Strongbox Inkberry

Ilex glabra 'Strongbox'

Strongbox inkberry is a compact, mounding cultivar of native inkberry that stays dense and tidy without the suckering habit of the straight species. The glossy dark green foliage holds through winter without browning or tip damage, making it one of the most reliable evergreen shrubs for wet, cold, exposed sites in the Mid-Atlantic. Plant it at the edge of a rain garden, along a low spot in the yard, or as a massing shrub under trees. The small black berries that ripen in fall stay on the plant through winter, feeding bluebirds, robins, cedar waxwings, and other frugivores when little else is available. It stays naturally compact. three to four feet tall and wide. with no shearing required, which is exactly the point of this cultivar.