Plant Image Data Base
Ilex x meserveae
Blue Holly or Meserve Holly
- Form
- medium-sized broadleaf evergreen shrub
- maturing at approximately 8' tall by 8' wide, but
highly variable depending upon particular hybrid
(some are wider than tall, while others are
taller than wide, but many are pruned or sheared
into a hedge, pyramid, or globe shape anyway)
- variable in growth habit from upright vase to
open spreading to rounded, or can be sheared into
pyramidal or rounded form
- slow growth rate (medium growth rate in optimum
situations)
- Culture
- full sun to full shade (best in partial sun to
partial shade)
- broadleaf evergreens (such as Blue Holly) should
preferably not be planted at south- or
west-facing exposed sites, in order to avoid
Winter foliage burn and Summer heat stress
- prefers moist, well-drained soils and is pH
adaptable (most Hollies prefer acidic soils)
- Holly Family, with few disease or pest problems
- plant one male plant for every three to five
female plants to ensure good pollination and
fruit set
- Foliage
- evergreen, alternate, and elliptical with
prominent spiny margins, to about 3" long
- most Blue Hollies have new foliage that emerges
as a bronzed light green, quickly maturing to a
dark waxy blue-green and persisting for about
three years on the stems ('China Boy' and 'China
Girl', however, have Kelly green foliage and
chartreuse stems)
- Fruits
- subtle green berries mature to vibrant red (or
yellow) berries on female shrubs in October,
sometimes persistent until the following Spring
(unless eaten by wildlife), but turning
brown-black at some point in most Winters
- showy due to their excellent contrast against the
evergreen foliage
- please note that a fruitless Meserve Holly in
Winter can either be a male, or a female that was
not pollinated, or a female that has possibly had
all of its berries eaten or abscised; but, a
plant with berries is always a female
- Function
- foundation, group planting, under story, or
specimen shrub; can also be a formal, informal,
or barrier hedge
- Assets
- bluish waxy evergreen foliage
- showy berries on female plants persist throughout
Autumn and most of the Winter
- full sun to full shade adaptable
- attracts wildlife (primarily birds, which seek
refuge in its spiny-foliaged evergreen canopy and
may consume the fruits during the dormant season)
- Purpose
- Blue Holly is the most cold-hardy broadleaf
evergreen shrub with both attractive Winter
fruits and waxy foliage.
- Summary
- Ilex x meserveae is one of the best
broadleaf evergreen shrubs for ornamental Autumn
and Winter fruits (on female plants, usually
red), and spiny-margined glossy foliage
(generally blue-green), with an upright to
spreading medium- to large-sized shrub habit that
can be sheared into various shapes, including
pyramidal form.
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