The holly collection at Threave Garden

I’ve picked out some of my favourite plants below, but this selection is by no means complete. If you’re interested in our holly collection, you should visit Threave in the late autumn/winter to really appreciate these wonderful and interesting plants.

Ilex aquifolium ‘Bacciflava’ has exquisite green glossy leaves, some with spines and some without, but its truly excellent quality is the unusual yellow berries. These are glowing balls of buttery yellowness in the dark, miserable winter and really make this plant a great choice for domestic gardens.

Ilex crenata ‘Convexa’ looks nothing like a traditional holly, but instead looks like a box (Buxus) plant. It can be used as an alternative to box, where box blight and box tree moth have become a problem, as the foliage is tightly arranged and it tolerates regular pruning. It’s slow-growing nature makes it an excellent candidate for anyone looking for structure without needing to carry out too much maintenance. If you have a balcony or patio, it’s also a good choice for containers.

Ilex x altaclerensis ‘Golden King’ is one of those plants that can be grown in many different situations – from sun or shade to coastal areas or inner cities. It has many delightful qualities, two of them being its lovely variegated, spineless foliage and the beautiful, rich red colour of the berries. As it has no spines, it’s good in domestic gardens where children can play safely, while the variegation is excellent for brightening up dark, shady corners.

Ilex x meserveae is best known as the blue holly. Its foliage has a definite blue tinge to it – what a lovely different shade of evergreen colour to add to your garden, along with its opulent red berries. Compared to some Ilex, this variety is relatively quick growing; it usually grows to around 2.5m (8ft), so will still fit well within a normal-sized garden.

Ilex dipyrena originates from the Himalayas, hence its common name of Himalayan holly. The truly lovely thing about this plant is the downy covering on the young shoots. In its original habitat, this would have given the new shoots extra protection from the cold, but in a garden setting it just adds to its aesthetic qualities. The very large red berries give this plant another reason to make you want to grow it.

Ilex x koehneana ‘Chestnut Leaf’ has, as its name suggests, a leaf shaped like that of a chestnut tree. A new addition to the garden at Threave, this plant was chosen for its glossy, large foliage, but the profusion of red, shiny berries certainly doesn’t make it a plant to put at the back of the border and forget about. If you have the space, make room for this one and give it its own stage to really show you what it can do.

So there you have it, I hope I’ve shown you that the genus Ilex isn’t as boring – or spiny – as you first may have thought!