What kind of hollies?

if you have named cultivars .... then the odds of getting the same plant from seeds... is PROBABLY low ....

and to figure that out.. what rhiz said ...

with named cultivars ... the reason they cost so much ... is that its just not simply a matter of seed growing ... they are probably rooted ...

so if you want to duplicate what you have ... then you learn about rooting pieces ...

but if all you want to do.. is mess around with growing seed.. go for it ....

ken

Since "hollies" covers a lot of territory - Ilex is a pretty big genus - I can't speak for the entire family but it is certainly possible to grow various species from seed. Baby English hollies, Ilex aquifolium, can be readily found in gardens and natural areas in my area, planted courtesy of birds and other wildlife. In fact holly seedlings are so plentiful, English holly is being monitored as a possible invasive species in the PNW.

I have china boy/girl holly that is bearing fruit. I have access to some unknown variety berries as well. I was just curious if it would work. i'll give it a whirl. I do not care if new bushes bear berries. I'm interested in the evergreen aspect & early blooms as a resource for my bees.

In that case, Rober, plant away!

I have a named female variety of variegated English Holly, Illex aquifolium, that gives me green leaved seedlings all over the place. Just enough to be mildly bothersome. Gardengal, I can see where it could become invasive here.

Mike

Hollies can definitely be raised from the seed from within the berries. FW Shumacher Seed Co sells seed of 8 species of Ilex. Some seedlings will be male, some female. Now my question for the OP, will your bees be more interested in the male or female flowers?

as long as there is pollen&/or nectar I doubt they would care. plants need to attract pollinators to both sexes for their own purposes so again, I doubt whether the girls would have a preference.

Hollies can be slow, slow from seed. But hybridizers do it all the time.

I think many require stratification for 4 months or so. Are you planning on sowing in the ground or in pots? It might help if you can run your seed through a bird first! LOL!

i tell you one thing .... presuming your hobby isnt growing your own garden from seed ... like poaky ...

you will come to understand.. why prices are so high.. for instant gratification ...

i have pine and spruce seeding around the yard .. maybe one inch the first year ... it explodes and grows to 3 inches the second .... and maybe up to 6 the 3rd year ... [all this free range in sand with no care at all] ....

so when i buy 2 or 3 year old pines for a buck each ... that are a foot or so tall ... i really come to realize .... how slow seedlings grow ...

regardless.. do it.. have fun.. learn... whats to lose ...

just dont expect that they will be look alikes to what the seed came from ... maybe.. maybe not...

ken

There are a row of trees where i live at and under a few of the trees are newly (in the last few months) germinated holly plants. Tons of little holly leaves directly under the trees. I guess the birds left droppings.....

I can see where it could become invasive here

English holly is a pervasive garden and forest weed in this region, regularly encountered in significant numbers - it should have been taken off the market a long time ago. According to A. L. Jacobson, North American Landscape Trees (1996, Ten Speed, Berkeley) it was being grown in the Pacific Northwest by 1869 - so it has had at least 146 years to establish and spread.

See under For more information on this page:

http://www.nwcb.wa.gov/detail.asp?weed=152

Yikes, it was actively promoted...with a vengeance!

Seedlings here are concentrated under the tall Pseudotsuga menzieiis. I routinely pull them up before they get big.

Mike

The USDA experiment station near Portland used to have a holly cultivar trial plot - and perhaps still does. Otherwise there are still holly orchards around, both active and abandoned, on top of all the very many home plantings of the tree, all generating seedlings every year - it wouldn't surprise me if the weed board never gives it a weed designation, as it is already so prevalent.