‘Berri-Magic’

Experienced gardeners know that the change of seasons brings on new and exciting finds. Gardening is much more than the unfolding yellow flowers of forsythia in the spring and the intense red color of burning bush in the fall. Winter is equally as exciting showing us color and texture that we have been waiting for all year. The silence of a white, snowy day helps outline and showcase many of our existing plant materials. Winter gives us a chance to look at the skeletal patterns of our deciduous friends as well as take note of some prominent features associated with their evergreen counterparts. One particular feature that is shared with some deciduous and evergreen plant material is the explosion of colorful fruit that starts in the fall and holds throughout the winter months.

Ilex, the botanical name for holly, is jam-packed with candidates offering buckets of fruit in the winter. Hollies can be either evergreen or deciduous and adapt well to a number of site locations. Ilex verticillata, Winterberry holly, is a deciduous type that has female cultivars that just grab our attention and won’t let go. Valued for its superior fruit production, Ilex x ‘Sparkleberry’ is a multi-stemmed holly with exceptional bright red berries lasting through the winter months. Tolerant to wet sites and clay soils, it prefers to be in full sun to part shade. Commonly, Winterberry attains heights of five to ten feet in residential landscapes. Truly a stunning shrub when mass planted. Other candidates to be on the look out for are ‘Afterglow’, ‘Harvest Red’, ‘Winter Red’, and ‘Winter Gold’. With fruit ripening in shades from orange to bright red it’s hard to pick just one. Remember though, you will need a male pollinator to get these beautiful berries. Consider ‘Jim Dandy’ to be that pollinator as it has good deep green leaves throughout the spring and summer. Ilex verticillata is also not prone to many serious diseases.

Sometimes confusing are the evergreen types of hollies. Ilex aquifolium (English Holly), Ilex cornuta (Chinese Holly), Ilex crenata (Japanese Holly), Ilex glabra (Inkberry Holly), Ilex opaca (American Holly) and the list goes on. Equally challenging to understand and keep track of are all the crosses between holly types. So why bother! Just remember that all of the previously mentioned have cultivars that will bear heavy fruit for you in the colder months. Ilex x Nellie Stevens is not an American Holly! Often, customers mistakenly ask for this as an American holly. While it is an excellent producer of red fruit and quick growing, it is in fact a hybrid between Chinese and English hollies. Another excellent evergreen type is Ilex opaca ‘Jersey Princess’. A true American type, ‘Jersey Princess’ is perhaps one of the finest fruiting cultivars out there. I may be slightly prejudiced as it is a Rutgers University offering, my alma mater. American hollies typically have a pyramidal crown shape, obtaining heights of twenty to fifty feet. With tolerances high to drought, clay and shade, American holly is a slower grower than other holly types, but it is a true zone 5 plant.

Arguably one of the finest smaller holly types on the market is Ilex x meservae ‘Berri- Magic’. The Meservae hybrids are a gift given to gardeners by Mrs. F. Leighton Meserve of St. James, NY. She crossed I. rugosa (Prostrate Holly) with I. aquifolium (English Holly). Berri-Magic, a marketing artifice by Monrovia Growers, has taken all the guess work out of deciphering the gender of hollies. Simply put, it is a male/female blue holly, a hermaphrodite of the botanical community. With lustrous, dark blue-green leaves and rich purple stems, Berri-Magic produces an abundance of red fruit on its own. Suitable for small and large gardens Berri-Magic guarantees pollination and fruit.

Hollies come in many flavors, small to large, deciduous to evergreen. Remember that most need a male pollinator to get those beautiful red, orange and yellow fruits. Forgiving of many adverse conditions, hollies have stood the test of time. Don’t forget to spray your evergreen types with an anti-desiccant for the winter.

False Holly Is a True Winner

One of the challenges of retail sales in a garden center is educating your customer’s understanding of sunlight, soil and moisture. Often the responses to these questions are ambiguous at best. “I get part sun, part of the day” is a response that is unclear to both parties. In most cases there has not been enough attention given to the location or placement of plants. Plant selections, at times, seem to be done by trial and error or in a capricious manner, rather than having a clear understanding of just how well a plant can do given the right environment. So when a plant comes along tolerant to many conditions, it’s no wonder that the industry and public embrace it so quickly.

Osmanthus heterophyllus ‘Goshiki’ (Japanese False Holly or Holly Tea Olive) is a plant brought to us by way of a plant expedition. Barry Yinger and Phil Normandy, two notable plantsmen, in the early 1980’s were associated with Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland. These two men are responsible for collecting ‘Goshiki’ in Asia and selflessly asked the help of Iseli Nursery in Boring, Oregon to help propagate it. After evaluating ‘Goshiki’ for almost a decade, Iseli Nursery introduced this cultivar of false holly to the commercial trade and the explosion and popularity of this garden gem began.

“Goshiki in Japanese means ‘five colored’ and refers to the various colors found on each leaf.” This broadleaf evergreen has a collage of smeared markings of green, pink, copper, yellow and white throughout most of the year. Extremely durable, ‘Goshiki’ was held back before being released for fear of temperature hardiness. Osmanthus is typically a zone 7 plant; however, ‘Goshiki’ is a proven 6, possibly 5. The colors of this holly tea olive appear in swirls creating an eye-catching display. Useful as a specimen, in mass plantings or for container gardening, it can reach heights of 3 to 5 feet comfortably. Over time, however, heights of 8 to 10 feet are obtainable. Iseli Nursery, the Conifer Mecca of the world, has a single specimen over 12 feet. Impervious to garden pests and diseases, ‘Goshiki’ has even stood well against deer in New Jersey. Drought tolerant once established, ‘Goshiki’ will want some protection from desiccating winds in the winter. Consider spraying Wilt Pruf, an anti desiccant, in the fall as you would any other broadleaf evergreen. And by the way, it will do well in either sun or shade.

Small white four-petaled blooms are hidden by the colorful foliage. From September thru November Osmanthus produces an intoxicating fragrance that has been aptly replicated by Henri Bendel. A modern, sophisticated shopping label in Manhattan, Henri Bendel has recently captured its fragrance and marketed it in the form of a candle. Notable for using botanical extracts Bendel has now given gardeners a chance to enjoy this unique plants fragrance year round.

Easily manipulated, ‘Goshiki’ creates an almost impenetrable colorful mound in any size garden. Its dense, compact growth habit reminds one of an armadillo’s body armor of bony plates. Often misidentified as Ilex (Holly), Osmanthus has leaves arranged in opposite pairs rather than alternate. It prefers well drained soil and is easily transplanted from containers. While ‘Goshiki’ seems to be the most readily available cultivar, be on the look out for Kembu, Sasaba, Akebono and Ogon. Most have leathery leaves with holly-like spines. And while some offer variegated margins their overall garden presence are different from their relative ‘Goshiki’. With all that has been said you could even use Osmanthus cuttings in your next holiday arrangement. Imagine the rainbow of colors you’ll have in December on your holiday table.