First published December 15, 2005

I think holly is one of the most attractive Christmas-season plants. Its glossy green, pointy leaves and bright red berries are stunning against the snowy backgrounds and it is a favourite in holiday floral arrangements worldwide. At this time of year, the thought of growing our own holly might pique prairie gardeners’ interest. However, there are two important factors to consider if you plan on growing holly in your yard: picking the hardiest variety for our winter conditions and understanding holly’s biology, in particular the all important sex-ed portion.

It’s a Gender Thing
Recently, I was listening to Dr. Kim Coder, a tree researcher from Georgia who had consulted with a novice commercial holly grower frantic because none of his beautiful holly, or Ilex, shrubs were producing any berries. After a brief discussion the grower learned to his horror that there are, in fact, male and female holly shrubs. What he had were acres of some very attractive, healthy, but commercially worthless, males — since only females bear fruit, there was no hope of this poor fellow ever harvesting foliage adorned with the trademark red berries. Thinking about all the silly mistakes I’ve made in the field of horticulture over the years, I refrained from chuckling out loud.

While growing holly commercially is not an option on the prairies — our winters are much too severe for the varieties of holly sold as Christmas decorations — all is not lost. If you really have your heart set on growing holly in your yard, go ahead, but you will need to change your expectations. Even with extra care, what you can grow here will be markedly smaller than the large, lush holly shrubs seen growing in warmer parts of Canada.

The varieties of prairie-hardy hollies that stand up to our climate are few. In fact, most of the plants that I’ve seen growing on the prairies suffer terribly without snow cover; any leaves above snowline invariably ‘burn’ from exposure to harsh, desiccating winds and fierce cold temperatures, eventually dropping off the stems. Dormant leafbuds survive, but the plants’ growth is set back. While this makes hollies unsuitable as feature plants in our part of the world, they are still attractive in a shrub or flowerbed where their role is less prominent.

A Fruitful Marriage
The holly variety best suited to our area is Ilex x meserveae “Blue Boy” and “Blue Girl.” Don’t forget, their names identify their sex; remember you need both genders if you hope to ever have a chance of producing berries. The two sexes are often sold planted or grafted together (found under a variety of names; “Berri-Magic Kids” is one) to help ensure pollination and subsequently, those all-important berries. In Zone 3, this variety will grow between 60 to 150 centimetres tall, one-quarter to one-half of their potential height in warmer zones. Holly grows best when given lots of water and planted in a bright, sheltered spot in rich, slightly acidic soil. Unfortunately, bright spots also tend to lose their snow cover easily and often quite early in the spring, so be sure to keep the snow shovel handy to recover these plants as needed.

Growing holly may take some effort, but what prairie gardener isn’t used to a challenge? And remember, knowing a little about the sex life of your plants can come in handy, especially if you’ve set your hopes on some fruitful reproduction.