[Dingus] Blue boy/girl holly (ilex x meserveae)

LittleDingus

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This ilex couple (blue boy and blue girl planted together) isn't so much potted in that ugly pink bowl so much as the root ball just sits there once in a while.

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The plant is more like a tumbleweed because the wind is constantly blowing it over and then it rolls around out of the pot in my landscaping until I find it and plop it back in the pot. I think this plant has spent more time out of its pot than in it for the past 2 seasons now. I can't even remember how I got it...I think it was an end of season fire sale from Lowes that I intended to plant in the landscaping and have just been kicking around ever since. Anyway, today I said "no more!" I'm either going to make something out of this nuisance, or I'm going to kill it and put it out of our misery! Honestly, it would be straight to the scrap heap at this point except that despite my continued neglect, they have reliably set a good crop of berries every year!

This pot has been sitting around all winter with nothing to hold yet.

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It was an "and" purchase from RobertsPots (Etsy shop) when I bought a pot from them for my rosemary. I didn't have anything specific planned for it, so it can hold this ilex couple until they start to become something worth looking at or I kill them trying :)

It took me quite a while to comb out and reduce the root ball. There was pretty much no soil left and was there was probably miracle grow I wasn't trying to separate the couple, but they are bound together tight! After removing about 90% of the roots and cutting back to a few early buds, I ended up with this.

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Over the past 2 years, this couple has survived being homeless, kicked around the yard, forgotten about, many droughts (forgotten waterings) a few floods (that pot's drain hole was plugged) and nights as cold as -15F. Now some little dingus has chopped off most of their food supply and ability to sustain themselves. And yet, they have proven to be a strong, inseparable couple! Let's hope they make it ;)

If nothing else, they take up a lot less room this way. And they're tied into that pot so I shouldn't catch them frolicking around behind the hedges anymore...
 

LittleDingus

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I dared these guys to live and they are rising to the challenge!

I had some concerns for the boy given the cool damp spring we've had, but he's leafing out well now.

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I think the knob at the top of the trunks may be a graft eye. I have growth above it on both trunks but there are also some buds below it. We'll see what happens in a couple of years when it's strong enough to flower again.

I'm just playing around with this one to see what it wants to do. It was headed for the mulch pile before I put it into this pot so no loss if it turns out crap :)
 
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