Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Burford Holly


Burford's holly
(Ilex cornuta 'Burfordii') I widely used a s a landscape plant. It lends itself to trimming into shapes which is what most people do to give their front yards a more formal look. This is unfortunate because they trim after blooming which are tiny innocuous scattered clusters. The berries will form without pollination. Though most people like the hedges, I like the fruit and let my one plant grow wild near a pasture gate. It has long lasting red berries It tolerates abject neglect in nearly full son. In the winter the leaves are quite dark and the berries also a deep red.

Though their are hollies native to North Florida, currently I am not growing any. I am trying to switch to more and more native plants. Burford is from Asia. There are a number of hybrids so that their are now dwarf varieties and variegated leaf varieties of several types though all have the distinctive 8mm dark berries. Though birds love the berries, for whatever reason, like the pyracantha these are not considered 'invasive.'

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