Winterberry Holly

A wonderfully adaptable native Holly with vivid late-season berries, the Winterberry Bush (Ilex verticillata) is a deciduous Holly with loads of perks for your biodiversity and landscape! The glossy green leaves are dark green and pointed leaves lack the spines of some Hollies.

A native plant to eastern North American wetlands, commonly found in swamps and damp woods and along streams and ponds, the Winterberry is well-known for its beautiful flowers in spring that pollinators adore! The biggest draw for these shrubs is the gorgeous display of beautiful red berries that simply burst from the bare branches each winter and call birds near and far!

Praised for its abundant berry production and rounded shape, both the male and female shrubs have gorgeous foliage and tiny white blossoms in the spring that pollinators adore! Please note that for berry production on female plants, you do need multiple shrubs planted in close proximity to ensure at least one male shrub for the female berry-producing shrubs.

The berries on female plants stand out once they lose the serrated, glossy leaves in the fall. Birds love the berries, so get ready for lots of feathered visitors. Bring some branches inside for holiday décor before the birds enjoy them all! Hardy and adaptable throughout USDA zones 3 to 9, Winterberry Holly grows variably to 5 - 10 feet in height and width.

Planting and Application:

The foliage of these deciduous Hollies fills in nicely, branching to the ground for full coverage. This is a perfect background or filler plant along a fence, or creating a natural summer hedge or screen! Use these showy plants as foundation borders and privacy anywhere in the sun or part shade without worry!

This is a great shrub for erosion control along creek beds and sloping areas. Any hard-to-mow hillside will transform into a brilliant display! Native Winterberry Holly will even be perfect in a Rain Garden to help filter water runoff from roofs and streets before it flows into storm drains.

The dense branching is shelter and cover for birds in addition to the feast of red berries on the female plants. And you’ll love snipping a few stems for winter container displays, wreaths, swags, and holiday floral displays!

• Glossy Dark Green Deciduous Leaves
• Male & Female Separate Shrubs
• Tiny White Blooms Pollinators Adore
• Bright Red Fall Berry Display on Female Plants
• Fantastic Hedges, Screening, Backdrops, Wetland & 3-Season Interest

#ProPlantTips for Care:

Deciduous Holly bushes are wonderfully easy to grow and low-maintenance! Highly adaptable to various climates, they can handle some of the toughest challenges, including partial shade and wet soils. It even thrives in wet or boggy spots in your landscape! Doing best in full sun and well-drained soil, these slower-growing shrubs won’t take all your time to care for either! Prune after flowering in the spring, and you are done!

All plants establish faster and do best with the lifelong support of Nature Hills Root Booster added at the time of planting, and appreciate a 3-4 inch deep layer of mulch over the entire root system. Provide new plants with regular moisture in their first year, and then you only need to add supplemental moisture during drought and the drier summer months.

• Partial Shade & Full Shade
• Almost Any Well-Drained Soil
• Wide Range of Moisture Adaptability
• Prune After Flowering
• Low-Maintenance & Deer Resistant

Featuring prolific berries and glossy foliage, the wonderful wetland native Winterberry Holly Bush will look absolutely stunning in your landscape! Order yours today from NatureHills.com to enjoy ornamental winter décor and easy care resilience!