Getting it to bloom

Why won't my Blue Prince Holly bloom? (and how to make it flower)

Also called Blue Prince Holly, Meserve Holly Male (Ilex x meserveae 'Blue Prince').

More about blue prince holly

About Blue Prince Holly

Ilex x meserveae 'Blue Prince' · also called Blue Prince Holly, Meserve Holly Male · flowering

'Blue Prince' is the male Meserve holly grown chiefly as a pollinator for berrying females like 'Blue Princess', though its glossy blue-green spiny foliage also stands alone as a dense evergreen. It wants full sun to part shade and moist, acidic, well-drained soil. Reaching about 2.4-3.5 m, it is cold-hardy and tidy but bears no berries.

Plant type: flowering

The reasons blue prince holly isn't blooming

Almost every non-blooming blue prince holly traces back to one of these, roughly in order of how common they are:

Too little sun — most of these need full sun (or very bright light) to flower well; shade gives leaves, not blooms.
Too much nitrogen feed, driving lush foliage at the expense of flowers (very common with general or lawn feeds).
The plant has not been deadheaded, so it stops flowering once it sets seed.
Irregular watering — drought or waterlogging at the budding stage makes buds abort.
It is still too young or was checked by a transplant and is rebuilding before flowering.

Feeding blue prince holly a high-nitrogen general feed and growing it in too little sun — you get a big leafy plant and almost no flowers.

The fix — how to get blue prince holly to flower

Maximise sun. Give blue prince holly the sunniest spot you have — for most bedding and fruiting plants, more direct light directly means more flowers.
Switch the feed. Move off high-nitrogen feeds and use a higher-potassium "bloom" or tomato-type feed as it comes into flower.
Deadhead regularly. Remove spent flowers often to keep it producing more rather than stopping to set seed.
Water consistently. Keep moisture even through budding and flowering — drought-then-flood swings make buds drop.

Light and feeding do most of the heavy lifting here. Dial in the spot with the light guide for blue prince holly and get the feeding right with the blue prince holly fertilising schedule — the wrong feed (too much nitrogen) is one of the most common silent reasons a healthy plant makes leaves instead of flowers.

Bloom season and what to expect

Blue Prince Holly flowers across its growing season (mostly summer) and, kept fed and deadheaded, can bloom for many weeks or right up to frost.

Post-bloom care so it flowers again

Deadhead, keep feeding lightly, and many will rebloom; collect seed from the best plants at the end of the season if you want to grow them again.

For everything else this plant needs day to day, see the full blue prince holly care brief and its watering schedule — a stressed, badly watered plant rarely has the energy to flower at all.

Blue Prince Holly blooming — frequently asked questions

Why won't my blue prince holly flower?

Blue Prince Holly blooms on the season's growth given enough sun, warmth and the right feed — there is no cold or photoperiod trick, just good growing conditions and a bloom-leaning feed. The most common reason it is not happening: Too little sun — most of these need full sun (or very bright light) to flower well; shade gives leaves, not blooms.

How do I make blue prince holly bloom?

Give blue prince holly the sunniest spot you have — for most bedding and fruiting plants, more direct light directly means more flowers. Move off high-nitrogen feeds and use a higher-potassium "bloom" or tomato-type feed as it comes into flower.

When does blue prince holly normally bloom?