About Albert & the Collection
Albert and Annick Néel, our gardeners at Chateau Yville since 1999, assembled an impressively broad collection of holly, with over 200 different varieties. His death in 2012 at the age of 74 brought an end to the experiments he began researching ilex growth in different soil-types and sunlight conditions on the property.
As a teenager, Albert Néel worked in nurseries in Britain, and later in the Netherlands, Germany and California. The relationships he forged then, and during the 25 years he had a nursery near Gonfreville l'Orcher, allowed him to assemble his impressive collection. Many varieties are donated cuttings from accessions such as the Arboretum Gaston Allard, Queen's Park in Windsor, the public parks of Limburg, Belgium, the National Arboretum of Washington DC, and many others.
Albert Neel dedicated his life to horticulture, and specifically to developing ilex accessions; the end of his career spent developing and carrying out experiments at the two large holly gardens at Chateau Yville. We have determined, if not to carry on his experimental work, to at least maintain the accessions he so lovingly created.
We are searching for an ilex expert to survey, assess and catalogue our holly collection, verifying the identity of each variety/cultivar, as well as exact location within the gardens.
