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| At my local nursery, following the recommendations of the staff there, I bought a Winterberry "Berry Heavy," or Ilex verticillata "Spravy," with the male pollinator "Southern Gentleman." I did not bother to read to tag attached to the "Berry Heavy" as I was busy conversing with the staff person about the plant and its requirements. But after planting both male and female hollies, I saw that the tag says to use "Jim Dandy" as pollinator. Most websites seem to recommend "Jim Dandy" also, but a few recommend "Southern Gentleman."
Does it make difference which specific pollinator? Does anyone know if the two males flower at the same time or at different times? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Southern Gentleman will do the job as pollenizer just fine. [The term pollenizer is used for the plants that provide pollen. Pollinator is the term used for the agent (insect, bird, whatever) that carries the pollen from plant to plant.] |
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| Thanks for the clarification on terms. More research does however indicate that "Jim Dandy" is likely the appropriate pollenizer as it tends to bloom early from about late May to mid June, and "Berry Heavy" is also considered an early bloomer, blooming at about the same time. But "Southern Gentleman" is deemed a late bloomer not starting its bloom until early to mid June near the very end of "Berry Heavy" bloom time. In different zones the bloom times may come earlier or later but I doubt that the patterns change. |
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- Posted by viburnumvalley z5/6 KY (My Page) on Mon, Dec 26, 11 at 9:34
| If it was me (and it often has been), I'd procure both the early blooming male Winterberry forms ('Jim Dandy' is one) and the late form ('Southern Gentleman' is one), so that I'd have males to provide pollen for whatever female forms that I procured in the future. That has become about 25 taxa, in my case. Likely, you will have some overlap in bloom time, but you won't know till they bloom in 2012. You will likely have less pollination and thus less fruit display. Get a late female (like 'Winter Red' or 'Winter Gold') to give 'Southern Gentleman' a worthy consort... |
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| Although it might not be online at their website, the catalog I get, because I order, from Forest Farm, has a neat chart that matches male to female types of Winterberry. I am not a sponsor or on their payroll. I can e-mail the chart, as an attachment, because I photographed it and saved it in my photo collection. |
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- Posted by viburnumvalley z5/6 KY (My Page) on Mon, Dec 26, 11 at 15:34
| Here is the same information that bogturtle refers to, from the website of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. This is titled Circular ANR-837: HOLLIES FOR THE LANDSCAPE IN THE SOUTHEAST, published by Alabama A&M and Auburn Universities. This is a great source of information for southern gardeners. The chart is Table A-2. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Winterberry bloom dates
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| Thank you for all the advice. For now, I've planted a Jim Dandy, and I took the Southern Gentleman back to the nursery. Perhaps some time in the future I'll plant late blooming Wintergreens, both male and female, in another part of the property. The chart bogturtle refers to may be the one below: |
Here is a link that might be useful: Winterberry pollination chart
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