The under appreciated, misunderstood & underutilized native shrub.
06-14-2025 Male plant about to flower.
Winterberry is under appreciated for the following reasons.
- Doesn't have beautiful showy colorful flowers. Instead it has very tiny white flowers almost unnoticeable from a distance.
- Requires both male and female plants for berries
- Requires a rather moist or wet and slightly acidic soil environment. However once established it can tolerate dryer soil conditions
Closeup of the male flowers prior to opening.
- Both the male and female plants must flower at the same time. Some of the cultivars flower at different times.
- The male and female plants need to be within 50 feet of each other.
- One male plant can pollinate up to 6 female plants.
Closeup of male flowers starting to flower showing the antlers.
- Plants need to be 3-5 years old and approximately 2 feet in height before any berries.
- Berries are produced om the previous years growth.
- Therefore pruning should be limited.
Closeup of male flowers in full bloom showing the pollen on the antlers.
The most effective pollinators of winterberry plants are native bees, particularly the specialized cellophane bee Colletes banksi, which is a native species known to exclusively pollinate winterberry (Ilex verticillata). berries on female plants.
Closeup of the female flowers showing a greenish nob and if pollinated will become the berries.
Green berries on August 29th
Berries starting to turn color.
The berries are now a bright red and will remain until late winter unless eaten
Depending upon fall conditions the leaves may turn a lemon colored yellow prior to falling off in late October or early November exposing the bright colored berries.
Leaves are all off, leaving just the red berries which unless eaten will remain until late winter.
Too bad I was not able to get a photo with snow as a background against the red berries which I will this coming winter.
Just one of at least 25 clumps of female plants I located with berries. I was surprised by the amount of berries considering that they were growing in a rather shady environment being surrounded by all the taller trees prior to losing their leaves.
I found just a few berries remaining on March 9th on just a few of the plants.
I also checked on January 14, but failed to take a photo and a which time the majority of the berries were still intact. and were still a bright red..
I wanted to check between these two dates but due to the deep snow and my mobitlity issues I was not able to.
Additional Winterberry Photos
For detailed information and photos: https://www.gardenia.net/plant/ilex-verticillata
