Blue Princess Holly

A beautiful member of the wildly popular Blue Holly series, the Blue Princess (Ilex x meservae) is a female plant that produces tiny flowers and knockout red berries as long as there is a male pollinator, such as Blue Prince, nearby.

Pretty even without a Prince, the dense, blue-green foliage and classic, wide-toothed, spine-edged leaves stay evergreen for you all year long.

Blue Princess is hardy in both cold and hot climates and features superior color. Unless you live in the coldest, or driest parts of the United States, this evergreen Holly can be a mainstay in your landscape!

The purple stems and glossy blue-green leaves are just different enough from the usual summer greens that it will easily catch your eye year round. You'll love the bright, formal look of this upright, proven plant.

This is a plant that truly shines in winter. The foliage will maintain its vibrant color throughout the winter, a striking contrast to drab grays and browns.

Now, let's talk berries. Adding a male pollinator will give you an abundant crop of delightfully cheery, round red berries each fall. They'll persist into the winter and set the stage for your Holiday décor. Birds love the berries, and they really make a huge visual impact on a snowy day.

Bring cuttings inside as winter decorations. A gathered "bough" looks wonderful hung over doorways or include the cuttings in your outdoor containers. Try your hand at pinning small sections of cuttings into place around a floral foam wreath. (Pro tip - wear gloves when you handle them.)

We can sense a new Holiday tradition for you, family and friends to enjoy!

Glossy Holly leaves are an exquisite landscape foliage. You'll love the way it shines in winter for you. No wonder this is a best-selling plant for LetsPlantify.com.

Order up to 9 Blue Princess Hollies for every 1 Blue Prince pollination partner for red berries. Order today!

How to Use Blue Princess Holly in the Landscape

Blue Princess Holly will produce tiny white flowers to herald in the spring. These are not showy but are essential to berry production.

If you plant a Blue Prince Holly near it, you'll also enjoy an abundance of bright red berries that tend to remain on the plant through the winter months. A single plant of the Blue Prince Holly can pollinate up to 9 of the Blue Princess Holly planted within 400 feet.

It would be a shame to miss the Holly berries, as they truly complete the Holly plants display value in the landscape. They stand out spectacularly against the winter snow, and the wildlife really enjoy them, too.

Use these lovely plants as part of a foundation planting. You can choose to prune them, or site them at the corner of your house and allow them to reach their full mature height and spread.

These wildlife friendly plants can give you a delicious sense of privacy. Plant a few of them at an angle from your house to shield your deck or patio from unwanted views. Or line them along a side yard to help muffle noise and increase privacy.

Place a pair of them as sentries on either side of a special garden feature, such as a wall-hung fountain. These formal plants play their role beautifully.

Create lovely formal walls of an outdoor room with bright, shiny leaves all year long. Blue Princess is the canvas, and seasonal containers can be the "paint".

Contrast the look of these evergreens by playing with texture and color in temporary, seasonal containers. You'll have a great time planning them each year and filling them with bright roses, edibles or flowing Ornamental Grasses. This is an easy way to create a chic, modern look that stays very fresh.

#ProPlantTips for Care

Hollies prefer moist, well-drained soils that are organically rich and acidic with a pH of 5.5 to 6. Blue Princess tolerates a wide range of soil types - from sandy to heavy clay - as long as there is no standing water. Mulch heavily over the root system to help control drying out at the surface and to keep the roots cool in the hot summer.

Plant in full sun to part shade. Blue Princess Holly can tolerate up to a half days' worth of shade. In warmer climates of zones 7 and 8, plant where they will receive morning sun and afternoon shade.

In areas of high pH, alkaline soil - fertilize with Dr. Earth Acid Lovers Organic and Natural All Purpose Fertilizer in early spring and mid-summer to help reduce soil pH.

Blue Princess flowers and produces berries on second year growth. Prune during the winter to control for size. When pruning, it's best not to simply shear the tips off with hedge pruners. Instead, conduct "Renewal Pruning" each year by cutting branches back to the main trunk using loppers or secateurs.

The goal is to keep the shrub growing in a nice, open shape. Adding air circulation and light into the interior of your shrub will allow leaves to grow all the way along each branch.

The Blue Princess Holly is a cross of ilex aquifolium and Ilex rugosa, one of the many of the Blue Hollies introduced by Mrs. F. Leighton Meserve. The goal with these crosses was to produce a traditional hybrid Holly that would be hardy for the colder climates.

We predict you'll love this wonderful selection. Order today!