It's not difficult to see why many ancient cultures in the temperate parts of the world revered evergreen plants. During the blinding cold of winter evergreens look as green and cheery as on a summer's day. Ancient Romans believed holly warded off lightning strikes and witchcraft. Early Celtics used holly in their celebrations of the winter solstice. Holly continues in its long tradition as a winter decoration inside and outside the home.

Garden centers and florists sell lovely holly branches for winter decorations. These are usually from northwestern US growers where hollies enjoy the milder weather. Cut holly branches will last for weeks even out of water. To dress up those empty outside containers, stick in a few branches of holly and evergreen trimmings.

Hollies in the landscape require a bit of sex education. Hollies come as male and female plants, so both are needed for fruit set. However, a single male can pollinate several females. How do you know if it's a male or female? Look under the leaves of course! Actually you would have to look closely at the flowers to sex an existing plant or wait to see which one has fruit. Fruit is produced on the females. When purchasing hollies it is usually quite clear which is which with their sex appropriate names.

For landscape purposes we look to the Meserve hybrids, which are known for their winter hardiness and durability. However even these hollies appreciate a protected site out of wind and a bit of afternoon shade in summer. Soil should be moist, slightly acidic and well drained. If you are planning on adding hollies, prepare the soil now with plenty of compost and sulfur according to a soil test. The east side of a house is a prime location for evergreen hollies.

Of the Meserve hollies 'Blue Girl' and 'Blue Princess' and their corresponding 'Blue Boy' and 'Blue Prince' are the best for our area. 'China Boy' and 'China Girl' tolerate heat better but may not be quite as winter hardy as the blue series. 'Blue Stallion'® and 'Blue Maid'® have lovely blue green leaves year around. 'Blue Stallion's'® leaves are not quite as prickly so are better for high traffic areas.

We may think of evergreen hollies first but there are some deciduous hollies probably better suited to our landscape conditions.

Common Winterberry, Ilex verticillata, is native to moist to wet areas of eastern North America. With that background it is not as finicky as the evergreen hollies. Winterberry is excellent massed in front of pine trees. It has a nice compact rounded habit of up to nine feet tall. The dark green leaves are rounded as opposed to the many pointed leaves of some evergreen hollies. Fall color is yellow tinged with maroon.

Winterberry is known for its berries as the name implies. The pea-sized fruit are abundant, bright red and not obscured by the leaves. Even though the fruit ripens in September they hang on for dear life until December or January. Birds enjoy the fruit but there always seems to be enough left to continue the fruit display.

The bright red fruit of cultivar 'Winter Red' hangs on until March or April for an outstanding winter display. The fruit is a little bigger than the straight species and tends to hold a nice bright red color longer. Leaves are a nice leathery dark green. 'Winter Red' can get 8-9 feet tall and wide. For smaller landscapes the cultivar 'Red Sprite' is best at only to 3-5 feet tall. 'Aurantiacum' has orange red fruits. 'Jim Dandy' is a nice pollinator.

Add some holly to your winter decorations for a happy holly day season!