Which one is it? This?

Needs well
drained soil
and winter
protection

Here is a link that might be useful: SANTAâS DELIGHT®

I have two like this. It's in the lower left hand part of the picture and is twice as tall as it appears. The Hinoki branches are in the way of the top view.
I have no idea how they perform in St. Louis. :-(

A friend comes over in the early part of December and collects branches for wreaths she makes.
Wish I had a better picture of it. Maybe tomorrow when it's light.
The other one is in a drier location in shade and is quite gaunt. At over twenty feet, too big to move now.
Mike

{{gwi:497947}}

botann, great picture as always. Yours does get some protection. Just seeing one REALLY alive and doing well does me well.

bboy, mine is Ilex aquifolium 'Lily Gold' English Holly. I'm sure I butchered the name a little bit. The one I killed with too much water was a Ilex aquifolium Variegata

Santa's Delight looks good. Twelve feet high in ten years? What is its ideal sun exposure?

If you are going by a similar picture somewhere rather than a nursery tag or other connecting evidence I would not make much of the 'Lily Gold' name as a large number of variegated English hollies have been named in the past. This is one of those groups where certain parties over the years have named and propagated what often appear to be rather slight variations to outside observers. Brownell Holly Farms for instance, which, without checking I remember as being the source for that particular introduction.

If cream-margined your "Variegata" might have been 'Argenteomarginata'. The Lake County plant also appears to be an English holly selection, presumably more tolerant of conditions in that region - if they are in fact growing it in fields or other normal situation there - rather than it existing entirely as potted stock wintering in plastic houses or other shelter each year.

Out here we don't have to coddle the things through our winters (and summers), in fact English holly is a nuisance plant here, producing numbers of seedlings that produce spiny thickets in parks and other available land in and around local communities.

I misread your post as saying the plant was "like I. aquifolium 'Lily Gold'".

Today, in my aimless wanderings about, I took a picture of the variegated English Holly I have.
The fallen leaves are not something you want to step on barefoot!
Mike

{{gwi:497948}}

i have honey maid.. a gift.. see link ...

i tortured the heck out of it ... but it still lives in my z5 ...

so ugly due to the torture.. that i never snapped a pic ...

removed the prunus mackii [beautiful bark but an otherwise horrible tree for gardening under] ... increased water.. increased sunlight.. and have high hopes for more vigor ...

would it benefit from something like hollytone??? a bit more acid soil??? .. duh ... guess the name says it all ... what an idiot ... lol [i mean me with that brilliant question]

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

That one is a blue holly, hardier than English holly. Blue hollies are used as substitutes for English holly in unsuitable climates. In my area these appear extra prone to spotting and premature dropping of leaves, at least when placed in plastic houses during the winter. Some outdoor English holly specimens have a lot of this also, but it seems to stay mostly near the bottom. Highclere hollies don't seem to get it much at all. And these are not weeds here. But there is not nearly the number of kinds and variety of characteristics among these, and they are not hardy in colder climates.

With its larger leaves the 'Golden King' Highclere holly may be the most dramatic variegated holly. Its berries are a duller red than those of most English hollies.