Holly 'Nellie R. Stevens'

This is the best evergreen I've found for shady tree lines. I've never watered, fertilized, or maintained them in any way, and haven't ma...Read Morenaged to kill any of them yet. And although they don't grow very quickly in those conditions, they maintain a consistent, full appearance and have a nice green color. They're not a ceterpiece plant, but look good from a distance. As a bonus, Deer won't touch them. And they're a surprisingly good source of nectar for honey bees in early spring. Alternative hollies would be Winter Bounty for a smaller, more refined bush without the barbs, or Fosters for a graceful, medium-sized tree.

This small pyramidal evergreen tree is sold by most Mid-Atlantic nurseries. It is a hybrid between the English Holly x the Chinese Holly...Read More. It is similar to the American Holly in appearance, but has straggly end branches and is not as good quality. It grows about twice as fast as the American, so that is why it is offered.

The Nellie Stevens Holly is a beautiful, trouble-free holly for the South. It features dark-green foliage year-round, as well as fragrant...Read More flowers in the spring and red berries in the fall and winter. The only drawback? It gets huge, so be careful not to plant it too close to your home. Many people make this mistake, and end up having to transplant it (no easy task).

I planted 4 Nellie Stevens hollies (large 5 gallon pots and 4-5' in height) in the fall of 2006 (along with a Blue Prince as a pollinator...Read More.) I live in borderline 5b-6a region - lows occassionally hit single digit minus and only in some years dip briefly below -10.

By the spring of 2007, every leaf from three of them was either gone or dead brown. One, planted in the shelter of several hemlocks, was about half damaged. We did have a severe winter in which the temp may have dipped briefly to -12 to -14. The Blue Prince did fine.

In May, the Nellie Stevens started to sprout new growth and has now become quite "leafed out" although not as full as originally and, of course, no berries. I am anxious to see what this winter does to them. Meanwhile, I have added to the area one Blue Princess and two Blue Maids.