Northeast Gardening: Plant ID please, 1 by ViburnumValley

ViburnumValley wrote:
Yay! Membership in Holly Society of America pays off...http://www.hollysocam.org/

I am teasing you a bit, playinindirt - I have been growing this species for about 30 years, and have 20+ named selections growing here at the Valley. Growing deciduous forms of holly can be an obsession, but it is a lifetime full of reward and joy.

Yes, Winterberry Holly has been cultivated as an ornamental plant for a while - since 1736.

I haven't tried digging one up from the wild, so I can't give you personal experience. However, since this can be a colonizing/suckering plant, you should eventually have success with whatever you are able to extricate when you dig it. I'd say your challenge will be separating it from the other woody plants with which it is likely entwined.

In propagating and nursery production, Ilex verticillata tends to have a denser root system than many plants, so there is good chance of re-establishment. You haven't shown the whole plant - how big is it? The smaller it is (younger), the easier it is to have success with a transplant. If it is bigger/older, you can still have success - but you will likely observe dieback of the crown, and resprouts from the root system and trunk.

Of course - all the "right" answers are involved with how much effort you wish to expend. If I were you there, I'd enjoy that one right where it is, and plant another female selection where it can be enjoyed. If I then enjoyed that so much that I couldn't stand it, I'd explore how to root cuttings from the woodland plant and then grow them up for planting in the formal garden.

But, that's just me...