Winterberry
Ilex verticillata
Handles wet soil, clay, deer, and cold, then covers bare stems in red berries from October through February. Plant a male so the females fruit.
Typically 1 quart–3 gal · $17–$85 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
The best native shrub for wet sites, with a winter berry display that feeds birds from October through February and stops people in their tracks.
Winterberry is the native holly built for the conditions that challenge most ornamental shrubs. Wet soil, heavy clay, poor drainage, cold winters, deer pressure. It handles all of it and then, in October, pays back everything you gave it with thousands of small, brilliant red berries that light up the bare stems and stay there through February. No other native shrub delivers this combination of toughness and winter spectacle. The straight species grows larger and more variable than named cultivars, which makes it excellent for naturalizing in wet areas, along pond margins, and in the low-lying back corners of properties. Plant both male and female plants together: you need at least one male for the females to fruit. Once established, this is a plant that asks for nothing and gives back every fall and winter for decades.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown winterberry propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
Plant winterberry instead of Heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica) in wet borders. Same job in the garden, without the spread.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Average
- Mature size
- 6–10 ft · 6–10 ft wide
- Bloom time
- Summer
- Bloom color
- White
- USDA zones
- 3–9
- Family
- Aquifoliaceae
- Native range
- Eastern North America from Newfoundland to Florida along wetland margins and swamp edges
Care notes for winterberry.
Moist to wet, acidic soil in full sun to part shade. Full sun maximizes berry production. Plant male and female plants together; one male per three to four females is ideal. Water until established; tolerates heavy clay and wet conditions. Essentially maintenance-free once established. Thin old stems to the ground in late winter to maintain vigor if plant gets crowded.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside winterberry.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
Ferns, sedges, and woodland natives that thrive under existing trees.
Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.