Schilling Holly
The Only Shrub Native to North America that Contains Caffeine
The Schilling Holly plant, also known as the Dwarf Yaupon Holly Shrub, is a favorite among gardeners. Ilex Schilling is used as a small hedge, border plant, or foundation plant due to the dense rounded form it maintains. It gives off the impression of being professionally shaped without any formal cutting.
The Ilex Schilling plant produces medium sized, dark green leaves with a small oval shape that has a reddish cast when plants are young. The branches are coated with silvery, gray bark. It is not a deciduous holly bush and the evergreen leaves will stay on the plant throughout the year.
Small white flowers appear in spring on both female and male plants but are somewhat inconspicuous. After the flowers bloom, bright red berries appear on only female plants. Birds and other wildlife love the berries in early winter through spring!
Salt tolerant and drought tolerant once established, the Schilling often forms into a thick, low-maintenance, and uniformly green groundcover. Perfect for any seaside planting or mass planting
Fun fact: the Yaupon Holly shrub is native to southeastern North America and can be found growing wild in Florida and neighboring states! The green foliage is traditionally used by Native Americans as a drinkable tea that contains more caffeine than coffee. Its botanical name is Ilex vomitoria because if drank in too large of a quantity it can induce vomiting.
HOW TO PLANT SCHILLING HOLLY PLANTS
Grow this evergreen holly shrub across the United States in USDA growing zones 6-9.
Planting holly is easy. Dig a hole the size of the container and place the holly ilex into it at ground level. Backfill with native soil or amended soil used for holly plants. The best time of year to plant Ilex vomitoria schillings dwarf is in early spring or early fall so it has the whole growing season to establish.
The Schilling Dwarf Holly shrub can grow up to 4-7 feet tall and 6-10 feet wide making it perfect for formal hedges because of the height and spread. Pruning holly is easy and should be done to keep the holly size maintained to the desired shape.
The dwarf yaupon holly growth rate is moderate to fast! The fast growth rate can grow so fast in full sun that it may require infrequent pruning lightly to keep desired shape. Unpruned plants can grow to 7-10 feet tall and potentially wider as the plant spreads to the planting location.
You can even prune this shrub into a small yaupon holly tree if desired!
Ilex Schilling Holly Plant Care
This evergreen shrub isn’t picky about soil type and will thrive in both dry or wet soil conditions, or sandy soils equally well. However, the small holly bush performs best in slightly acidic soil that is moist but well drained soil. Perform a soil pH test if needed.
The Schilling Holly species prefers full sun to partial shade. In light shade, the plant may produce no berries but will keep a small growing nature. Yaupon bushes grow to the location they are planted in.
Holly plant care includes the application of a slow release fertilizer at the top of the root ball every year to help with growth. Mulch heavily in spring or fall with organic matter, compost, or other materials to help retain moisture.
Perfect Plants sends the Schilling plant directly to your home, we will ensure it will arrive in good shape from our shipping process. Check out the reviews.
Shop the native Yaupon Holly for sale.
Shipping information
Once your Schilling Holly order is placed, we will ship your plant(s) within seven business days year round unless during the checkout process you request otherwise in the space provided to do so.
Perfect Plants’ shipping specialists carefully package your plants using a proven packaging method that ensures your plants arrive healthy, colorfully alive and ready to flourish. We’ve coined the term ‘upside down box test’ and we do just that; we carefully package so that regardless of the direction your box is handled, it will not harm your precious plant that’s inside.
No shipping process is without a problem from time to time. On rare occasions some plants may experience some of the following during their transit: drooping, minor leaf-loss and/or minimal yellowing/discoloration, minor limb damage, etc. These instances are quite rare, but can happen when shipping plants in boxes.
Plants normally recover within a few weeks after planting. If a damaged box has injured your plant on the inside, please notify us within 5 days of receiving you package(s) by emailing us a photograph of the damage.
We always do our very best to ensure that your plants are packed and shipped in the safest, gentlest and most effective way possible.
Will my plants and trees look like the photographs?
Absolutely! Unlike other online nurseries, our photos are of actual plants and trees we’ve grown here, on our family operated nursery.
Growing our own plants and trees helps to ensure we ship you the best quality plants that are free of pests and diseases.
Your plants and trees may however not ship with flowers on them, like the photographs. This all depends on the time of year you buy your plant or tree. Crape Myrtle trees, for example, only bloom during the summer months, so if you purchase one during the spring or fall, they would ship without flowers. Once planted, your plants will grow and thrive giving you flowers for many years to come!
Pot Sizes
Pot sizes (commonly referred to in gallons) are shipped in the same size nursery trade pots which may vary in actual volume. Some plants may have been at the approximate pot size listed, but require excess dirt to be removed so that you will not be paying any additional shipping costs. This doesn’t happen very often though.
Shipping Fees
Our shipping charges are based on the value of your order. Please use the chart below to see what your shipping charge will be.
Care
SCHILILNG HOLLY CARE:
The Schilling holly prefers full sun or can tolerate partial shade. Soil should be well drained and ideally somewhat acidic. They are quite drought tolerant when mature, but should be watered regularly until established.
This shrub maintains a dense, tight rounded shape naturally and its slow-growing nature requires very little pruning. A more formal, rounded look can be achieved with an annual pruning.
When planting as a hedge, space the centers of the Schilling 2-1/2 to 3 feet apart.
PLANTING INSTRUCTIONS:
Dig a hole approximately twice as wide as your new plant’s root ball and deep enough so that the top of the root ball is equal with the ground level.
Loosen the root ball using a small garden spade or by hand. Breaking smaller outer roots can encourage growth into the new soil, but take care to not damage large primary roots.
Place the plant in the hole and ensure that it is situated evenly upright. Use the excavated soil to fill in around the root ball, using your foot to pack it in firmly. Thoroughly soak with a hose as you fill in the dirt. Take great care to not leave any gaps or air spaces around the root ball as this could kill the plant.
A 2-4 inch layer of mulch is strongly recommended to help retain moisture and discourage weed growth. Apply mulch over the entire planting area but keep away from the stems or trunk by a few inches. Ensure that the plant and surrounding soil is completely soaked with water.
To ensure the proper nutrients are available for the life of your Schilling holly, our proprietary Perfect Plants Special Blend Soil and a once yearly application of Nutricote Total 360 Fertilizer are great considerations for your new plants!
Ask a question
Botanical Name
Ilex vomitoria 'Schilling's Dwarf'
Sunlight Full Sun / Partial Shade
Flower Color
White
Foliage Color
Green
Mature Width 6-10 ft
Mature Height 4-7 ft
rowing Zones 6, 7, 8, 9
Customer Reviews
5.0 Based on 2 Reviews
Write a Review Filter Reviews:
SR
01/17/2019
Suzann R. This Schilling plant arrived in great condition! Wasn't sure which type of holly to purchase but the customer service at this company helped me out tremendously with my choice. Planning to make a hedge with these... will order again!
G
06/17/2018
gregjohnson365 Best internet plant-buying experience ever! The qualities and sizes of the plants were excellent. The packing was really exceptional: the boxes were sturdy, the plants were secured in place with an ingenious system, and the plants were protected from crushing by the addition of bamboo stakes in the pots. I had a question about shipping and the phone operator was knowledgeable and helpful. Add to all of this - I got a 20% discount by using a promo code. Really, A+ experience all around.
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