Parentage given elsewhere not just Highclere - but still not involving I. cornuta. So you may need something else for pollination.

Scepter is a cross of I. integra and I. × altaclerensis 'Hodginsii'. So not officially one of the 'highclere' hollies, but a complex hybrid. It's a wonderful holly hybrid though!

According to the Holly Society page, male plants of I. × altaclerensis, I. cornuta, I. latifolia, I. × meserveae, I. integra, I. pernyi, and I. rugosa as well as hybrids of these species will work as pollinators. I assume they know.

I usually get berries on mine. Of all the above they listed, I only have a male x meserveae. But I wonder if even male I. opaca will work - we have these in our woods.

By the way, it's probably obvious, but you'll need a male Dwarf Burford (or I. cornuta). Most sold are female aren't they? I doubt I've ever seen a male sold, since most people want berries on their Dwarf Burfords. Unless you have I. cornuta growing in your woods.

you'll need a male Dwarf Burford (or I. cornuta)

Ding!

Every year I end up buying a holly at the Holly Society of America table at the National Arboretum sale -- those guys are very persuasive-- even though I only have a narrow city lot. Maybe this year they will have a pollinator for my Scepter. I have a Sunny Foster and one of the deciduous hollies; however, the birds polish off the berries by October, so really it may be pointless to plant a pollinator.

oops, I wish I'd just stuck my other comment here
In any case, it seems to me that male hollies will cross pollinate related species, if the bloom times are similar. But that's the catch. I notice in my garden that my male Ilex aquifolium blooms much earlier than the male hybrid Ilex 'Ajax'. So, if you only had one or the other, and a female that bloomed at the opposite end of the holly spectrum, you wouldn't get very good pollination. 'Ajax' pollinates the nearby 'Hohman' hollies very well, and they are absolutely loaded with berries.
Unfortunately I couldn't tell you this year when 'Scepter' will bloom, because the plant is going to have to regrow its entire canopy.

arquatus

I didn't realize the Holly Society had a table at the National Arboretum Sale.

I guess that gives me a good reason to go now! How many hollies do they sell? I'm looking for Proud Mary in particular. Do they ever have that?

David: sorry to hear about your Scepter. Mine looks pretty much flawless, while the 'Virginia' has a few burnt leaves, but otherwise looks OK.

It's really hard to get zone 7 plants established with winters like the last two. You almost need to protect them from sun and wind for a couple winters.

My Scepter survived the winter just fine but, in a fit of wild optimism, I had planted a pittosporum, which didn't make it. The huge pittosporums at the USNA are right near the river where it might be a bit warmer. I can't remember everything the HSA has sold at the table. I bought a Sunny Foster, Scepter and Winter Bounty. I think the Winter Bounty is lovely. I also bought a boxwood called either Russian Blue or Prussian Blue that I love.

It's kind of a mystery as to why my 'Scepter' is still stuggling so
badly, except that as I mentioned before, it was defoliated by deer
after it was planted and stuggled with recovery. It might need better drainage, because I seem to remember it partly defoliating the following summer. Anyhow that was no more than 2 growing seasons before the first bad winter. So it's basically had 4 bad growing seasons in a row! If McLean had them in stock, I'd probably just start over.

Pittosporums: I've tried a couple 'Washington Park' P. tobira from Cistus. The second died in 2013-2014, after having sized up nicely the two prior years. However when I was out there, Sean made ambiguous seeming statements about whether it was really the hardiest. I really want to find the so-called Korean strain that Woodlanders offered many years ago, but I don't think they've listed it recently. I wonder if that got remarketed as 'Tall and Tough' but I'm not sure. Even more disappointing, the supposedly hardiest Pittosporum parvilimbum, which had gotten to be an enormous 6' X 4' plant, defoliated in 2013-2014. It seemed to stage a recovery with new growth and then suddently collapsed late spring. 2 possible factors: the terrible heavy rains of late April 2014, which apparently drowned a few other plants that were recovering. Another thing...I'd sprayed some violets under it with Redeem. I now realize that the other selective in Redeem besides Triclopyr is so powerful, it can damage certain sensitive plants even via the roots. (that is why it was partly delisted by the EPA...cf. the wiki article on clopyralid) I only bought redeem because the cashier at JDL pushed me towards it when I asked for Garlon. I'd used consumer grade garlon successfully for years before and found it is especially good for violets. The next purchase I make for that selective will definitely be for generic Garlon that does _not_ contain clopyralid.

'Tall and Tough' is at the US Arboretum near Chinese pavilion. They all got damaged after last two winters. Probably will grow back though as they are in a great microclimate.

I see my 'Scepter' is blooming right now. And my Ilex 'Blue Baron' is just starting to bloom. So that should be a good pollinator for it. As long as they overlap in their bloomtime a bit. Wish they were in closer proximity though.

Another great little male plant is I. 'Gold Coast' - it's an aquifolium cultivar and stays smaller. However, mine is not blooming yet. Perhaps if it were in a warmer microclimate, it could be coaxed into an earlier bloom.

That's interesting, my 'Ajax' which probably blooms at a similar time is nowhere near blooming though I do see the buds.
It points out what I've said before about how delayed my springs are, especially in a cold year. Camellias are just peaking now, which is the latest they've ever been. The upper bay and river are still only 52F. The lower parts of the bay are already near 60F. You might think because there is so much more and deeper water down there, it would warm up more slowly, but it doesn't work that way.

Only about half my hollies are blooming right now.

Interestingly Camellia 'Tama Americana' bloomed somewhat this year. Flowers were distorted and foliage looks like crap.

I talked to the Holly Society guys and bought an ilex Edward Stevens, a hybrid of aquifolium and cornuta. Wish I'd bought another Russian Blue boxwood.

FWIW I saw the 50 year old Ilex 'Scepter' at McLean yesterday. It was not injured, but it must be pointed out it is completely surrounded by other hollies on its immediate flanks, so surely saw no winter sun, _and_ then protected by wind from several other layers of shrubbery and windbreaks, like the big yew to the NW of it. But seeing it vs. similar hybrids at Rutgers (of Ilex integra) does suggest that Ilex integra hybrids are not particularly tender, once they become mature landscape specimens. The I. integra X I. aquifolium at Rutgers was only slightly burnt compared to, say, the Ilex chinensis OP I posted a picture of.

There is a large 'Scepter' at GreenSpring Gardens near Annandale, VA where I live. Maybe 1 to 2 degrees warmer than me. LOL! But it's on the North side of the main building. No damage at all. It's a very mature tree about 20 feet tall maybe? It is in a lot of shade but does get northwest winds.

I think establishment is the key.

I have lots of male Ilex 'Oakleaf's blooming now. I wonder if those are good pollinators as well. (I thought Oakleaf was supposed to be female, but flower structure sure says 'male'.)

That's a thought-- maybe I have a male. But I don't think so. One branch had berries a couple of years ago.

arquatus: I'm curious why you purchased an 'Edward Stevens'. I think it's a known pollinator of Nellie Stevens, however Nellie Stevens is easily pollinated by local opacas AND I think I've read that it can form berries even without pollination. Mine is just loaded every year.

Dave wrote There is a large 'Scepter' at Green Spring Gardens near Annandale, Va...... Since I've never seen 'Scepter' looks like I'm gonna have to make a trip. I can't think of a better time to go to Green Spring than next Saturday, May 16 for their Annual Garden Day event. Every county in the country should be so lucky to have such a beautiful public space. Pic shows a fraction of a previous Garden Day.

Green Spring Gardens Park

Wow, thanks for the picture. Maybe not quite as big but looks better than the one at McLean Nurseries.
The problem with pollination could be a paucity of non-native, earlier blooming male hollies. I have an 'Ajax' for all my non-opaca hollies and it bloomed really well this year, the fruit set on 'Hohman', 'James G Esson', etc. appears to be tremendous.
I officially declared my 'Scepter' dead and pulled it out. However it was clearly an issue with establishment, deer damage, and possibly soil not draining well enough. The plant was very spindly going into both cold winters and the 2nd finished it off. On a positive note my Ilex vomitoria is vigorously regrowing.

Funny observation about hollies. I'd noticed both in my own garden and at Rutgers that birds just don't eat Koehneanas like 'Hohman' (which is actually from a slightly different cross) 'Wirt L Wynn' and 'Ruby'. Out of curiosity I tasted a 'Hohman' berry. I was surprised, it wasn't super bitter seeming. There were no opaca berries left to compare because the birds ate them all long ago. Apparently some other factor is involved besides taste. (Yes, birds have very few taste buds but I suppose something bitter enough would still discourage them.)

Just reading through this thread, can we surmise the general order of bloom of male hollies is: aquifolium --- SE Asian species and various hybrids thereof --- southern US hybrids like Foster hollies --- opaca? That's what I think I'm observing in my own garden, but without taking notes it all becomes kind of blur as I'm paying attention to so many other more pressing things. (I keep telling myself to spend less time here, I'm sure some people with be relieved LOL) I just found an article suggesting I. aquifolium blooms at roughly the same time as I. opaca, but that's from a southern publication and perhaps southern Ilex opaca tend to bloom earlier than native MD ones.

First of all Sam, great photos of the Scepter. Isn't it a great looking holly? Very similar look to Ilex x 'Virginia.'

David: Some ought to (probably have) done a chart of blooming times for the hollies. I know my mystery holly (probably Ilex x attenuata something-or-other) has not bloomed yet. Others are way done.

But this looks like it's going to be a very berriferous (is that a word?) year for many of the hollies: Lassie, Mary Nell, x wandoensis, koehneanas, latifolia x cornuta, Nellie Stevens are all absolutely loaded. Yes, our birds have a preference for certain ones: Mary Nell and later on, Nellie Stevens are favorites in my yard. They will clean them in 2-3 days. They do go after Koehneanas, but only when all the others are gone. Interesting. I've also noticed that Mary Nell berries ripen before koehneanas or Nellie Stevens.

Boy, what a handsome tree-- thanks for posting the photo. According to the Holly Society of America, A male ilex cornuta can serve as a pollinator for Scepter, and Edward Stevens is a hybrid of cornuta and aquifolium. It's just a rooted branch at this point, though it seems pretty happy. This year there were lots of berries on the Scepter but the vast majority shriveled and fell off. Is there another reason that might happen? Also, is holly pollination just about timing?

Btw, my Sunny Foster has only just started blooming. Chartreuse leaves look lovely with my neighbor's clematis, though slightly marred by chain link fence.

Hmm, the photo doesn't really capture this.

Here was my fringe tree last week.

This year there were lots of berries on the Scepter but the vast majority shriveled and fell off. Is there another reason that might happen?

I think the reason for berries falling off hollies, are 1) unestablished plants and 2) not properly pollinated - that is, there was not a compatible male around at the time the buds opened. But I'm only guessing. Well, there is another possibility, I suppose, and that's when there's a late frost and flowers freeze. Doesn't happen all that often...most often to the early bloomers.

Holly pollination is all about timing for the compatible varieties. However, a few hollies can only be pollinated by their own species -- I think of I. vomitoria and I. verticilata as two examples.

Other hollies don't seem to care and are receptive to many species, as long as the two are blooming at the same time. This is how hybrids are created. But you've never seen an Ilex vomitoria hybrid, have you?