Illustration
Blue Maid Holly
Ilex × meserveae 'Mesid'
Also called blue maid meserve holly
Blue Maid Holly blooms from May through May.
Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.
Growing Blue Maid Holly
Plant it in full sun. It prefers moderate water. It is hardy in USDA zones 5–7. Expect it to reach about 14 ft tall and 8 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 4 years (a house reading).
Is Blue Maid Holly toxic to dogs or cats?
- Listed as toxic to dogs and cats by Pet Poison Helpline.
Lists differ and none is complete. If a pet eats a plant and seems unwell, call a veterinarian or a pet poison helpline.
What was checked
Mature height and spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and the trait tags were checked against named botanical sources for this plant, with what the sources could not settle written down; years to mature size rests on a recorded house rule where no publisher states one, and is marked so; its common name and alternate names have not been checked yet. Each fact above carries its own mark. The planting, spacing and size sections are derived from these checked facts by a fixed rule, not checked separately, and the plant type is the library's own classification.
When to plant Blue Maid Holly
Plant Blue Maid Holly in early spring as soon as the soil is workable, or in early fall at least six weeks before your first frost, so roots establish in cool weather. In zone 6, the middle of its hardy zones 5 to 7, spring means March to May and fall means August or September. Once settled, it blooms in May.
Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar; if you garden near zone 6, the middle of this plant's hardy range, start with zone 6 in March. Derived from the plant's category, zones and bloom months plus typical zone frost dates, not checked separately.
How big does Blue Maid Holly get?
14 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult8 ftwideSee Blue Maid Holly in a garden plan: the planner shows it in 3D beside everything else you add, growing toward this size over the years.
How far apart to plant Blue Maid Holly
Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.
Give Blue Maid Holly about 8 ft of clear ground in every direction, measured from its center. It is one plant with room around it, not a row, and a raised bed is too small for it.
Add Blue Maid Holly to a garden plan and the planner draws it at its full width, so you see the spacing before you buy.
Where these facts come from
Blue Maid Holly's height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, trait tags, soil, diseases, pests and toxicity were checked against 35 published sources on October 10, 2026. Each one is linked below with every fact it carried, which can include a fact this page still marks as not yet checked, because a source carrying a value is not the same as the value being held to the standard. Facts not in that list, and the planting, spacing and size sections, are not covered by these sources.
- RHSRoyal Horticultural Society (Ilex × meserveae [Blue Maid] ('Mesid') (f...height, spread, sun, water, bloom months and color, trait tags, soil, diseases, pests and toxicity
- Nature Hills NurseryBlue Maid Meserve Holly, Ilex x meserveae 'Blue Maid' PP# 4685height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, soil, pests and toxicity
- NC State ExtensionIlex x meserveae, the species; its cultivar list carries no line for t...hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, trait tags, soil, diseases, pests and toxicity
- Plant Addictsthe queue's store pageheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, bloom months and color, trait tags, soil and pests
- bcarboretum.orgBoone County Arboretum, Kentucky (Ilex x meserveae, the species page;...height, spread, sun, bloom months and color, trait tags and diseases
- patuxentnursery.comPatuxent Nursery (Blue Maid Holly; Brand: Johnson Farms, Inc.)height, spread, hardiness zones, water, bloom months and color and trait tags
- Chicago Botanic GardenIlex x meserveae 'Mesid', this clone's own entryheight, hardiness zones, sun, water and bloom months and color
- plantdatabase.uconn.eduUniversity of Connecticut Plant Database (Mark H. Brand; Ilex x meserv...height, hardiness zones, sun, bloom months and color and diseases
- plantfacts.osu.eduThe Ohio State University PlantFacts (Ilex x meserveae, the species; o...hardiness zones, sun, bloom months and color and soil
- pridescorner.comPrides Corner Farms (wholesale grower, Lebanon, Connecticut; Ilex x me...height, spread, hardiness zones and bloom months and color
- The Morton ArboretumMeserve holly, Ilex x meserveae, the species; its cultivar list carrie...hardiness zones, sun, water, soil and diseases
- dawesarb.arboretumexplorer.orgThe Dawes Arboretum, Arboretum Explorer (Ilex × meserveae (Blue Holly...height, spread, hardiness zones and trait tags
- plants.hicksnurseries.comHicks Nurseries Plant Finder, a NetPS Plant Finder entry (Blue Maid Me...height, spread, hardiness zones and soil
- US plant patent (Google Patents)Google Patents' texthardiness zones, bloom months and color and trait tags
- woodyplants.cals.cornell.eduCornell University Woody Plants Database (Species: Ilex x meserveae, t...sun, water, soil and pests
- Internet Archive (archived page)The Conard-Pyle Co., Star Plants (the introducer's own plant page: Blu...height, spread and hardiness zones
- Internet Archive (archived page)The Conard-Pyle Co., 2010 catalog (the introducer's own catalog, a PDF...height, spread and hardiness zones
- pubs.ext.vt.eduVirginia Cooperative Extension, publication 3010-1482, Evergreen Holli...sun and diseases
- US plant patent (Google Patents)US Plant Patent PP12,060, the 'Honey Maid' holly, Angel M. Sanchez, as...height and spread
- woodyplants.nres.uiuc.eduUniversity of Illinois, UI Plants Woody Ornamentals (Gary J. Kling, Ch...sun and diseases
- ask.extension.orgAsk Extension knowledge base, question #920406 (answered by the Home a...diseases
- bcarboretum.orgtrait tags
- byf.unl.eduUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln, Institute of Agriculture and Natural R...sun
- extension.missouri.eduUniversity of Missouri Extension, G6820, Selecting Landscape Plants: B...soil
- extension.rutgers.eduRutgers Cooperative Extension, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Stat...pests
- Iowa State University ExtensionBroadleaf Evergreen Shrubs for Iowa; Meserve Hybrid Holly, the speciessoil
- Iowa State University ExtensionSusceptibility of Plants to Deer Damagepests
- Oregon State UniversityIlex × meserveae, Meserve Hybrid Holly, the speciessun
- Purdue ArboretumIlex × meserveae, Meserve Holly, the species entrysoil
- purduelandscapereport.orgPurdue University, Purdue Landscape Report, PPDL Case Study #2: Sickly...diseases
- umass.eduUMass Extension, Landscape Message of August 5, 2022 (a UMass Extensio...diseases
- umass.eduUMass Extension, Landscape Message of June 6, 2014 (a UMass Extension...diseases
- University of Illinois ExtensionMeserve Hybrid Holly, Ilex x meserveae, the species; its Cultivars lis...height
- vtechworks.lib.vt.eduVirginia Cooperative Extension, publication 450-606, Black Root Rot of...diseases
- woodyplants.cals.cornell.eduCornell University Woody Plants Database (Cultivar: Blue Maid for Ilex...height
How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.
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Drop this plant onto a 3D plan, see how it fills in, and watch your whole garden bloom across the year.