, 07 at 19:21
| The below paragraph is pasted from a shrub webpage (en.allexperts.com/q/Shrubs-735/Holly.htm): As far as the berries go, the only time a female will produce berries is by cross pollination from a male that is planted in close proximity (within 10- 15 feet). The majority of the time these are planted in groups of 1 male to three females. Here is another from hcs.osu.edu/pocketgardener/source/description/il_llata.html: plant one male plant (of the appropriate flowering time) in close proximity to three to five female plants, to ensure good pollination and subsequent fruit set That was just the first two I have found from a search. Again I hope you are right but any other info would be appreciated. My planting season is coming to an end and I would like to get males in this fall yet to establish themselves if I need to. |
|
| Well, I finally called Rare Find Nursery from where I ordered my hollies. The folks there are extremely knowledgeable. Hollies are bee pollinated, so theoretically, the pollinator can be as far as a bee can fly. BUT, since bees fly several miles, to be sure a bee is carrying pollen from one plant to another, they suggest about 100 feet. In an average size yard, they say the male can be placed anywhere in the yard. Also, they told me that hollies can (and should) be pruned hard to keep them small or shapely, and suggested that doing so, especially to the male, would allow it to remain a small plant. As I said, the staff at Rare Find has known what it's talking about in everything else I've ever discussed with them, so I trust them in this. |
|
- Posted by cabosan1978 (My Page) on Thu, Oct 11, 07 at 19:15
| Good to hear. Thank you for the information. Like I said, I have been around plants but am new to getting serious about my landscaping plants. I assumed all plants would be bee pollinated but having been told that they had to be in such close proximity and that the flowers were so small, I thought that it may have been a wind driven pollination (if there is such thing). Your advise makes sense, and I will probably get a couple more males to increase my odds of making sure things go right. I have read that some nurseries have started to plant both sexes in one pot from a young age to help with this situation. It is funny, though, my females have grown small flowers this fall, along with the berries. I am thinking this has something to do with the upper 80 degree days the past couple of weeks have brought to Wisconsin. Im thinking those are days of the past now so I will look forward to seeing these flowers again in spring. |
|
- Posted by cabosan1978 (My Page) on Thu, Oct 11, 07 at 19:30
| Another question . . . You mentioned pruning, which is a great idea because I would like to keep my plants compact, healthy, and sharp in appearance. When do I prune? What do I prune? I don't want to jeoprodize the bloom and/or the growth of fruit by pruning at the wrong time or the wrong part of the plant. Any advice on this? |
|
- Posted by cabosan1978 (My Page) on Thu, Oct 11, 07 at 19:31
| Another question . . . You mentioned pruning, which is a great idea because I would like to keep my plants compact, healthy, and sharp in appearance. When do I prune? What do I prune? I don't want to jeoprodize the bloom and/or the growth of fruit by pruning at the wrong time or the wrong part of the plant. Any advice on this? |
|
| These plants are slow-growing ... so they won't require a lot of pruning. They tend to bloom and bear fruit all along the branches (rather than only at the tips), ... so pruning will not cause you to lose all of your bloom or berries. I've found that the males grow a bit faster (because they don't put energy into fruiting) ... so, you may want to prune your males a bit more. Also, in my experience, it doesn't take a large male to do the job. My males have accomplished their purpose from the time they were twigs. I think that I might prune early in the spring ... before the plants bloom. That way, any bloom that you might at the tips you might recover in the rest of the plant. |
|
| I would go with that 100 ft distance. I had two female in pots up at the porch when they were blooming and Jim Dandy (which was planted last fall) down the hill. The distance is 75-85 feet and I still got plenty of berries off the females (I was surprised, I figured the stress from planting them later would kill off berry production for this year). Additionally, the one male polinated 3 other existing females at the same time. |
|
| the bees do the work, so you can plant them up to 100 feet apart. |
|
- Posted by newyorkrita z6b/7a LI NY (My Page) on Tue, Mar 31, 09 at 13:42
| My Jim Dandy is about 50 feet away from his 12 Red Sprite Ladies. They fruit very heavily each year. I planted the male in the back border but planted the females nearer the house were I can see them out my home office window. I love the Red Sprites and in winter, the birds love to eat the berries. |
|
- Posted by petsitterbarb Zone 6, N.E. OK (My Page) on Sun, Jun 7, 09 at 11:31
| Who is the best source to purchase Red Sprite and Jim Dandy from, to be sure I'm getting what I order...a compatible male and female? |
|
| I have a few Ilex 'Red Sprite' bushes in front of my house near the main entrance. I need to plant a Jim Dandy or male pollinator. The only spot I have open is around the side of the house near the back. It's within 50 feet of the female bushes but it's around the bend and not real close. Does anyone have their male holly and female holly arranged like this with the house in the way? Do you get plenty of berries on the female "red Sprite' bushes? |
|
| Around the house should be fine. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Shrubs Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.