Source: The Tree Center (MD)
Size shipped: #2 pot (measured 1'6")
Planted: In ground, September 2019
First flowering: At the nursery
(This plant stayed behind when I moved in 2021; therefore, the following text will receive no further updates.)
Seeing so many berries already on the tree straight from the nursery was a pleasant surprise, since I don't know how old blue hollies usually have to be before flowering. However, there appeared to be two trunks right from the ground, which seems counterproductive if the goal is a conical shape. I plan to shorten the less developed one eventually to keep it subordinate (not yet, to avoid shocking it too badly).
My initial impression, on removing the plant from its pot, was that I should have gone for the 1-gallon size instead... the roots weren't horrible but they certainly weren't good, and it took some time to separate things well. The root ball seemed very dense and difficult to pry apart, which I'm hoping means that there are a ton of fibrous roots in there and not that the plant has been repeatedly potbound at different pot sizes throughout its life.
Growth in spring 2020 was not impressive, and then in July the holly appeared to be dropping clumps of foliage in a manner that looked like something had tried to bite them off. (At least, I hope it wasn't due to drought stress. It didn't look like it was wilting.) I applied blood meal, both to fuel replacement foliage and to try to keep mammals away; by August, regrowth was evident (but still slow).