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Click for previous Image Image 1 of 4 Ilex crenata Japanese Holly

Ilex crenata 'Helleri (true form)'

Japanese Holly

Plant Type:

BROADLEAF EVERGREEN SHRUBS

Ilex crenata 'Helleri' (true form) - Small dark green leaves are glossy on this squat rounded dense form of Japanese Holly. Also known as Box-leaved Holly 'Helleri' came to us from Environmentals, Inc. from the North Shore of L.I. many years ago. They offered it as the "true form" as I expect there are forms in the trade that are not quite as low and broad. After 7 years in the ground ours is barely 1 foot tall by nearly 2.5 feet wide. Ilex crenata 'Helleri' is a female form; she will produce dark purple-black holly fruits if small white flowers are pollinated. Site in part shade to full sun planted in fertile, acid and moisture retentive soil. Established potted shrub, cutting grown. 


Height:

2-3 ft

Spread:

4-6 ft

Zone:

5 to 8
What is my hardiness zone?

Characteristics and Attributes for Ilex crenata 'Helleri (true form)'

Season of Interest (Foliage)

  • Four Seasons

Autumn Interest

  • Fruit / Berries / Seed Heads

Light

  • Sun Tolerant
  • Morning Sun / Afternoon Shade
  • Mostly Sunny

Attributes

  • Ground Cover
  • Rock Garden
  • Massing
  • Shrub Border
  • Border
  • Formal Garden
  • Edging
  • Evergreen
  • Heath / Peat Garden

Growth Rate in the Garden

  • Slow

Soil

  • Moist
  • Acid
  • Fertile

Origins

  • Garden Origin

Propagated By

  • Cutting Grown

Genus Overview: Ilex

Common Name: Holly

Hollies from midgets to monsters are wonderful shrubs! Some are evergreen, others deciduous with females revealing copious crops of bright fruit from autumn into winter in various colors which are cultivar dependent. The Ilex x meserveae cultivars are just plain beautiful evergreens happy in sun to open shade in fertile, acid and moisture retaining soils. Winterberries, Ilex verticillata, are happy in full to mostly sunny sites in moist to even wet soils; they are often great autumn/winter fixtures in roadside ditches. The midgets are cute in the rock garden or even in containers. Ilex cornuta's spiny leaves look like giant glossy green mutant horned beetles - just fascinating in their structure. All are terrific wildlife plants and they add so much beauty and multi-seasonal appeal. Cutting grown.