MAN CULTIVATES HIS LOVE OF HOLLY TREES

ANNA, Ill. -- J. Bon Hartline lingers among the berry-filled holly trees, casting an appreciative eye at the tall trees lined up in rows that sweep down a hillside to a pond.

The 76-year-old retired grower has one of the largest collections of holly trees and shrubs in the Midwest. His nine-acre backyard is planted with more than 100 varieties of holly trees and shrubs, including seven or eight he discovered himself.

The property also is home to a variety of other trees, including magnolias, cypress, pines and maples. Rows of fruit trees still stand, recalling the days when the property was part of Hartline's 180-acre apple and peach orchard.

"It is really a true arboretum," Hartline said as he walked among the foliage.

He also owns a 150-acre family farm near Anna. Most of the land at both sites has been leased to other growers in recent years.

But the roots of this retired grower's labor run deep, particularly his love of holly trees. He has had a passion for holly trees since the mid-1940s. At one time, Hartline annually was selling more than 15,000 holly plants and rooted cuttings to nurseries and other customers throughout the Midwest.

Hartline and his wife, Ferry, have been married for 53 years. For most of that time they have also collected holly trees and shrubs. "They are pretty year round," Bon Hartline said.

Hartline's collection includes holly trees that are 25 to 30 feet tall and holly shrubs that are only a few feet in height.

American holly trees can grow to heights of 50 or 60 feet with trunks 2 feet in diameter. They can live for more than a century.

Hartline's yard has both deciduous hollies and evergreens. He has both male and female hollies. The males have the pollen; the females grow the berries.

"They don't taste good," Hartline said of the berries. As if to prove that point, he picked a small berry off one of the holly trees and tasted it. He promptly spit it out.

One of Hartline's favorites is council fire, one of the varieties he discovered and registered with the Holly Society of America.

"The berries are so heavy it's just a red glow in winter," Hartline said.

While red berries are the most common, some hollies have yellow, white or black berries or in-between shades.

In the dead of winter, when snow blankets the ground, Hartline's berry-filled hollies are a picture postcard of beauty.

He has given Indian names to the hollies he has discovered. They include Pocahontas, warrior and Chief Paduke. The latter refers to a holly that came from the Paducah, Ky., area.

Hartline, who is past president of the 750-member Holly Society, started holly seedlings out of a small nursery in the 1950s. At that time few people were growing hollies in this area.

Hartline saw it as a smart business decision. "I wanted something that wasn't common," he said.

The Hartlines' home is full of chinaware decorated with various types of holly.

When Hartline isn't growing things, he is building airplanes. In the last seven years he has constructed six experimental planes and flown all of them. He still owns two.

Hartline loves to fly. "I've tried gyro-copters. I've tried hang gliding."

He also finds time to keep the official weather records for the Anna area, a task he has done for 49 years.

But none of that can compare to a stroll through Hartline's hollies.