American Holly Seeds

Our selected form of American Holly comes from seedlings that we produced using an older plant found in Kalamazoo County in southwestern Michigan as well as Wisconsin seedlings. The plants were produced from seed and then put in a wide open windy areas on our farm as well as some frost pockets where the temperature can dip below minus 20F. These windswept areas were perfect for testing conditions the opposite of what normally American holly can take. The selections were made for vigor and strong upright growth favoring more tree like plants. After 30 years these trees have done remarkable and are the fastest growing American hollies that we have seen.

To germinate the seed: American holly seed is slow to germinate so it is best to plant it outside and then wait or if using the refrigerator method remember it needs a cold warm cold sequence to pop the seeds. Sometimes another cold period added on to that will enable the remainder of the seeds to sprout. So it goes like this in a moist media in a zip lock bag: cold 90-120 days, warm-summer-put at room temperature until fall-then back in the fridge for 90-120 days and then warm again. Most seeds will grow after that.  Holly seeds are doubly dormant and there is no short cut. This process is the same for deciduous holly as well.