Dr. Kassab Holly
| Qty | 1-4 | 5-9 | 10-39 | 40+ |
| Price per Plant | $22.50 | $7.00 | $6.50 | $5.00 |
162 in stock
Ilex x ‘Doctor Kassab’
A hybrid Chinese holly, the Dr. Kassab holly was introduced by noted gardener Dr. Joseph Kassab in the years following his return from WWII. The result of cross pollination between a Chinese Holly (Ilex cornuta) and a Perny Holly (Ilex pernyi) in Dr. Kassab’s Philadelphia garden, the hybrid has curving, soft dark green leaves that are not prickly like American hollies. All hollies are dioecious – meaning that male and female flowers are borne on separate plants. The Dr. Kassab holly is female. As a female, the holly requires the presence of a male pollenizer for berry production. Almost any male that flowers in the springtime will do. In addition to its tight clusters of red berries, the Dr. Kassab holly excels as a living fence and makes an excellent landscape specimen. The evergreen holly is pyramidal in shape and is tolerant of most soils. Planting instruction can be found at boydnursery.net/arrival-care-notes/.
| Classification | |
|---|---|
| Diseases & Insects | Problem Free |
| Family | Aquifoliaceae |
| Flowers | Staminate in 3 to 9 flowered cymes; pistillate solitary, dull white; about the latest evergreen holly to flower around May; berry-like, dull red rounded drupe, fruit is borne singly on .25" long stalks, maturing in October and persisting into winter; fruit display can be spectacular with a strong pollinator. |
| Growth Rate | |
| Hardiness Range | zone 7a – 9b *need help finding your hardiness zone? |
| Leaves | Leaves are alternate, simple, evergreen, elliptic, and 1.5-2" long and half as wide; dark green, very glossy, curving, almost bubble-like leaves; 3 spines per leaf situated at the tip |
| Plant Type | |
| Primary Features | |
| Sex | dioecious (Female) |
| Size | 15-20 feet tall at maturity with 8-10 foot spread |
| Sun Requirement |
What am I buying?
We sell Dr. Kassab Hollies as rooted cuttings. Taken from Wikipedia, “a plant cutting is a piece of a plant that is used in horticulture for vegetative (asexual) propagation. A piece of the stem or root of the source plant is placed in a suitable medium such as moist soil. If the conditions are suitable, the plant piece will begin to grow as a new plant independent of the parent, a process known as striking.” Put more simply, a rooted cutting is a small clone of the specimen from which it was taken. As a genetically identical clone, the cutting shares all the characteristic traits and attributes of the cultivated variety. Our rooted cuttings are 3-6 months old and 2-8 inches in stem length above the soil line. They are clipped from our private stock plants and grown in root pruning trays at our temperature controlled greenhouse.
When are plants collected?
Once your order is placed, your plants will be collected as soon as the weather permits. This time-frame is normally within 3-7 days. During heavy order periods (April-May), this collection time can grow to 10-14 days.
How are plants shipped?
All shipments are mailed via USPS Priority Mail using PirateShip.com. We monitor national weather conditions and temperatures for shipments. If at any time your order must be delayed for weather concerns, we will contact you by phone and/or email. The day that your order is completed or partially shipped, you will receive an email containing your package tracking number. You can also find this updated information by logging into your account on our website.
