Dwarf Yaupon Holly
Location
Butterfly Garden
- Common Name: Dwarf Yaupon Holly “Schillings’
- Scientific Name: Ilex vomitoria ‘Schilling’s Dwarf’
- Family Name: Aquifoliaceae
- Origin: Native to Florida and Southeastern North America
- Height: 4’ – 7’
- Width: 4’ – 6’
- Growth: Slow growing, once matured it is usually maintained around 3’ but if left natural it will grow taller.
- Light Needs: Full – partial sun (happiest in full sun)
- Salt Tolerance: Highly salt tolerant making it perfect for seaside plantings.
- Soil/PH/Texture: Can tolerate extended flooding, soils that are sandy, loamy, or clay. pH is acidic – slightly alkaline (5.6 – 7.8)
- Soil Moisture: Soils from dry to wet.
- Drought Tolerance: High in drought and humidity tolerance.
- Pests/Diseases: No pests or diseases of major concern.
- Growing Conditions: Easy maintenance and it can grow naturally without irrigation on the dunes along the Atlantic Ocean. It can be trimmed formally into a ball (which is also its natural shape) or left to grow naturally in a more casual setting. If trimmed, avoid boxy, straight up cuts because it prevents light from getting through, and the stems will become bare at the base. Over trimming cause bare spots as well.
- Characteristics: This holly shrub is grown more for its foliage of leaves that are simple, gray-green (with a hint of red in the new growth), less than 2” in length, arranged alternately, with an ovate sheet, serrated margin with pinnate venation. The flowers are not showy, tiny, white and appear in the springtime. It is a holly plant that produces no berries and no spines on its leaves.
- Propagation: By softwood or semi-hardwood cuttings.
- Wildlife: Attracts bees, butterflies, and birds.
- Facts: It is a holly plant that produces no berries and no spines on its leaves. If you want berries you need to plant a female cultivar and a male variety nearby because the dwarf yaupon holly is a dioecious plant, meaning it is either female or male. Yaupon holly have been known to reach ages of 30, 50 and even 75 years (unless grown in a pot)!
- Designer Considerations: Bonsai, foundation, mass planting, container or above-ground planter, superior hedge, under low windows, along a walk or driveway, surrounding a palm or tall specimen or even in a container for your patio. If you plant mass plantings in a row as a hedge, be sure to place them 3 feet or more apart from each other or from a pavement edge.