Nellie R. Stevens Holly
| Qty | 1-4 | 5-9 | 10-39 | 40+ |
| Price per Plant | $22.50 | $8.00 | $6.50 | $5.00 |
64 in stock
Ilex x ‘Nellie R. Stevens’
The Nellie R. Stevens holly is a broadleaf evergreen that is known for its relative hardiness, resilient growing nature, and consistent habit. First released by Gus A. Van-Lennep, Jr. of St. Michael, MD. in 1954 and named for the owner Nellie R. Stevens of Oxford, MD., the tree was a chance seedling in Mr. Nellie’s yard and was only later identified with the help of Ms. Nellie’s niece Eunice Highley. As a beautiful evergreen holly used in various landscapes, it is heralded as being partially self pollinating – meaning it does not require a male pollenizer to produce berries. All hollies are dioecious – meaning that male and female flowers are borne on separate plants, but the Nellie R. Stevens holly is also partially parthenocarpic. This means the tree can produce sterile fruit without a male pollenizer. Although not strictly required, the Nellie R. Stevens holly will produce berries in spectacular numbers when planted with a male holly present. For many, the male pollenizer of choice is the companion cultivar ‘Edward J. Stevens’ holly (also discovered by Nellie R. Stevens and introduced by Gus A. Van-Lennep); however, almost any male that flowers in the springtime will do. Like many other hollies, the Nellie R. Stevens holly produces a sweet smell when in flower and is attractive to insects and birds. The holly was the product of a chance seedling between a Chinese Holly (Ilex cornuta) and an English Holly (Ilex aquifolium). Vigorous and fast-growing, this holly quickly grows into an attractive, broad pyramidally-shaped evergreen. 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 6a – 9b *need help finding your hardiness zone? |
| Leaves | Leaves are lustrous dark green, slightly bullate, with 2 or 3 teeth on each side; elliptic, and 1.5-3.5" long and half as wide |
| Plant Type | |
| Primary Features | |
| Sex | dioecious (Female) |
| Size | 20-30 feet tall at maturity with 10-12 foot spread |
| Sun Requirement |
What am I buying?
We sell Nellie R. Stevens 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.
