Can't even begin to recommend anything without a photo of the space - in relation to house, driveway, etc, etc. and knowing how much sun? Full Eastern sun? Drainage good? Other trees nearby? Windbreaks? How much maintenance are you willing to put forth? That's a very deep space. Hollies are great for year-round interest, but not sure what you don't like about them. Spines? Because there are many spineless ones. And the berries are gorgeous! I'm a fan of 'year-round interest', but that means different things to different people. Some people like big tufts of dried grasses rattling around in winter. Not me! I favor broadleaved evergreens mostly, for year-round curb appeal. Do you need 'anchor' plants for corners? Big, Tall and conical or upright (to 15 feet or more): Blue Maid holly (not that spiney) Fosters Holly, Sunny Foster (spiney) Emerald Colonade holly (no spines) Spartan Holly (no spines) Yaupon Weeping holly (no spines) Cherry Bomb Holly (virtually spineless) Virginia Holly (nearly spineless) Arborvitae (conifer) Chamaecyparis (conifer) looser form Camellia japonica and sasanqua. (japonicas need morning shade) scores of varieties to choose from Chindo viburnum (gets quite tall!) Evergreen Dogwood (Empress of China) early summer bloom! Taller Rhodies (catawbiense, roseum elegans) Ternstroemia gymnanthera (Japanese cleyera) Photinia serrulata, Fraser's Ligustrum japonicum Spreading to rounded, medium height (2 to 8 feet) Aucuba (variegated and green) Otto Luyken Laurel Abelia Daphne Lorapetalum Blue Diamond Distyllium myricoides or hybrids Kalmia Mahonia 'soft caress' Osmanthus x burkwoodii Gardenia (Frostproof, Chuck Hayes) Leucothoe (requires some shade) Needle palm smaller Rhodies (Percy Wiseman, Yaku, etc). Pieris Euonymus japonica 'Silver King' Illicium Spreading or smaller camellias (Winter's Fire, Bonanza, Ashton's Supreme, etc.) Danae racemosa (poet's laurel) Low to spreading and ground covers (under 2 feet and evergreen): Holly fern (C. falcatum and fortunei) Autumn fern Mount Vernon Cherry Laurel Azalea Chinzan Sarcocca hookeriana humulis (needs shade) Pachysandra (variegated or GreenSheen) Variegated liriope Euonymus fortunei (kept clipped) That's just the tip of the iceberg. You could mix in more die-down perennials as you see fit. They're not my thing because I don't like the Fall cleanup! You might consider: Japanese anemone Montauk Daisy Salvias Oriental lilies (Stargazer, Casa Blanca) Asian lilies Sorry, I'm a bit biased toward evergreen!

Wow! After all these years, I'm still uncovering better information on Ilex x 'Virginia'. OK, so it turns out in 1960, a botanist by the name of W.F. Kosar at the US National Arboretum in DC, crossed Ilex integra (female) with Ilex x altaclerensis 'Hodginsii' (a male). The seedlings resulting from this cross were raised in a bed at the Arboretum. In 1993, Gene Eisenbeiss at the Arboretum, named his pick-of-the-litter 'Scepter'. It was introduced by the Arboretum. It can be obtained from only a few holly nurseries. The bed of hollies from the cross has since been bulldozed over, but not before a batch of plants from this cross were shared with the Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center, in Hampton Roads, Virginia. These were planted out and observed. One selection stood out for its form and fruit, and in 2009 it was named and introduced as Ilex x 'Virginia' by the 'Beautiful Gardens® Plant Introduction Program' in the state of Virginia. It has not been patented. It is being offered only by a small number of nurseries in the Mid-Atlantic is propagated primarily by one nursery. 'Virginia' looks very similar to 'Scepter' but is just a bit spinier. That's no reason not to grow it though. I would rate Ilex x 'Virginia' as a borderline 6b-7a plant in terms of hardiness. I've seen just a bit of tip dieback on a few branches after the last two winters in my 7a yard, whereas Scepter had no dieback. But Scepter had a bit of shelter from wind. Ilex x 'Virginia' - photo from 'Beautiful Gardens' website: http://www.beautifulgardens.org/plants/ilevir.html

Hello....I have some spineless prickly pear pads. Im not sure what kind it is but it grows pretty big.I have mine in a big floor pot and the plant itself is about 4ft tall. I can send you a pic if you would like to see it.Just send me an email and let me know.

Captivator is one kind of spineless gooseberry. I think there are a few other names that are spineless as well. Nearly spineless cultivars have been developed, but the most popular cultivars, such as ÂWelcomeÂ, and ÂPixwell have short spines. Here's a tidbit I found on the web: One of the main goals of breeding is obtaining spineless gooseberry cultivars. The results of distant interspecific hybridization within genus Grossularia Mill. have been the most promising ones. In the result of crosses between European cultivars and derivatives of North-American species the following weak spiny and basically spineless cultivars have been obtained: Chernomor, Chernoslivovyi, Slaboshipovatyi 3, Shalun, Sirius, Yubilyar, Grossular, Serenada. Convergent crosses, backcross and inbreeding are considered to be the main up-to-date methods of breeding. The most promising parents and cross combinations have been selected out of the 6700 seedlings. Spineless cv. Chernoslivovyi seems to be the best donor for spinelessness. The analysis of spineless trait changes in ontogenesis has shown spiny seedlings predominance in the first year after seeds sowing. A significant increase of the share of seedlings with parents traits among hybrids from spineless and weak spiny cultivars is observed in the 2nd and 3rd years. Therefore a rigid discard of hybrids for spiny trait should not be made in the first year of vegetation. I've got a question for you: Would I be wasting my time growing and maturing seedlings from my Josta plant? They would be josta F2's, since they developed without any other currants or gooseberries around. What would you expect from such seedlings? BTW, the seeds lasted the whole winter in the ground, then sprouted under my josta plant, I'd say these are pretty hardy :) Could you arrive at another sort of 'josta' by crossing a spineless gooseberry with a red or white currant? I've always wondered about that. And why the true Josta had to be made with black currant? Ribes are very interesting eh?