I don't have experience with either one! But, of course with Needlepoint (cornuta) you'll have spines to contend with. My guess is it will likely grow up quicker and higher (maybe that's why they're cheaper?) and may need a bit of pruning. But you can get red berries. It would be similar to a Burford holly, which are pretty cheap around here. Chesapeake is a crenata holly, and you'll only get black berries, so it's not as colorful. But there are no spines on the leaves. It will take a while for them to get established and sizeable, I would imagine, unless you are starting out with very large ones. How tall does your screen need to be eventually? Would you be willing to do some pruning among the spines? Also, if your site is sunny, you will get denser foliage.

Lavender_lass, I needlepoint. Not so much in the past couple of years, but still have many WIPs. There is a book called The Secrets of Needlepoint by Dominique Siegler-Lathrop, see if your library has it, or if they can ILL it for you. If you are serious about needlepointing your cushions, use her method. As mentioned above, half-cross is not what you want to use. Use basketweave. The trick to it is to make sure you 'read' the canvas correctly, and then it will not distort. You were on to something with what you mentioned in your followup, but it's important to place it correctly on the mesh. It has a 'downhill' and an 'uphill'. Don't use plastic, use good Zweigart canvas. It's not that expensive for the size you need. Basketweave stitch does take more yarn, and takes more time, but you will be much, much happier in the end, and down the road. For me, If I just wanted some needlepointed cushions, I could buy them, you know? If you are in this for the experience and meditative action of stitching (which it can be!), and the memories of your grandmother, the journey is just as important. But I'm a perfectionist, too, who also has really long winters, so...... There are other good books too, but I would start with Dominique's. Also, "The Needlepoint Book" is a classic reference that shows many other decorative stitches that could be used for the flowers, but don't get too crazy, as they can get snagged when used for cushions or stools. If you decide to proceed, let me know, i can get you links to good online resources as well.

There are dwarf cultivars of the American, but I know zero about them. I do know the Nelly can grow 3-5 feet per year and saw some absolutely gigantic ones in town. I had even found an Edward male for her....hard to come by. I checked around here a few times for American holly and all folks could do is either get something called green leaf (I think that was it) or recommend Savannah instead. I sure could just move the hollies I already have, but thinking they will just be too darn big and limit the diversity I can have due to them taking up so much room. I was hoping to use the 3 Brodies in a grouping, since they'd make for some great cover, host the juniper hairstreak and, among others, attract cedar waxwings.

Sorry, he could have been, but it was so long ago I did this research I can't remember now. The part about being a community college professor is all I remember. I did find my email from Andrew Bunting in 2010: The Sequoia sempervirens we have on campus which does sometimes parade under the name of "Swarthmore Hardy" is from a plant we got from the Coker Arboretum in 1994 (i.e., the North Carolina/Venable tree, also marketed by Camellia Forest as 'Chapel Hill'.). We don't having any other old plants on campus. We do have a plant of Sequoia sempervirens that is about 30' feet tall that we got from the Barnes Arboretum in 1980. So I guess he means the larger S.s. on the Swarthmore campus, is the North Carolina/Coker/Venable tree. I can't say for sure because in spite a couple visits to the campus, I never noticed either one! As I said though, having owned clones of both for a few years now, they sure do look identical, so it corroborates Bunting's account. Now would be the time for someone to propagate the Barnes/U Washington clone! Sadly it isn't always easy. In 2016 I sent Cam Forest S.s. cuttings I collected at some elevation in the coast ranges after driving around for a day looking for one I thought would be in a 'cold spot'. It was a frost hollow at 1400'. Alas, the attempt to root them failed.