Anybody know of a good traditional-looking holly plant that is cold-

[grannylib]

tolerant? It's so expensive to buy fresh, and English holly won't tolerate Minnesota winters...I want to try to grow some type.

[BOSSHOG]

1. Granny, all my reading on Hollies

Indicates they won't survive the winters north of Zone 4. You may try a deciduous Holly. I'm posting from south Mississippi, therefore my literature may not be appropriate for Minnesota; so you may want to check with a local nursery. I have two beautiful Holly Trees on the North Side of the House. Its currently 62 degrees right now. We get a couple days of frost a year so there is no danger to ours.

[Sinistrous]

2. A couple of references and a few suggestions:

http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/1,7518,s1-5-18-137,00.html

Blue hollies or Meserve hybrids (Ilex X Meserveae) have glossy, blue-green foliage like the English type and they form nice hedges. They are particularly cold-tolerant evergreens.

also (better):

http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/i/ilemes/ilemes3.html

The following are I. cornuta x I. rugosa hybrids:

'Mesdob' (China Boy®) - Reportedly cold hardy to -20 degrees F., this male selection is useful as a pollinator for 'Mesog' (China Girl®). The foliage is glossy green and the plants grow to about 10' tall with similar spread. The habit is rounded and dense in the landscape. The "China Series" appears to be both more heat and cold tolerant than the I. rugosa x I. aquifolium hybrids (Blue Hollies).

'Mesog' (China Girl®) - This is a female clone that is pollinated by 'Mesdob' (China Boy®) and features abundant 1/3" red fruit on a 10' tall and wide shrub. It has been embraced as an excellent landscape plant and displays better heat tolerance than the Blue hybrids. The leaf margins of this selection and its male counterpart turn under, leading to a "cupping" effect that separates these plants visually from the Blue hybrids.

Other Meserve Hybrids:

'Meschick' (Dragon Lady®) - This hybrid of I. pernyi x I. aquifolium is useful as a screen or hedge because of its strong pyramidal-columnar habit to 20' tall with a 6' spread. The leaves are spiny and dark green, while red fruit are produced using 'Mesan' (Blue Stallion®) as a pollinator.


I know we do not get the winters here in southern Pennsylvania that you folks do, but I have a thriving English Holly, and have just planted four Dragon Lady hollies that I hope to develop into a hedge.

[murphymom]

3. Would mahonia aquifolium be a possibility?

Also known as Oregon Grape. The leaves are holly-like but the berries are bluish black and it's native to the Pacific Northwest. We have a patch in our yard (Eugene, OR) and it seems pretty hardy.

Here's a link to a horticulture site from Oregon State with some good pictures:

http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ldplants/2plants.htm#maaq

Hope this helps.