Ilex aquifolium 'SILVER QUEEN' English holly, common holly

Silver Queen, or also more logically called Silver King, is a male version of English holly. It has deep green, glossy leaves with attractive, creamy-white, spiny margins. Stems of new branches are purple. As a male plant it is an ideal pollinator of female varieties, mostly of aquifolium group, that bear coloured berries in autumn and winter. Silver Queen does not produce berries.

It grows moderately fast and is often pruned to achieve dense habit and compact shapes. Spring pruning, after the danger of all frosts, will encourage new growths, while midsummer shearing is ideal for shaping. If you grow it as a pollinator make sure you prune it after the flowers have faded out.

Grow hollies in acid, moist but well-drained, humus-rich soil. They like full sun or half shade, but can also live in full shade where they may lose its shape. Cultivars with coloured leaves prefer partial shade in winter. Hollies have shallow, spreading roots so the planting hole should be wide, not deep. Provide extra watering in frost-free periods in winter to prevent its roots from drying out before the ground gets frozen. Hardy to about -24°C (USDA zone 6) and withstands shorts spells of slightly lower temperatures.

Last update 04-01-2009; 05-10-2012