CAN I GROW HOLLY? 
The answer is encouraging. American Holly is very hardy and will 
grow most anywhere in the United States. Generally speaking, Holly will 
do best wherever human beings find it good to live. Deserts, high cold 
mountains, dry windswept plains, far northern woods .. . these places are 
hard on man and Holly alike. 
WHAT KIND OF HOLLY SHOULD I BUY? 
Buy named varieties of Holly for they are best. Avoid unnamed 
Hollies or Hollies grown from seed for they may never berry or may 
take years to berry. Named variety Hollies berry early and are as much 
better than seedling Holly as Delicious variety apples are better than 
wild apples. 
The varieties listed in this booklet were all originated here at the 
Holly Farm and each variety is equally hardy. All have survived tem- 
peratures to twenty below zero, winds of eighty miles per hour and in- 
numerable sleet and snow storms. Our Hollies are ideal for the colder 
climates of the great population centers of the northeast and midwest and 
will of course do well in warmer places. 
HOLLIES ARE MALE AND FEMALE 
Only the female bears berries. The male does not have berries. 
The female Holly will not bear berries unless there is a male Holly some- 
where around. 
HOW TO IDENTIFY THE SEX OF HOLLY 
Varieties of Holly are one sex to the variety only ... and are sex 
guaranteed. Thus if the variety name is known, the sex is automatically 
identified. 
Where variety names are lost or where seedlings or unnamed Hollies 
are owned, it is often desirable to identify sex. Folks who now own only 
one Holly may perhaps identify the sex, buy a mate, and the following 
year be blessed with a delightful berry crop. 
The only positive way to identify the sex of Holly is to study the 
tiny whitish-petaled flowers at blossom time in the spring. (May—in this 
area). The female flower has a green center that looks like a small green 
berry. The male flower center is somewhat fluffy and is yellow with 
pollen dust. 
ABOUT BEES AND HOW POLLENATION IS ACCOMPLISHED 
Bees carry the male pollen to the waiting female flower. At Holly- 
blossom-time the bees become yellow with pollen dust as they work 
among the male Hollies. This pollen is brushed against the female Holly 
flowers as the bees seek nectar, thus accomplishing pollenation. Truly, 
nature is remarkable. 
Do not worry about having bees, incidentally, for there are bees 
and more bees, wild and tame . .. more than enough to go around. 
