Plant: Warren's Red - Holly
Holly · Ilex decidua 'Warren's Red'
Size: 3 gal
Light
Bloom
Mature size
More about this plant
Warren's Red is an old cultivar of possumhaw, a deciduous native holly, with an upright habit to about 20 feet and a heavy berry set on a female plant. Glossy dark green crenate leaves turn dull purplish green to yellow in fall and drop, leaving orange red berries that ripen in September and hold on the bare branches until new growth begins in mid March. It grows in full sun to partial shade on a wide range of soils, tolerates flooding, and works as an accent, an informal hedge or a mass planting for winter colour. A male pollinator must be planted nearby for fruit.
- Full Sun
- Grows to 20 ft tall and 12 ft wide
- Blooms in spring
- Hardy in USDA zones 5-9
- Deciduous foliage
- Native plant
Plant description
Warren's Red is an old cultivar of possumhaw, a deciduous native holly, with an upright habit to about 20 feet and a heavy berry set on a female plant. Glossy dark green crenate leaves turn dull purplish green to yellow in fall and drop, leaving orange red berries that ripen in September and hold on the bare branches until new growth begins in mid March. It grows in full sun to partial shade on a wide range of soils, tolerates flooding, and works as an accent, an informal hedge or a mass planting for winter colour. A male pollinator must be planted nearby for fruit.
- Flowers
- The whitish spring flowers of both male and female possumhaw are relatively inconspicuous, opening April to May.
- Fruit
- Pollinated female flowers give way to orange red berries which ripen in September and persist throughout the winter until mid March when new growth begins.
- Pruning
- Prune to shape in early spring just before new growth begins.
- Native range
- Northwestern Mexico; TX through KS northeast to IL east to MD and south to FL
