FROM THE GARDEN : Hollies are plants of legend, medical lore and landscaping
Posted on Sunday, December 18, 2005
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/Living/35586/
Many of our December
decorating traditions
predate Christmas by several hundred years. Roman families, during their midwinter Saturnalia celebration, adorned their homes with holly and gave it as a gift to symbolize good luck, prosperity and friendship and to honor their departed loved ones. They decorated their homes and temples with holly boughs and wreaths. Roman explorers brought their traditions to England, Ireland and Wales where they became part of the local celebrations. Druids wore sprigs of holly because they believed it to have magical powers because it remained green throughout the year. In Islam, holly is a symbol of good luck. In Celtic and Nordic traditions, holly symbolized eternal life and was used to ward off evil spirits. In the United Kingdom, holly was planted to protect homes from thunder and lightning and to keep goblins away from children. Early Christian legends also include the holly tree. It is said to have been the tree of Christ’s cross. The legend says that all of the other trees in the forest refused to be used by splintering into pieces at the touch of an ax. Only the holly remained whole, allowing itself to be formed into the cross. In Germany, holly is called "Christdorn" in memory of the crown of thorns. According to one legend, the holly’s branches were woven into a circle and placed on Jesus’ head by the mocking soldiers. The legend also says that the holly’s berries were orignally white, but Jesus’ blood left them with a permanent crimson stain. Another legend about holly berries tells of an orphan boy who was living with the shepherds when the angels announced the birth of Jesus. Having no gift for the baby, the boy wove a circlet of holly branches, but when he laid it before the baby Jesus, he was ashamed and began to cry. The baby touched the crown, and miraculously its leaves began to sparkle and the orphan boy’s tears turned into scarlet berries.
The holly tree is also credited with saving the Holy Family as they fled from Herod’s soldiers. The holly miraculously grew green leaves out of season to hide them from the searching army. As a token of Christ’s gratitude, the holly has remained evergreen to this day.
Holly has had many medicinal uses over the centuries. American Indians used yaupon holly to make a hallucinogenic ceremonial beverage used for purification. In Europe, holly potions treated colic, fever, rheumatism, coughs, smallpox, worms and gout.
The word holly brings to mind a pyramidal tree with shiny spine-bearing leaves and red berries in winter. That picture is true of some plants, but with several hundred cultivars, hollies are much more diverse than that. Some are deciduous, and others are spineless. They range in size from a half-foottall spreading form to an American holly tree that can reach 100 feet. Berry colors include black, orange, yellow and the traditional red.
Hollies are dioecious, meaning that they produce either male or female flowers on separate plants. Only female plants produce colorful berries, but male plants need to be present for berries to form abundantly, usually about one male to every five females. A few hollies develop berries without fertilization by a phenomenon called parthenocarpy.
Berry crops attract birds and other wildlife to the garden. One of my best winter memories is of our standard yaupon holly with every branch bedecked by colorful cedar waxwings stuffing themselves with berries.
Versatility is the mainstay of hollies. There is a cultivar for almost every landscape application: single specimens, foundation plantings, privacy screens, hedges and native plant gardening.
For use as large specimen trees, American holly (I. opaca) hybrids such as red-fruited ‘Old Heavy Berry’ and yellow-fruited ‘Boyce Thompson Xanthocarpa’ are excellent for heavy berry production and form. ‘Nellie R. Stevens’ (I. aquifolia x cornuta), at 20 to 30 feet, and Burford holly (I. cornuta burfordii), growing 15 to 25 feet, make lovely smaller specimen tree hollies.
Deciduous hollies can also play a role as stand-alone plants in the landscape. Even though they are smaller, they are often more cold-tolerant than some evergreen cultivars. North American natives Possumhaw (Ilex decidua), Winterberry (I. verticillata) and Japanese Winterberry (I. serrata) are three species that may be used in a variety of settings. They all produce heavy berry crops and are brilliantly striking in the winter landscape.
Foundation plantings can make use of dwarf yaupon (I. vomitoria) and the "blue" hollies (I. x meserveae) Blue Maid and Blue Princess. The blue hollies are very cold-hardy and disease-resistant.
Evergreen hollies are perfect for privacy screens and as hedges in the garden. Dragon Lady (I. x aquipernyi), a very spiny cultivar, makes an impenetrable screen and will work in most gardens. It reaches 15 feet at maturity and needs only occasional trimming. ‘Densa’ and ‘Shamrock’, I. glabra cultivars, reach 10 feet and 5 feet, respectively. ‘ Convexa’ and ‘ Green Lustre’, I. crenata, are good choices for shorter hedges. They have small, spineless leaves and are excellent for shearing.
May your holly boughs and wreaths take on greater meaning for you this season: friendship, good health and warm memories of departed loved ones. Merry Christmas.
Lynn Rogers is a former biology and Spanish teacher who has a passion for traveling, singing and gardening. She is a Master Gardener and enjoys helping people with their garden problems.