Ilex x meserveae 'BLUE PRINCE®' blue holly, Meserve holly - male

Blue Prince® is probably the most popular variety of all so-called blue hollies. It is a male plant that does not produce fruits but is a pollinator for female plants of this group (e.g. Blue Princess). On the other hand, it grows faster than female varieties and has larger, attractive leaves, finely serrated, which are not as spiked as the ones from the aquifolium group. It has numerous, tiny white flowers in the spring and often again in the autumn. Flower buds and new shoots are pinkish-purple. Leaves are always very glossy and deep green, almost blue-green.

Meserveae hollies are called blue hollies thanks to the shade of the species leaves that are dark green with bluish tint. And the name meserveae was chosen for its cultivator, Kathleen Meserve, who, literally on her windowsill, made a cross of ilex rugosa and ilex aquifolium, in 1950´s to achieve excellent cold hardiness on a fabulously foliaged evergreen plant. She died in 1999 at the age of 93 but left behind an impressive line of these evergreen superbly hardy varieties.

Blue hollies need almost no maintenance if you provide them with slightly acidic soil at the beginning and enough moisture for the first couple of years to enable establishing extensive root system. They are beautiful and trouble-free dense shrubs with no defoliated twigs even without pruning. They grow moderately fast and make dense foliage in the lower parts while they push new branches upwards. This feature is employed when using this holly into a hedge.

Another huge advantage is its above mentioned hardiness. It can stand very low temperatures without any damage: it is supposed to survive -34°C and thrive in USDA zone 5, perhaps 4 with protection. This fact makes blue hollies the most sought after evergreen plants in our climate.

Last update 18-01-2009.