Question of the Week – Number 2: December 2, 2021

“Why doesn’t my yaupon holly have many berries this year? It’s had berries annually for many years.”

The evidence of last February’s record cold continues. Our hollies were getting ready to flower at the time of the late, very hard freeze and their primordial buds were stopped in their tracks.

I have probably 100 berry-producing holly plants scattered through our shaded rural landscape, and fruit production this winter looks like it’s going to be perhaps 20-25 percent of the normal amount.

Fertilize and water your plant early next spring and it should pick right up where it left off.

Note: For anyone whose yaupon holly has never produced any berries, you probably have a male plant. Yaupons and many other hollies are either male or female. The male plants bear only pollen-producing flowers that will never set fruit. If you look at them closely with a hand lens or magnifying glass while they are blooming you’ll be able to see the pollen to confirm their gender.