Ilex Verticillata bloom question.

5 months ago

I noticed this last year but thought it might be because the plants were newer seedlings from the spring before.

The Male blooms appear to start earlier than the Female plants.

I'm supposed to have the right male/female plant combination with 'Southern Gentleman' and 'Winter Red'.

Below are pictures of the M/F plants taken today. They appear to be at least a week apart as far as flowers are concerned.

Female (Winter Red):

Male (Southern Gentleman):

Is this going to be a problem where pollination is concerned? Or does this happen naturally?

I didn't get any berries last season but expected that bc documentation told me not to expect any the first year.

TIA

bill

Featured Answer

BillMN-z-2-3-4
Original Author

2 months ago

9-11-2023:

The story behind these, I bought 1 male and 4 female plants from Reeseville Ridge Nursery in 2021. I planted them but they were very slow breaking bud and 3 of the females died.

Darrell at RRN knew some of that batch failed and replaced them.

2022, the male and female that survived each had a few flowers, but none pollinated on the female.

2023, Second year for the new seedlings, so I never expected any berries but figured the larger plant from 2021 might have a few.

Turns out, all three of the females flowered profusely and pollinated well.

///////

And as an aside:

As most of you know, I started with a clean slate (read bare, open yard from both north and southerly directions) 11 years ago. I've been working all long to populate this yard and make it nicer to live here.

I wanted these to add a hedge of sorts and was delighted to learn that Ilex genus could be grown here.

I've added a shed near the opening between the houses, which helps baffle the wind some and some spruce trees out front. Even my neighbor across the street planted a few balsam firs to help. It's a process but anything I can do along these lines helps and it's been fun figuring all this out. :-)

Below looking NW: The opening between the houses is my 'Wind tunnel' and the only place I have access to the back yard with a vehicle, so I can't close it up completely. ;-)

Ilex verticillata (bottom center), slowly filling the 10ft. long bed.

It's a plant that gets quite tall and brushy and should add some 'Winter interest' and we do have Cedar waxwings and we see them occasionally during the wintertime.

Other direction: Looking SSW. More trees I planted earlier in my years here.

SSE: (looks further to the back in the picture than in real life, <100 ft.?).

ESE:

Yes, it's been improving noticeably. More shade in early morning and late afternoon. More natural beauty as the plants grow. In another 10 years, I can give you a progress report.

;-)

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