Growing Western Native Plant Toyon or California Holly, Flowering Drought-Tolerant Screen Shrubs

Toyon, California Holly or California Christmas Berry (Heteromeles arbutifolia) are beautiful shrubs cultivated for their bright red berries in winter and deep green leaves. Toyon is an ideal replacement for English Holly (Ilex) if you need a drought-tolerant shrub for your garden and a little something for the birds and the bees too. It is widely believed that Hollywood derived its name from the California Holly growing across the hills.

Heat tolerant Toyon shrubs can eventually grow to about 25 feet tall and almost as wide. Generally, they remain in the 8 to 10 foot range. They make good screens for dry gardens, but you can also trim them into multi-trunked trees or standards. California Holly has large white flower clusters which are attractive to bees, but the show stopper comes just in time for the holidays when the bright red berries ripen against the dark green, leathery leaves.

Toyon is native to the California coast down to Baja and into the Sierra Nevada foothills. They are cold hardy to about 20 degrees and grow well in USDA Zone 7-10 or Sunset Zones 5-9, 14-24. At one point California Holly was a very, very popular table decoration and so many were cut and dug up, a law was passed to stop people from picking them in the wild. Some of the Toyon species native to the Channel Islands are endangered or threatened, so buy from a reputable nursery, or collect your own seeds in the fall.

Toyon is known by the US Forest Service to be resistant to fire mortality. Meaning, it seems to survive brush fires well and will resprout all over the plant after a fire. However, you should also be aware that it has been identified by the USDA as a host plant for Sudden Oak Death so check with your local nursery or arborist before planting it near oak trees.

California Holly berries have been eaten by the local Chumash, Tongva and Tataviam Native Americans for centuries. The ripe berries are either cooked, mashed and mixed with water as a beverage or dried and baked into pancakes. A tea from the leaves was also used as a stomach remedy.

In the landscape, Toyon looks dramatic planted in rows to line a driveway or border. Or plant these tall shrubs in the back of the garden beds as a beautiful evergreen privacy screen.