Ilex serrata x verticellata 'Apollo'

Ilex 'Apollo' has one job in the garden, and does it superbly: pollination. A vigorous hybrid deciduous holly from the U.S. National Arboretum, crossing the Japanese winterberry, Ilex serrata, with the native American winterberry, Ilex verticillata, 'Apollo' was bred and released specifically as the male partner for the celebrated female 'Sparkleberry', and stands in equally well for 'Winter Red'.

Winterberries carry male and female flowers on separate plants, and a female sets fruit only when a male blooms alongside it, so choosing a pollinizer that flowers at the right time is the whole trick. 'Apollo' blooms late, in step with the late-flowering females, and a single male will service a group of them planted within range. Without that partner the showiest female winterberry stands bare all winter; with it, the branches fill with fruit.

Not that 'Apollo' is a plain thing to hide. The hybrid vigor shows in strong, upright growth to ten or twelve feet, new leaves flushed burgundy-red before they settle to green, and a clean yellow turn in fall before the leaves drop. The name winterberry belongs really to the females and their fruit, but 'Apollo' earns a place as a full, leafy backdrop through the growing season.

Set 'Apollo' where a pollinizer is needed but not necessarily seen: the back of a border, a hedgerow, a damp thicket, or a wildlife planting, within about fifty feet of the female winterberries meant to fruit. Give the roots the moist to wet, acidic soil the whole clan loves, in full sun to part shade. One 'Apollo' quietly lights a whole stand of 'Sparkleberry' and 'Winter Red' with berries for the winter.