American Holly (Ilex opaca)
“Deck the halls with boughs of Ilex opaca,” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.
The melody comes from an old Welsh drinking song. The line “Don we now our gay apparel” was originally “Fill the mead cup, drain the barrel.” Now (sadly) it is a different type of drainage that concerns us. The magnificent American holly tree tolerates deer, crummy soil, air pollution and bad singing, but it will not tolerate poor drainage.
Other than that, it is easily grown in full sun to part shade. You will need at least two trees in order to have berries as the trees are male and female. So, it works best as a grove or hedge. It is especially good as a hedge. Those thorny toothed leaves will tear to shreds anyone who tries to get through. Hollies provide striking winter color, pretty little greenish white spring flowers, long-lasting cuttings and food and shelter for the birds. Everyone is familiar with the dark green leaves and bright red berries, but beware! While fine for birds, the berries are poisonous for humans.
Throughout the ages, people have valued holly. The Druids believed that hanging branches of it in your hut would ward off lightning strikes. The Romans decked the dear old atrium with holly for the feast of Saturnalia. The Celtic peoples of ancient Gaul wore wreaths and sprigs (must have been terribly uncomfortable) to sacred rites and festivals. The sight of it growing profusely along the coast brightened the Pilgrims’ arrival. It was very popular in early American gardens and now we use it to decorate our homes for Christmas.
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