Buy Quercus ilex

This wonderful oak is among the most majestic evergreen trees cultivated. Also called the 'Holm Oak', this 40-90' tree native to the Mediterranean features ridged bark, a rounded head of dense branches, and dark, glossy-green, variably toothed leaves. The foliage looks like holly when young and as the leaves mature they become smooth edged. This is a very lovely shade tree! S/M-D/GDr

One of the hardiest evergreen Oaks. Its natural range is from the Mediterranean to Western Pakistan. The tree becomes huge and creates deep shade with dense pendulous branching and dark foliage. As the tree grows larger, some branch thinning makes for a pleasant, airy canopy on open-growing specimens.

Evergreen Holly Oak. Perfectly adapted to our sunny dry summers here in Port Townsend and a nice addition to the evergreen broadleaf tree palette. These are fairly slow growing and form a nice dense rounded crown. Eventually a big tree but not in our lifetime.

Native to the Mediterranean, frequently grown as far north as the British Isles and occasionally in the western US. This olive green, silver tinted, medium to large tree, to 25-40 ft ft (more in a few hundred years) is most exquisitely adapted to dry summer climates and is a wonderful constituent of that Mediterranean look, just throw in an Italian cypress and some olives. Requires only well-drained soil and temperatures not falling below 0 to 10F, USDA zone 7, for any length of time. Not absolutely happy with the summer heat and humidity of the US Southeast unless in well-drained, exposed situations.