I have a few of ilex meserveae 'blue girl' and 'blue boy'. They are supposedly among the hardiest of the hollies that have the traditional holly-shaped leaves. Some sources state they are hardy to zone 5, some are generous and say zone 4.

Mine came through last winter picture perfect, but only because I surrounded them with a box and filled in and around the plant with leaves. Covered with mounds of snow. I didn't get to enjoy them for Christmas, but then again they probably would be buried under snow anyways. Like any evergreen plant, their biggest enemy is winter damage to the leaves in our zone.

Otherwise do I like the plant? I definitely like the glossy holly shaped leaves, though mine haven't grown much at all this year. They did bloom, but despite having a male and female, didn't produce berries.

Though they supposedly can get quite tall, mine are less than a foot tall and barely grew this year (though maybe they are still establishing themselves). It's one of those out of zone plants that I am just happy to grow, so having a small holly shrub is alright by me.

Glen

On a whim, last fall we bought a little "Blue Girl" at Home Depot,mostly because it was 75% off. "Those crazy easteners," we thought - "why is this plant for sale in Saskatoon?" But, hey, it was listed Zone 4.... Anyway,this was mid-October, at least. I stuck it in, a few feet from our foundation, but somehow, I never did get around to protecting it before snowfall. I tried to shovel snow on it, but I really didn't expect much. Come spring, though, it wasn't dead! It winterkilled to just a few inches, and we actually dug it up and stuck it back in a pot (to put something better looking in its place!). However, as the spring progressed, it sent out shoots like crazy, and proved to be a gorgeous, albeit small, specimen - sitting in its pot on the patio all summer. We finally got it into the ground in late summer, and I will definitely get around to giving it the protection it wants for this winter. A real treat

Jon

Looks like its worth a try. The hard part now will be finding it for sale somewhere.

I love the hollies too, I tried one a few years back but didn't protect it well enough in the first winter, had it way out in the open, and a place where the drainage wasn't first class.
I had purchasd it at a local greenhouse but I do know that Holes Greenhouse in St. Albert usually carries them. Or at least they did! I didn't check the catalog this year to see if the hollies were there.
When I see photos of some hollies that can be grown, I just drool, they are stunning!
Faith

Jon, I bought mine at Home Depot as well. I figured for the price they were worth a try. This year, however, HD didn't seem to get any in stock.

I think it just depends on the year and what their supplier can provide. That is, they probably don't order individual shrubs, just an assortment of zone 4/3 hardy shrubs.

Anyways, good to hear the plant may survive if unprotected, though it sounds like protection of some sort definitely makes a difference.

Glen

I planted a blue boy and a blue girl the summer before last. They came through the winter wonderfully; however, I did protect them with burlap and mulch - we also had alot of snow cover. Somewhat slow growing this year, though. The girl did suddenly shoot up about 12 inches starting in early August, but the boy only about two inches. They are planted in a fairly protected location - lots of sun, good soil and shielded from the wind.
Seem to be strong healthy plants, purchased from a local nursery who assured me (!!) that they are hardy in this zone (3 or 4), so I am hopeful that they will someday become lush shrubs!! After all, that's why I planted them. Who knows, some day I may even be able to trim a few branches and bring them in for Christmas.
Good luck, Dadada, if you decide to go ahead.
Margaret

Hello, everyone.
Been a long time since I've been on the forum but thought I would share some photos of the holly plants. They aren't very big - only about three feet high, but this year for the first time they have berries! I was so excited the first time I saw them. Granted, it took five years (!!!) and there really isnt' enough to decorate the house, but I think I'm going to bring in a few branches.
Margaret

Nice picture Margaret. I love the glossy leaves as well as the berries.

Update: As my hollies seem to get larger they are developing more berries. Still, after 4 years the plant is maybe 20 inches high and wide. My soil, however, is quite clay so it's surprising they seem to do okay in that.

I was covering with a box for winter but this year I just wrapped some quilt batting around them and they are covered under a mound of snow. The one bright side about a miserable Manitoba winter is good dependable snowcover.

By the way, it's great to see that postings like this are still around. It's interesting to read them and be able to provide updates as well go along.

Glen