mark replied to my email.. instead of here ... i dont see why i cant share it ... he said: Thank you. It's been in the ground a long time (6-8 years) so I don't think it's rootbound. I showed a branch to my garden shop this morning and their guess was that it was the winter cold snaps (we had lots of days going from 70 to 25). I'm not sure how else to diagnose it. I'll do a little pruning to get rid of yellow leaves and air out the crowded center. Once a month, the gardens here have a master gardener clinic so I'll go there next time it's open. Thanks for your advice. ===>>> mark.. i would not go pruning.. until i see where buds break .. if its just cosmetic to the leaves.. then i dont see why you need to go lopping off branch pieces ... the leaves will fall off themselves, if you have patience ... but why mangle the plant otherwise ... often a frost will only affect the leaves.. but not the buds with this years growth... that usually happens during a freeze ... as compared to a frost ... as i tell peeps.. you can always cut it off later.. but you cant staple/tape them back on .... thinning the interior should not be related to this issue ... if you want/need to do it otherwise.. fine.. but it isnt part of this ... you are welcome .... ken ps: it is already stressed due to the leaf loss ... severe pruning of the good leaves.. due to interior thinning.. may simply be removing more leaves.. that it needs to get over the stress created by the frost ...

We have the same problem with our young female Castle Spire blue holly shrub which we planted this spring in a lot of shade. We live in Missouri and it's been hot and humid. We have had a lot of rain in the spring and lately. Also, the male Castle Wall seems ok. Any advice would be greatly appreciated - it's been looking good but now has 2 black edged leaves and I want to be sure I don't harm it more. Thanks.

Interesting. In the suburbs around DC, the bees seemed to start vanishing in the mid 90s, presumably because of the varroa mites and other ills. The bumblebees were still around but there did seem to be fewer of them. I now live in a rural area of Maryland and see bees all the time. I can only assume there must be a keeper somewhere in the town - but the funny thing is there are quite a few more bumblebees here, so maybe some other factor is at work. I don't know. Bees aren't really an interest of mine. But I've seen other insects pollinating holly leaves so it shouldn't depend solely on bees. There was a colony of the dreaded european hornets in my yard. They were attracted to the bark of some hideous, pesky old lilacs that I've mostly disposed of in 2 years. As an exotic species I had no qualms about killing them off...first by spraying their tree hideout, but, more importantly, almost every night in the autumn 2006 I vacuumed them up from an outside light. The stupid things are the only stinging insects attracted to light. I must have sucked well over 50 of them up (sometimes as many as 6 or 7 a night) and that, coupled with the lilacs being destroyed, seems to have banished them from my yard. They are mean as heck. I wasn't stung vacuuming them, but I was stung one afternoon in the garden. I was running as fast I could, he still stung me almost 50 feet aware from where I'd disturbed him. I think even wasps are more laid back, although yellowjackets might be more aggressive. (btw the vacuuming works well in autumn because the cool nights make them lethargic) Anyhow It's truly, truly painful, it was on the back of the head and I felt like I'd been hit with a hammer. Since hornets eat honeybees, hopefully I will also further the return of honeybees to my garden. I truly can't believe all of them are coming from a professional hive somewhere. There are no fruit orchards w/in 5 miles of here, at least.

I'm in Greenville, SC and our winter was harsher than usual but the other two shrubs seem to be doing fine. Ken, the picture is oriented correctly and unfortunately, I can't blame pets or kids for the damage - only my lack of gardening skills. There are about 4 small branches that are affected and all of the leaves on each branch have turned colors. Some are still about half green but I suspect they'll be fully brown soon as most of them are. Should I prune all the way back to the trunk? This will leave a bit of a gap right in the front but I'm fine with it as long as they eventually recover.