As I drove down the road this week I spotted the most beautiful red berries. They caught the morning sun and lit up the bare Fall landscape.
The shrub was winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata). It has bright red berries in the Fall and early Winter that are about 3/8″ in diameter.
Winterberry holly is a deciduous shrub. You usually see it growing along the edge of a swamp or stream in the wild. If you are going to plant winterberry holly in your landscape plant it in the dry soil next to the stream or swamp, not in the stream or swamp.
Winterberry holly grows six to ten feet tall depending on the light. There is a lot of variation in fruit set between.
I often plant winterberry holly in woodland plantings because it is a native shrub and very easy to grow.
If you’re looking for a reliable and easy to grow shrub that provides winter interest give winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata) a try.
By John Holden