Ilex Castle Rouge™ Blue Holly

A Proven Winners® ColorChoice® Flowering Shrubs variety and member of the Castle series, Ilex Castle Rouge™ is an evergreen shrub grown for its flamboyant foliage. Throughout the season, this handsome bushy shrub flaunts glossy red-burgundy new growth atop highly polished, waxy dark green to blue-green foliage; and in winter, the entire shrub turns deep, dark burgundy. Small clusters of white to pinkish white flowers appear on old wood in spring, tempting pollinators, especially bees.

A Ilex x meserveae variety, commonly called blue holly or Meserve holly, Castle Rouge is the biggest thing to happen to blue holly since Kathleen Meserve made the first crosses of I. aquifolium and I. rugosa back in the 1950s to create a holly that could withstand harsh winters. This unusually colorful male species will pollinate 3 to 5 berry-bearing females within 50 feet but will not bear fruit itself. The shrub has an upright, erect, and narrow habit and a moderate growth rate. It makes a gorgeous specimen in beds and borders but is shown to best effect when grouped or massed in foundation plantings, screens, and hedges.

An easy-grow, easy-care plant, blue holly grows best in sunny to partly shady locations with average, moist, well-draining soil having a slightly acidic pH, but it tolerates clay soils. In hot summer climates, some afternoon shade is beneficial; in harsh winter climates, a sheltered site protected from cold winter winds is best.