by Janette Peel

Created on: July 11, 2009

Glossy leaves and bright red winter berries make holly an all-season favorite.

The English holly (Ilex aquifolium) is the quintessential winter holiday holly with glossy, wavy-edged leaves and sprays of bright red berries.

Growing to heights of 10 meters, English holly maintains a conical shape most of its life, rounding out at the top when reaching full maturity. Small, white, fragrant flowers emerge for a brief two-week period in late spring followed by clusters of 6mm red berries on the previous year's growth.

Not all English hollies have spiny-edged leaves of solid green. 'Scotia', for instance, bears spineless leaves. The group 'Argentea marginata' includes a number of silver-edged leaf varieties, including 'Queen Silver' and 'Silvery'. 'Golden Milkmaid' bears oval leaves in bright green highlighted with bright yellow centers.

The dense foliage that clothes the holly tree from top to ground makes it the ideal choice for many garden settings; however, it should not be planted in gardens close to bush land, where it can become a weedy pest.

Hollies are natural choices for hedge and screen plantings. The dense and compact growth habit of 'Elegantissima' and 'Golden King' work especially well as hedge plantings.

As a focal point tree or large shrub, holly's symmetrical growth and polished appearance are guaranteed to draw attention in the garden. 'Pendula' is an excellent choice for a single planting of holly.

Holly's foliage makes a handsome backdrop to the varied forms and colors of many flowering annuals and perennials, as well as countless different types of tall bulbs.

Bright berries and crisp, neat foliage make hollies perfect for a landscape that provides interest all year round.

In a mixed bed planting, use the glossy, dark green foliage of 'Atlas' as an exclamation point among red flowering perennials, such as lobelia and bergamot.

In winter, the berries of holly carry on the display of color. The varieties 'Pyramidalis' and 'Flavescens' both bear heavy crops of berries.

For a dazzling display of color all winter long, plant the dark green holly 'Ferox' next to deciduous shrubs with bright red bark, such as the Arbutus and Red Bark Dogwoods.

For a different setting with an interesting blend of colors and textures, try a planting of hollies with a variety of conifers that feature different foliage colors and forms, such as the pale green pencil pine, the blue cypress 'Allumii' and the fir 'Golden

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