Blue Baron Holly

The Blue Baron Holly is the answer when you want a male holly to pollinate your holly bushes, but don’t have a lot of room in your garden. This vigorous bush is profuse with those valuable pollen-bearing flowers, but it only grows a few feet tall and wide, making a broad bun of dark green leaves. In winter the leaves take on attractive shades of burgundy, making it valuable for winter color – a real bonus. No trimming is needed to keep it compact, although it can be made into a neat low hedge with a little trimming, if you want. Plant it among other shrubs, as an edging, or even in pots and planter boxes.

• Rounded compact evergreen bush just a few feet tall
• Ideal pollinator for blue hollies and related hybrids
• Leaves have attractive burgundy tones in winter
• Small enough for any garden, even in a pot
• Makes excellent low hedges

The Blue Baron Holly will grow in full sun, partial shade and even light full shade. Good light gives the most flowers. It grows well even in zone 5, in ordinary garden soils, as long as they are well-drained but not always dry. It has excellent resistance to leaf-spot diseases and other pests, as well as being left alone by deer. It’s ideal for pollinating all female blue hollies, as well as other hybrid hollies with similar parentage. Don’t over-trim as this can reduce the necessary flowering.