I'm not getting it FROM Arbor Day the organization, I'm getting it for the holiday. About 3 foot tall potted grown from seed, a female. No , there aren't any wild opaca in the neighborhood. (Which is almost odd...there is a park to the North which has a bunch). Locals seem to plant the meserve/blue hollies in their yards.

All the spots I want them for are pretty harsh. I think I'm at the northern edge of their effective range (although on paper they should survive well north) and it's a windy area. (The ones beneath the Norway Spruce have root competition and the ones in the mixed border would deal with more wind).

I finally found a good local source. Goal is to put in a couple for winter interest and if they do well buy 4 more next year to as a back-up to pines as a privacy screen

I've tried small bare root America Holly before but it always died.

Sorry, I read too quickly! If you are at northern edge of their hardiness range, then some shelter from winds would be advised. I thought there were native even up into Mass.

Technically they are native to Massachusetts and I've seen a couple parks near the coast where they grow. On paper they are good up to zone 5, and this spot is zone 6*...closer to zone 7 then zone 5, so there shouldn't be a problem...but I never see them in New England north of Massachisetts, or inland in Massachusetts.

As I said, the meserve hollies (which are more cold hardy) thrive, and the English holly (which are less) limp along here.

*(Autocorrect tried to turn that into "zombies 6")

edlincoln - did the seedling already flower and/or produce berries? Just curious as to how you already know the 3 foot seedling to be female. As far as siting, I would personally go with the less windy location. It won't be as dense if partially shaded by the Norway spruce, but may survive better and look nicer with the wind protection. Being an understory plant/tree in their native haunts, I'd assume they do OK with some root competition.

There is a large/mature American holly just down the road from me here in the Buffalo, NY area. I keep meaning to go ask the property owner permission to check it out in person rather than drive by viewing . . . and potentially ask to take cuttings. I don't know if it is male or female yet. I don't see berries from the street, but it might not have any pollinators nearby either. I am in zone 6a, close to the edge of 5b. With proper cultivar selection, they can be reliably hardy here. I have four cutting grown 3 foot plants of my own that have been in the ground going on two years now - no winter damage since establishment, and I know they've seen at least -13F/-25C. They're selected cultivars known to have good cold hardiness - from Holly Ridge Nursery in Ohio.

No berries. The people who sold it said it was female. They supposedly had tagged the males.

Makes sense. I had no clue how young they start flowering!