Georama Growers San Jose Holly – Georama Growers Plant of the Week
Common Name: San Jose Holly
Botanical Name: Ilex x aquipernyi ‘San Jose’
Known for its abundant, beautiful red berries and glossy evergreen leaves, San Jose holly is a hybrid whose ancestry includes English Holly (Ilex aquifolium). San Jose Holly, unlike its rather invasive English cousin, has sterile berries, so is a much better choice for our landscape! It is a large evergreen shrub that provides year round interest with its handsome foliage and showy fall and winter fruit. Narrow and conical in habit, it has shiny, rich green, diamond shaped leaves, with small yellowish female flowers that appear in the spring. It will need pollen from a male variety to then produce the lustrous red berries that we associate with winter and of course the Christmas season. It grows equally well in sun or part shade; make sure the soil is well drained, fertile and slightly acidic. Many other cultivars are available such as: San Gabriel Holly, Japanese Ink Berry as well as some beautiful cream or gold variegated forms. Be careful to keep the berries out of reach of pets and children, birds will feed on them after the first frosts of the season and will provide them with a good source of winter food.
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