This years mild winter has induced the Hollies to flower early. For the past two weeks the tiny flowers of Holly appeared, a few weeks earlier than normal. The evergreen privacy fence of Holly trees drops some of their leaves in the spring and it’s flower production, if pollinated by the bees, produces the berries. At first they are tiny green beads, then as they grow through the season eventually turning red in the fall. Many times the birds get the berries first before we see them. Jumping around the Holly branches, the birds grip with their feet which can easily break and knock off the new tiny green berries. When we see the clumps of red berries in the fall , they create a marvelous living fence.
Picture of tiny Nellie Stevens Holly flower and the first state of the Holly berry.
At Pryor’s Nursery we have 2 male blue prince hollies that can pollinate 4 acres of Nellie Stevens Holly. If there is a male within a quarter mile, your Hollies may receive pollination from the busy little bees. This is just another reason why we must keep the bee population from being endangered.
Living fence of Hollies with the bright red berries.
