Master Gardener: Some hollies need male plant to make berries
BY BILL SEVIER Ask a Master Gardener
Saturday, January 12, 2013
1/12/13 at 6:59 AM
Q: I planted a Winterberry holly two
years ago, and it has not produced any
berries — but my neighbor’s Nellie
Stevens hollies do have berries. What is
my problem? Fran, Tulsa
A: There are hundreds of holly
species, both evergreen and deciduous,
and they are important
assets of our landscapes. The berry-
producing hollies are female,
and most varieties require a male
pollinator in order to produce
berries.
Winterberry hollies definitely
need both a male pollinator and
insects to carry the pollen, but
Nellie Stevens are parthenocarpic,
meaning they can produce
berries without pollination.
However, most parthenocarpic
plants, such as Nellie Stevens
hollies, will produce more berries
if pollen is available.
If there are no male hollies in
the area, Winterberry will not
have berries, and this may be the
problem in your case. It can be
solved by planting one of the several
male varieties, such as Southern
Gentleman. Your nursery staff
may have some recommendations
for other male plants.
There are other things to
consider when a berry-producing
holly variety is barren. An often
overlooked aspect of plants, especially
those raised from seed, is
their need to mature before they
can reproduce. This could be a
factor in your case: It simply may
still be in plant adolescence and
be too young to make berries.
Another consideration is that
of the extreme heat we had recently.
Winterberries need plenty
of water — their normal habitat
is low-lying, moist areas — and
with the heat and drought this
past summer, the plant may have
decided to put all its resources
into surviving rather than trying
to reproduce by making berries.
Consider planting a male
pollinator and bearing another
summer such as our last two, you
should have all bases covered.
Q: Can azaleas be transplanted now?
L.S., Tulsa
A: Winter is not a good time
to transplant an evergreen plant
such as azaleas. These plants have very superficial, netlike
roots, many of which
will be lost, which limits the
amount of water the plant
can absorb.
We generally have winds
and low humidity in the
winter that cause a significant
loss of water from
evergreen plants. This, coupled
with a damaged root
system from the transplanting
procedure, lessens the
azaleas’ chance of survival.
Wait to transplant any
evergreen plant until the
ground warms and hopefully
rains come in early
spring.
Original Print Headline: Some hollies need male plant to make berries
If you have a garden-related question
for the Master Gardeners to answer
in a column, call 918-746-3701.
Associated Images:
Many holly species need a male pollinator tree for the female trees to produceberries. BILL SEVIER/Courtesy
|
