Dwarf Chinese holly is less a globe than dwarf yaupon holly and more a mound. It stays at about 2½ feet tall and wide. The foliage is kelly green, opposed to the blue-green color of yaupon holly.

Chinese holly (Ilex cornuta) is a densely branched shrub or small tree. It has shiny, dark-green leaves that can be oval or so curled as to appear rectangular, with only single spines at the four ...

It does not bear fruit. Dwarf Chinese holly grows to 36 inches tall and 40 inches wide if never sheared. My plants started to bear fruit after they were 30 years old.

For a small shrub, select between dwarf yaupon holly and dwarf Chinese holly. The dwarf yaupon holly forms a rounded top that usually stays at 3 feet. The leaves are small with no thorns.

A third small holly that makes a good foundation shrub is dwarf Chinese holly. With its crinkled kelly green leaves, it makes an attractive mound about 2½ feet tall and 3 feet wide.

A: Everyone worries about iron deficiency when the subject is gardenias, but this is definitely not that. Iron deficiency shows up on the newest leaves first – those at the tip ends of the branches.

Like dwarf yaupon holly, the dwarf Chinese holly grows well in light shade. Dwarf Burford holly is an upright evergreen shrub that grows to 5 feet tall.

Other fragrant flowering trees include loquat, banana shrub and sweet olive. Trees like Burford Chinese holly, yaupon holly and eastern red cedar are great for providing a source of food for wildlife.

While most of us want the berries, we won't see any unless there's a male plant in the vicinity to provide pollen for the female holly, and they have to be in bloom at the same time. Bees and ...