© The Dabney Nursery
Plant: Nellie R. Steven - Holly
Holly · Ilex × 'Nellie R. Stevens'
Size: 1 gal
Light
Bloom
Mature size
More about this plant
Nellie R. Stevens is a fast growing hybrid of Ilex aquifolium and Ilex cornuta that makes a dense, erect, pyramidal evergreen 15 to 30 feet tall and 8 to 25 feet wide. Glossy deep green leathery leaves 2 to 4 inches long carry a few marginal spines, and abundant bright red berries about a third of an inch across follow in fall and winter for the birds. It grows in full sun to partial shade in acid soil with good drainage and tolerates deer, drought, heat, pollution and salt, which makes it one of the most dependable screens and tall hedges for the region.
- Full Sun
- Grows to 30 ft tall and 25 ft wide
- Blooms in spring
- Hardy in USDA zones 6-9
- Evergreen foliage
Plant description
Nellie R. Stevens is a fast growing hybrid of Ilex aquifolium and Ilex cornuta that makes a dense, erect, pyramidal evergreen 15 to 30 feet tall and 8 to 25 feet wide. Glossy deep green leathery leaves 2 to 4 inches long carry a few marginal spines, and abundant bright red berries about a third of an inch across follow in fall and winter for the birds. It grows in full sun to partial shade in acid soil with good drainage and tolerates deer, drought, heat, pollution and salt, which makes it one of the most dependable screens and tall hedges for the region.
- Flowers
- Small, greenish-white and inconspicuous flowers in spring.
- Foliage
- Glossy deep green leathery leaves measuring 2 to 4 inches long with a few marginal spines.
- Fruit
- Abundant, bright red, globose berries about one third of an inch across, held in fall and winter.
- Native range
- Cultivated by Nellie R. Stevens of Oxford, Maryland in the 1900s; a hybrid of Ilex aquifolium and Ilex cornuta
