Source: ShrubBucket (NY)
Size shipped: #3 pot (measured almost 5'!!)
Planted: In ground, September 2020
First flowering: At the nursery
(This plant stayed behind when I moved in 2021; therefore, the following text will receive no further updates.)
This was part of my first order from ShrubBucket, placed not just because I wanted to try them out with their unique selling proposition of hand-delivering plants to your home without boxing or wrapping them, but also because they were the only place around that I could find this particular blue holly. And why did I want Blue Stallion in particular? Both for breeding purposes (I like the foliage and the cold-hardiness of the blue hollies -- definitely much nicer than the Chinese hybrids including 'Nellie R. Stevens' -- but I wish they grew faster; Blue Stallion is reputed to be the fastest-growing male of the bunch and to flower over a long period) and because, again, I knew I would be moving from my house within a few years and was therefore impatient to get enjoyable plants in less time.
When the plant arrived in my driveway (without any box or wrapping, just as promised), I was so impressed by the crown that it made me nervous to see what the root ball was going to be like -- I would not have expected a 3-gallon conventional smooth-sided nursery pot to be able to support such a large and dense crown, and I feared it would be hopelessly potbound.
And I was pretty much right. It was painfully obvious which side had faced south at the nursery, because that side both didn't have roots right at the pot edge and DID have more of the top growth. So I planted that side towards the house, figuring that the top growth would balance itself out with the sparser side pointing more towards the direct sunlight. From the rest of the rootball I sawed off about the outer inch or so with a pruning saw, before trying to bare-root what was left (and mostly failing). The soil itself was noticeably clayey, and I don't just mean from redder color -- I mean that there were clods that were difficult even to tear apart, like something in them had coagulated.
But assuming that the root system doesn't fail me and this thing gets properly established?... I think I may have found a broadleaf, less-crazy answer to Leyland cypress. The shape is already amazing (see photo), and I don't think it's due to pruning at the nursery. Depending on how much it ends up growing in a single season with us, I may not bother trying to improve on it and just see if I can come up with a female that looks just as nice and grows just as fast (while still being as cold-hardy). Also, this plant was patented back in 1980, so the patent is well expired by now, so I can take cuttings to my heart's content and continue to use it for breeding experiments in whatever place I move to next, without having to buy another one (because, as I said, it was hard enough locating someplace that sold this one).
Unfortunately, the deer attacks of November-December 2020 that did a number on some of my plants did not spare this holly (which I understand is a common problem with the Blue holly series, perhaps because their leaves don't carry sharp spines -- which I would otherwise consider a good thing). By March 2021, further browsing had left it completely defoliated. Time will tell if it bounces back.