The Garden Club August 17, 2007

Ilex verticillata, commonly known as Winterberry Holly, is one of Carroll Gardens' most popular shrubs. Native to moist soils in North America, Ilex verticillata is a deciduous shrub that loses its shiny, deep green leaves each winter, right after they turn orange and yellow (often tinged with purple). The female varieties, when pollinated by a male, produce gorgeous red fruits that will remain on the branches long after the leaves have fallen, well into winter (unless eaten by birds). This week we are featuring an Ilex verticillata with prodigious fruit set, improved berry retention and mildew resistance - 'Berry Nice.' This cultivar often loses its leaves earlier than other cultivars making for a better fruit display in autumn. The dark red berry display is so vivid that the original plant was selected by sight at a distance of a quarter of a mile.

'Berry Nice' is a multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub that will mature into a lovely rounded shape, 6-8 feet tall by 5-6 feet wide. This female variety produces dense clusters of large deep red berries. Like all winterberry hollies, the stems can also be cut and kept in a vase with no water for months.

For maximum fruit set, 'Berry Nice' needs a male Ilex verticillata nearby. We recommend 'Jim Dandy' because it blooms as the same time as 'Berry Nice.' One male is sufficient to pollinate 8 females.

Planting and Care
Ilex verticillata 'Berry Nice' will thrive in full sun, but will also tolerate partial shade. 'Berry Nice' prefers a slightly acid soil that is moist, but it does just fine in normally moist soil. Ilex verticillata will tolerate very wet, boggy soils. Pruning is rarely necessary, but should be done in early spring just before the new growth begins.

Prefers full sun to part shade in acid soil.
Plant at least 6 feet apart.
Water regularly until established.
Fertilize with Holly-tone in the early spring and late fall.
Hardy in Zones 3-9.

Both 'Berry Nice and 'Jim Dandy' are from two gallon pots, for a limited time save 15% as part of our summer clearance.

'Berry Nice'

'Jim Dandy'

Notes from Alan

- Just as deadheading of flowers encourages more bloom, frequent harvesting of many vegetables encourages additional production, especially if they are harvested when the vegetables are young, rather than fully mature.

- The hot humid weather without sufficient rain has encouraged a bumper crop of insects and fungal diseases. Be on the lookout especially for the insects: spider mites, lace bugs, aphids, mealy bugs and thrips; and for the diseases; powdery mildew, downy mildew and various basal rots. Deer are foraging for food much closer to residences than they normally do at this time of the year. Although I don't attribute it to climatic factors, bag worms are also very prevalent this year. Check your plants frequently and if necessary treat appropriately.

Garden Club Questions and Answers

Question: We have had some rain last week and now I see lots of young crabgrass sprouting. I used crabgrass preventer in the early spring so I didn't expect to see any crabgrass this year.

Answer: Crabgrass preventers lose their effectiveness after a while. Even the most effective of them, Dimension, losses its effectiveness after four months. Crabgrass preventers do not differentiate amongst various grasses; they kill all grass seeds as they germinate. If they did not lose their effectiveness, you could not reseed your lawn in late summer and have the grass seed germinate. In a normal season, all the crabgrass seed is killed as it germinates in the spring and early summer. Without rain, this year the crabgrass seed delayed germinating until the effectiveness of the crabgrass preventer had passed.

Question: We have a Kousa Ms. Satomi Dogwood tree that was planted June 2005, by a local landscape company. The tree is a beautiful tree in the center of one of our gardens in the front yard. Last year it bloomed in the spring. We feed it Holly-tone in March. We did not get a single bloom this year. The tree is very healthy and looks great except for not flowering. Do you have any suggestions that we can use for next year? We have an underground irrigation system installed so I know that it is getting enough water. Any help that you can give us would be greatly appreciated.

My husband and I listen to your show on Saturday mornings and have learned a great deal from you. Thank you for all of your great advice.

Answer: The blooms that came in 2006 were already starting to be formed when the tree was at the nursery in 2005. Some possibilities as to why the Kousa did not flower in 2007:

1. The site is too shady. To bloom, Kousas need more sun than native dogwoods. They require at least half of a day of good sun.

2. The site could be too wet. Is the dogwood showing any other signs of stress?

3. The tree could have been devoting all of its energy to making new roots, rather than setting flower buds.

4. The soil may have too much nitrogen from over fertilization.

5. Dogwoods (and some other trees) sometimes bloom much more heavily every other year; but this trait alone would not explain the total lack of bloom.

I suggest you fertilize now and again in late fall and early spring with Triple Super Phosphate (a single element fertilizer that has no nitrogen and which stimulates bloom)—absolutely nothing else. If the tree doesn't bloom next year, consider some of the other possibilities, especially the shade situation.

Question: We grow our tomatoes organically and often my tomatoes get blight. I am not sure if it is early blight or late blight, nor do I really know how to tell the difference. But it doesn't matter because I usually pull up the tomatoes when the blight gets bad. This year the blight is just starting on some of the tomatoes. Is there anything I can do to save my tomatoes this year?

Answer: I suggest you try an old remedy called liquid copper fungicide. It is still made by Bonide and it works well, especially if applied in the early stages of the blight. It is labeled for organic production. On tomatoes there is no waiting time after application until harvest.