Most of the winterberry hollies here in Raleigh, NC still have loads of berries. I think the birds will descend on them as soon as they are sufficently ripe, which may not be until later in the winter. I have noticed the same thing with acorns. The bluejays wait until they are soft, then show up in numbers. I, on the other hand, have zero berries on my Red Sprites. They were at our mountain house and the deer ate every leaf of both the Red Sprites and the Jim Dandy last summer. I transplanted them in October to our Raleigh house, which, so far, has no deer. (The deer are in the neighborhood, but don't yet come as far as our street.) Hoping for berries next year!

On your Virburnum trilobum- if you don't see flowers, you won't see berries. ;-) Give it time. Good chance other trilobums are around to pollinate. Auburn University says this about Ilex pollination: "...pollination and berry set would usually occur with males and females separated up to 1/8 mile (660 feet), while 1 mile would be problematical, and 3 miles would be very unusual but possible..." tj

i cant reply to GWeb emails .... if you dont allow emails on your members page ... trees/conifers/shrubs.. in pots.. need fert.. because watering flushes out the good stuff in the media ... i just dont see where any of the named plants NEED anything from you.. but water.. to get over the fact you transplanted them ... are you suggesting.. your county is barren of native plants.. for lack of feeding.. your county soil so sterile.. that nothing you plant will survive without you juicing them??? listen.. i am a cheap SOB... i am leery.. of anything the guy sells, who recommends it ... its nonsense.. that plants are like children..and need to be fed .. that said.. a little of this or that wont hurt anything.. they just dont NEED it ... also.. if planting under aggressive trees.. such as maples.. when you dig a hole.. you sever maple roots.. and they will grow new feeder roots into your plant.. more so.. if you put plant food there.. and if your plant fails.. its usually from the maple sucking the life/water out of the soil ... in other words.. you fed the tree.. not your plant ... transplant are stressed.. from the transplant.. water helps them grow the roots .. to get over it.. feeding them does NOT help them get over it ... do whatever you want... but do it for the right reason ... rather than some gut feeling.. that you need to feed your children.. plants are not children ... ken

Look at the cultivar section towards the bottom of the page I've linked to. They mention some cultivars that Apollo will fertilize. Here is a link that might be useful: UConn Plant DB page on Ilex verticillata