Ilex Aquifolium Silver van tol
The Holly Ilex Aquifolium Silver Van Tol, well it was a toss up between JC Van Tol with the green leaves, or the variegated form Silver Van Tol, silver won the day
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Performance in our garden
(Ilex Aquifolium Silver Van Tol) All this faffing about with making sure the Holly which you plant will have berries gets on my nerves. Perhaps you only have room for the one plant, did you buy a male instead of female, not surprised considering some of the males are called Queens and some females are Kings.
Best bet is to get a self fertile variety, one that really does work, like, JC Van Tol or the hard to find Silver Van Tol.
In Aberdeen, a few years ago, I planted JC Van Tol, the plain green leaf variety in a friends garden. The shrub thrived and produced masses of berries each Autumn/Winter
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Here, in our new Cheshire garden, I have planted a full standard specimen. of Silver Van Tol.
We did get it at a reduced price, as it was the last one available, and was actually looking desperate to be planted out.
A few weeks later, it fairly perked up and the yellow berries have now turned red, the lollipop shrub is looking good in early October.
Silver Van Tol has pride and place in the central border of our back garden, and being self fertile like JC, will I am sure look even better next year as the garden develops.
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plant information
The green oval shaped leaves of Silver Van Tol are edged in varying shades of cream, and not at all silver as would be expected.
White insignificant flowers are produced in Spring, masses of them will indicate a bumper crop of berries to look forward to come Autumn. Which brings us on to the pruning of Holly.
In Aberdeen I have cut back Holly shrubs in all four seasons without causing any harm to the plant. However it makes sense that if you prune back stems in Spring which have flowers or for that matter cut back stems in Summer which did have flowers, then it stands to reason that you will be reducing the amount of berries which it will produce come Autumn.
The simple answer which has worked well for me is to prune lightly, by shaping up the shrub if necessary just after the berries have gone over in Winter. If you feel it is getting too large and out of hand then hard pruning in early Summer will cause no harm, and will rejuvenate the plant, you will of course have very little or no berries in the Winter of that year. Pruning is easy with JC Van Tol as it bears no spines, the silver one which is a sport of JC is more or less spineless, some leaves at the tip may be a little prickly.
Our new standard form of Silver Van Tol will probably not require pruning in the first two seasons.
Thrives in any decent free draining soil in full sun or semi shade.
Silver Van Tol is difficult to get a hold of, if you see it being offered, as I have done, as being green with silver edges and very spiky, this is not van tol and will be one which probably is not self fertile.
JC Van Tol available on the link below. This is the Nursery where I purchased Silver Van Tol, I think they are out of it at the moment, pretty sure they would order it for you.
mail order
Below, are plants which were blooming in our garden in early October, some of which were clearly just hanging on.
Place your cursor over the the picture to reveal the plant name.
If you happen to leave a comment I will be sure to visit your site and do the same
Alistair, your Silver Van Tol is outstanding! I like the standard form very much. I agree that it is much easier to plant a holly that is self-fertile.
I agree Rick, and signs of Spring are seen earlier here than up in Aberdeen. Only thing is I have the garden pretty well much set up for Summer without having put enough attention into Spring.
It always saddens me to walk round the garden at this time of year and see the plants which have done so well just hanging on in flower, the only antidote is to start thinking of Spring and the pleasures that are to come. Lucky find with the Ilex, I can never make my mind up about them, other than a massive common holly I grow a bush Ilex aquifolium ‘Gold Flash’ as standards don’t fit in too well with my style of garden, however, for your garden, I think your new acquisition is just the job.
you have such a lot of flowers in your garden Alistair, it’s looking very nice, Frances
Linnie, faffing, kind of like scuttering, or fiddling about or maybe, canae mak up yer mind sort of thing, get my drift?
That’s strange Helene, this is the second year for our pinky winky. Last year it was smothered in blooms in its first year in Aberdeen, this year in Cheshire planted in a reasonably sunny spot, it was slow to get started and only produced three blooms very late in the season.
Nice looking holly Alistair, and I do love a good looking standard. I suppose it will require a fair amount of pruning in years to come. I got rid of my holly a year ago, one I inherited with the house, it was just over 5m tall and very wide and had to go when the neighbours made their extension. Haven’t really missed it yet, except for the fact that I could take nice photos of the abundance of berries for Christmas cards.
Nice to see all your autumn plants so lush and in full flower, I can see your ‘Pinky Winky’ is doing better than mine – mine is in its second year and is probably growing too shady, only produced two flowers and still haven’t turned pink. I think I need to move it.
Well of course “faffing about” is not an expression I’ve ever heard before but it recalls some of those interesting words that Lewis Carroll liked to make up by putting other words together. Kind of crossing them, like rose varieties. So faffing might be genetically connected to fluffing and laughing and maybe, distantly, to something having to do with a duck? (Daffy.) Just guessing. I like that pale lavender aster and it almost makes me want more asters, scaffolding or no.
So easy to transform a small garden Tatyana and surprisingly satisfying to care for.
Hi Alistair! It’s so nice to see your new garden! It already has such a nice variety of plants. I’ve never seen this type of ilex; what a beautiful foliage!
I share your pain Jane, but c’mon, van tol, especially jc, no spines, plenty of berries, what’s not to like.
Hmmmmmm….alas I’m not a holly fan. I’d be a gazzillionaire if I’d had a pound for everytime those prickly leaves have found me, my arms & hands….Grrrrr.
Yours looks great…..but in your garden, 🙂
Hi Janet
Never bothered much with Persicaria in the past, we have another form in the back garden and yes, it doesn’t half spread.
Hi Alistair, hollies are a bit of a nightmare, aren’t they, not least because so many nurseries and garden centres don’t clearly label the plants as male or female – or, indeed, self-fertile! I was trying to explain it all to a neighbor we have been helping out, she was thoroughly confused. You have packed an impressive amount of colour in to your garden, and chosen such a good bunch of hard working but beautiful plants. I rather like the look of your persicaria, I am developing a bit of an addiction, which is unfortunate as they take up quite a lot of room when they are happy…
Glad you pointed out the problem with revealing the name when using an iPad Carolyn. Not so smart after all.
I like the idea of a self pollinating holly. I bought four Nellie Stvens and they all turned out to be male so very poor berry set. Your October flowers are lovely. I am not sure how to do the cursor reveal because aim using an iPad.
I did see reports about the flooding in the Aberdeen area Kat. It would help if they got back to cleaning out the drains, as they did in the past.
These blooms will soon be gone Donna. The out of season blooming of the Brunnera is just one of those things, like getting the occasional bloom showing on a Rhododendron in late Summer.
Thanks Carolyn
I have added a lot of new top soil to some areas, the actual true garden soil is very clay like and prone to water logging in Winter.
Very pretty Holly Alistair and such a colourful garden as ever.
Thank you for sharing
We have had a lot of rain these past few days but today turned out sunn? blue sky and 15 deg
Sadly floods Aberdeenshire
Your garden is always such a delight to view. And your good variety of plant materials makes it more interesting. The new holly standard is lovely. I really enjoy your blog and pictures. That soil just looks lush! Thanks for posting and sharing.
I love Ilex but those that keep their leaves (hollies) are not usually found thriving here. My winterberries, another ilex, is deciduous leaving only the berries which the birds eat. I like your focal plant and the variegation. Looks great in that bed. And how nice it is fertile and produces its own berries too.
Lots of flowers still blooming for you…most are going, going, gone here with colder weather setting in. I must say Alistair that I have never seen a brunnera blooming in October. Nice.
I wonder if they know what faffihg about is Pam.
Your Silver Van Tol is stunning, Alistair. I’ve been faffing about and had no joy with hollies. And I really need one to provide decoration for my Christmas pud. — which no American understands. Must try again. P. x
Hi Annette
The flowers on this Persicaria are a bit larger than some but like most close up shots they give the impression of being larger than they are.It was still like Summer here last week, turned much cooler these past couple of days.
Thanks Angie
Hoping the Roses start to make an impact on the trellis next year.
Nice choice Alistair, looks great in that border. Self fertile holly is a great way to ensure you have berries in the garden for winter time.
You’ve some real pretties still flowering down there. The border with the trellis as a background is so full already. Well done.
Hi Alistair, Your new standard holly is going to look wonderful throughout the year – a great centrepiece for your flower bed. You have so many plants still flowering – I am amazed at the size of the blooms on your Persicaria – are they as big as the photo suggests? I was sent some Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’ from Angie earlier in the year and I am really looking forward to it flowering. Meanwhile the leaves look wonderful. Your borders and beds look full of plants – I look forward to seeing them in the Spring.
Here in Aberdeen it is wet and windy today – fairly typical I guess for October.