Ilex x altaclerensis 'BALEARICA'

Ilex x altaclerensis
Ilex x altaclerensis 'BALEARICA'
Highclere holly - female
SIZE/TYPE taller shrub
 small tree
USUAL HEIGHT 3-5m
USUAL WIDTH 1.5-2m
LEAVES evergreen broadleaf
COLOUR OF LEAVES green
LOCATION full to partial sun
SOIL TYPE acidic (peaty) to neutral
SOIL MOISTURE REQUIREMENTS evenly moist (dislikes drought)
USDA zone (lowest) 6   (down to -23°C)
WINTER PROTECTION  
FOR ZONE 5+6 Code of winter protection zone 5+6
FOR ZONE 7 Code of winter protection zone 7
BELONGS TO CATEGORIES Evergreen broadleaf
Rarities
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Hollies are among the most common evergreen and native plants of milder parts of Europe with high humidity – British Isles, north France, Benelux countries, and milder parts of north Germany. Various species form trees, shrubs, or thickets. They are absent from natural Central European landscape but can be cultivated without problems. They are renowned for glossy, often prickly leaves, and multiple variegated forms have been selected for garden cultivation. Highclere holly is a hybrid between ilex aquifolium and ilex perado, probably from England. All varieties of this hybrid are quite unique and have almost spineless, large leaves and often vigorous growth.

Balearica is another large-leaved Highclere holly. It has dark green and highly glossy leaves that are broadly ovate, evergreen, leathery, shallowly spined at margins, and decorated with conspicuous light green veins. New foliage emerges mahogany red to purple red. Being a female plant, it produces scarlet orange or red berries in autumn if pollinated by a male holly growing nearby. They are not edible nor poisonous but contain saponins which cause discomfort if eaten.

It grows fast under good growing conditions, 30-40 cm per year. The habit is rather slender, columnar to narrowly pyramidal with strong, upright branches. Pruning is possible in early spring. Midsummer pruning is good for shaping but with Balearica’s growth rate it does not make much sense.

Grow hollies in moist but well-drained, fertile soil. They can take periods of drought once established but dislike compacted, heavy-clay-based soils that turn very dry in summer, and often too wet in winter. If your soil is such, dig the planting hole only half the depth of the root ball, refine what you dig out and mix well with quality substrate of highly acidic level (low pH value). Using this mixture make a gradual slope from the stem to the original ground level and tamp it down as much as you can. Your root ball should not look like a molehill but more like a wide and flat mound. Mulch it well and keep watering it more often as it will be more prone to drying out as opposed to most common flat-in-the-ground transplanting. Hollies do best in full sun but can also grow in shade where they will lose their compact habit. Before and during winter when the soil is not frozen provide good watering. Hardy to min. -24 °C (USDA zone 6) and trials for better hardiness are ongoing.

Last update 28-12-2020
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Ilex
Ilex x altaclerensis
GLOSSARY
  • STANDARD QUALITY - Plants of this group are 1st class quality with number of branches and overall density adequate to their size and age, considering they were container grown.
  • DE LUXE QUALITY - This label guarantees a luxurious quality of manually selected plants that, compared to their height and age, are exceptionally dense and beautiful.
  • EXTRA - These plants are usually mature and bigger specimens with exceptional overall appearance.
  • STANDARD (as described in the plant form) means a tree with a trunk of 190-210 cm and a crown at the top, unless specified differently. The commercial size for trees is their girth measured in the height of 1m from ground.
  • HOBBY - These plants are of the same quality as our standard-quality plants but younger and therefore cheaper.
  • SHRUB - a woody plant with branches growing bushy from the ground level.
  • HALF-STANDARD or MINI-STANDARD - a small tree with shorter trunk, its size is usually specified.
  • FEATHERED - These are trees with branches growing already from the base of the trunk and up along the stem.
  • GRASSES and PERENNIALS - Sizes given usually read the diameter of the pot or the clump, as specified.
LARGE PLANTS over 150 cmspecimens, screening and hedging shrubs

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