| [Image: Dahoon Holly Tree] |
| [Image: Dahoon Holly Tree] |
| [Image: Dahoon Holly ] |
Ag News
Dahoon Holly
Choosing Your Christmas Tree
Vegetable Planting Guide
Dahoon Holly – Small Tree and Red Berries
The American holly and Fosters holly are good choices. Another good choice is the Cassine or Dahoon holly (Ilex cassine). It is offered in the trade as a large shrub or a small pruned tree. This tree is similar to American holly, but its leaves are not as leathery and the leaf margins are not as thorny.
Brief recognition factors
- Red berries (need male tree to produce pollen).
- Dense upright form.
- Yellow-green foliage.
- Excellent wildlife food.
- Fruit persist for several months.
Negative aspects of tree
- Needs male tree to produce fruit.
- Scale insects.
- Multiple trunks if not pruned.
This is an excellent tree that grows in moist, fertile soils, and wildlife utilization is long-lasting.
Top
As you drive around the parish, you will see the preparations being made for the arrival of Christmas trees. Here are a few practices that will help you in the selection process:
Before purchasing:
- Measure ceiling height where tree will be placed.
- Measure width of area where tree will be placed.
- Consider aroma of tree. Virginia pine has an evergreen scent. Carolina sapphire has a lemon and mint scent.
- Consider allergies to pines.
- Consider foliage. Leland cypress and Carolina sapphire are known for “soft foliage,” while Virginia pine is known for “sticky foliage" and Noble fir has “stiff branches” and good needle retention.
Selection and care
- Before buying a tree perform the “needle drop test.” Lift the tree about a foot off the ground and strike back down. If this results in a shower of needles falling, look for another tree.
- Before you set up tree, make a cut ¼- to 1-inch thick disk of wood from the base of the tree and place the tree in a stand that holds at least 1 gallon of water.
- Water, water and more water. Keep fresh water in the tree stand and check daily. As a general rule, stands should provide 1 quart of water per inch of stem diameter.
- Locate tree away from any type of heat source.
- Check wires and connections on all lights.
- Keep gift wrap and other flammables away from direct contact with tree.
- Only plug lights in if adults or responsible individuals are at home and keep an eye on tree.
- Never let the tree stand run out of water.
- Unplug lights before you go to bed.
Top
Vegetable Planting Guide
The LSU AgCenter's vegetable planting guide has been updated with some of the latest recommended varieties for Louisiana. Its publication number is 1980.
Here are some of the new cultivars and brief facts on them:
Bush snap beans:
- Festina – Very dark green pod with white seed.
- Magnum – A 7-inch Kentucky Wonder-type with brown seeds in a flat pod. High yielding.
- Hialeah – High yielding, upright plant that tolerates stress. Medium green pods.
Broccoli:
- Gypsy – Newly released for 2008. Medium tight head with early production and good in warmer regions.
Collards:
- Flash – Early hybrid.
- Top Pick – A little earlier than Flash but more like a Georgia type.
Mustard:
- Savannah – Early maturing hybrid. Slow to bolt.
- Green Wave – Large, upright plant with spicy southern curled leaves.
Eggplant:
- Fairy Tale – New for 2008. Dwarf plants produce early slender 5-inch fruit that are lavender in color.
Bell Pepper:
- Aristotle, Excursion 11, Plato – all thick-flesh, blotchy and green peppers. Aristotle is a very large fruit.
- Paladin – Thick, large and blotchy shaped with phytophthora root rot resistance.
- Valencia – Early producing, thick fruit that starts off green and fully matures into orange.
Tomatoes:
- Bella Rosa – Large fruit, determinate vine with spotted wilt resistance.
- Phoenix and BHN 216 – Large and very large fruit, respectively, and both are determinates that set well in hot season.
- Mountain Crest – Very large, crack-resistant fruit on determinate vines that easily release fruit.
- Navidad – An early, sweet grape tomato on determinate vines.
Top