Nellie Stevens is listed as hardy to -10F -- that's zone 6. Sure, any broadleaf evergreen shrub can be susceptible to foliar damage in a cold winter. Dessication and wind burn can account for a lot of it, plus snow and ice build-up can also freeze back some outer growth. But that's not the same as root hardiness. As to how 'solidly' a 25G container is liable to freeze is up for some speculation. Containerized plants are more vulnerable to winter cold than inground plantings and one does run the risk of potential root damage (roots, especially smaller feeder roots, are less cold hardy and are typically damaged if exposed to temps lower than 23F). But it takes time for that size container, with approx. 3.5 cubic feet soil, to freeze solid. Multiple days with temps in the 20's. And even if frozen solid, if the air temperature is not sufficiently cold to freeze inground soils solidly, it is unlikely the temps in that large of a container will drop below the fatal root damage level. And snows and adequate soil moisture also have an insulating effect. It is always a bit of a gamble that one doesn't experience one of those killing winters that can wreak havoc on both inground and container plantings. But in general, I would not be concerned about overwintering a zone 6 hardy holly in a 25G container in a zone 7 climate. I'd still rather see the plants in the ground but if left in containers, I think they'll be fine. btw, the nitrogen depletion with any kind of wood mulches or sawdust or grindings left on the soil surface is restricted to the soil surface and is not really significant to any degree, except with very shallowly rooted plants (some perennials, annuals). It is when the mulch is incorporated into the soil that any sort of nutrient tie-up is involved and needs to be considered.

I was wondering about planting yaupons. Just not certain if their texture look will be compatable with the young Foster holly, pecan, and Shumard oak trees growing along the property line and almost 20 feet behind the once solid row of Loblolly trees. This vacant half acre lot where my loblolly trees in question, are growing is in Northeastern OK. The soil is a silty loam and situated only 2 1/2 miles west of the Arkansas River. The lot does not flood, but the fine grains of sediment which make up the silty loam soil cause the rain which falls upon the land and storm runoff which overflows the lot, to stay on the surface much longer and only perculate down into the soil slowly. That is, unless on parts of the lot where the elevation is so sloped that the water quickly continues on as fast moving, storm runoff. At the end of the line of loblollies, where the only two are growing fairly close, the water table seems higher, and over the last 4 years, these two loblollies have struggled from too much moisture in the soil during extended rain periods. These two loblollies had been planted at the same time as all the others, but due to their struggle to overcome the fairly high water table which begins to show up if one digs near them only two to three feet down, yet even more shallow, during extended slow rain events. These two trees have managed to survive, but are currently only about a third of the size to which the other Loblolly trees have grown. The soil under what used to be a double staggered solid looking row of Loblolly pines is slightly more acidic due to the pine needles that fell, in fairly small amounts, to the ground beneath them. I suspect the acid soil levels in that area will continue to elevate as the remaining loblolly trees begin their stage of dropping lower leaves and branches to form tall trunks beneath spreading pine needle canopies. Plenty of times the soil is moist, in the winter, spring, and fall, but there still are several months in the year when the soil condition would be too dry for most of the acid, damp soil loving flowering shrubs. and the area gets too much sun for many of those, which locally, need to be planted in morning sun and afternoon shade conditions I like the Magnolia suggestion, as long as it is a cultivar which will not overpower the lighter look of the loblolly trees. maybe Magnolias like the 'Jane' cultivar. Then again, I also like the look of Chaste trees. The only thing that has held me back from planning to use those is my concern over the fact that they go dormant, here beginning in late fall, through winter and the very earliest weeks close to spring. In fact the local chaste trees do not leaf out in our area again until mid to late May or early June. Our summer, 8, sun exposure zone is okay for the suggested wax myrtle. Still a little iffy, though. Especially when I consider our border winter temperate USDA Zone, where, even though our winter climate averages closer to the 7a USDA temperature zones, we still get plenty shots of colder low levels of the 6b temperate zone, which occur in waves of time most often during our January and early February winter period.

I have Daphne Odoras and they make it through the winters but NONE of the varieties of Gardenia I've tried (Frost Proof, Chuck Hayes and Kleims) made it through their first winter. So they can call themselves hardy to zone 7 but I'm not buying it, that's why I'm thinking something that says hardy to zone 6 I might trust. The problem with sweetbox and daphne is they aren't summer blooming, that's why I had the gardenia, trying to get some fragrant blooming shrubs in summer. I have too many deciduous trees/shrubs and need more evergreen shrubs around so it doesn't look so bleak in the winter.

Do you have a picture of this location you are planting? My last property was full of H. paniculata and conifers. The combos are unlimited and therefore depends on the space. Little Lime is my second least favorite paniculata. I don't care what people say but this thing flopped even at the age of 8 years old. Bombshell was by far the worst. Horrible flopper and terrible flowering - and I didn't prune it. Bobo is excellent and likely is the most dwarf true to its description. Dharuma would likely be the next most dwarf cultivar. that I know of. Little Quick Fire is nice as well.