Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
← Explore Plants
Plant · P-1016
Winterberry
Ilex verticillata
Winterberry is a deciduous holly and dense, upright shrub that loses its leaves each fall to reveal branches covered in small, bright red berries that persist through much of the winter. It spreads by root suckers to form colonies in consistently moist ground and tolerates open swamps, boggy soil and standing water that would kill most other shrubs. Its abundant winter fruit is stripped by dozens of bird species once softened by frost, and a male plant must grow nearby to pollinate the females that bear it.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun · Shade
- USDA zone
- USDA 3–9
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Moist · Wet · Well-Drained
Vertical layer
Shrub- Soil pH
- 4.5–6
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 6–12 ft
- Mature spread
- 6–12 ft
- Plant spacing
- 3–6 ft
- Root type
- Fibrous-shallow
- Spread pattern
- Both
Keep exploring
Similar plants
Discover more plants with shared forest layers or growing conditions.
Agarita
Alloberberis trifoliolata
Agarita is a dense, spiny-leaved evergreen shrub of rocky limestone hills, slopes and thickets from south Texas through the Trans-Pecos to…
Shrub · USDA 7–9
American Beautyberry
Callicarpa americana
American Beautyberry is an arching deciduous shrub of rich woods, moist thickets and swamp edges across the southeastern and south-central…
Shrub · USDA 6–10
American Black Currant
Ribes americanum
American black currant is a multi-stemmed deciduous shrub native to the cooler parts of eastern and central North America, from Alberta to…
Shrub · USDA 3–7
American Elderberry
Sambucus canadensis
American Elderberry gives two harvests a year - creamy flower clusters in June for cordial, fritters and tea, and purple-black berries in…
Shrub · USDA 4–8
American Gooseberry
Ribes hirtellum
American gooseberry is a low, multistemmed shrub native from Labrador and Manitoba south to Maryland and Iowa, and the wild parent behind…
Shrub · USDA 4–6
American Hazelnut
Corylus americana
American Hazelnut is a thicket-forming shrub that bears small, thick-shelled nuts good raw or cooked, and it pollinates itself, so a single…
Shrub · USDA 4–9
The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference