Holly, the bright red berries on vibrant greenery that one may use to decorate with during the holidays. This is mainly what we might think of when the name “holly” is mentioned. In 1955, The Arboretum had the privilege to work with Everett Albyn, of Albyn’s Nurseries in Newark, to make our grounds an official test site for the Holly Society of America. Five acres was given to Albyn where he and Arboretum superintendent, Everett Sanford, made the selections of hollies and planned on transplanting new varieties from Albyn’s nursery.
In 1956, twelve varieties of holly were planted on grounds with plans for a field of holly plants. Formal plans for Holly Hill were designed in 1957 by Albyn and superintendent Sanford, including the road plans and plant key. Eight different varieties of hollies were featured including Old Heavyberry and Cardinal. The collection was expanded with a new layout in 1967, designed by landscape architect Brooks Wigginton. This new design had 103 individual holly plants interspersed amongst pines and flowering trees.
Through out the years, we have continued to research hollies. The most recent holly that we were given to test was Ilex opaca 'Boiler Boy' (Boiler Boy American holly). This type of holly species is located in our nursery while research is being conducted. Boiler Boy is a male selection of our native American holly from Jim Resch of Bear, Delaware. It was selected for its vigorous, narrowly conical growth habit and elongated, somewhat glossy leaves.
The holly cultivar we have the most of is Ilex verticillata 'Red Sprite' (Red Sprite common winterberry). This winterberry is a female, deciduous, which means the shedding of leaves annually, and is a multiple-stem shrub that only grows about 3' tall and 5' wide. Plenty of bright red fruit is produced when in the presence of a suitable male pollinator. Fruit display lasts from early fall into early winter and foliage is medium green in summer with fall color a greenish yellow.
Currently, we have 718 individual plants or groupings of plants in 480 accessions within the holly collection containing 376 different varieties. Plan a visit to check out our amazing collection of ruby red berries as far as the eye can see!