Ilex verticillata (Winterberry Holly)

The signature native shrub for winter interest, winterberry holly's bare stems, packed with brilliant red fruit, are a confirmed deer-, fire-, and salt-resistant choice for wetland and rain garden plantings - genuinely valuable well past the growing season.

Species Overview

Winterberry holly is a deciduous shrub native to wetlands and forest edges across eastern North America, growing 3 to 12 feet tall. Unlike most hollies, it drops its foliage in fall, revealing bare stems packed with vibrant red berries that persist into winter, providing critical food for birds and striking seasonal color when little else is in bloom.

Application

• Wetland restoration and rain garden plantings - tolerates flooding and clay soils
• Winter-interest specimen and mass plantings
• Deer-pressured and salt-exposed sites
• Wildlife habitat - berries feed robins, eastern bluebirds, mockingbirds, and other songbirds

Growing Conditions / Specification Data

• Light: Full Sun to Full Shade
• Soil/Moisture Tolerance: Moist, acidic soils; tolerates flooding, clay, and soil compaction
• Drought Tolerance: High - tolerates heat and drought once established
• Flood Tolerance: High - A classic wet-site shrub listed alongside confirmed wetland obligates like swamp milkweed, buttonbush, and swamp azalea; tolerates saturated to standing water.
• Plant Type: Shrub
• Mature Height: 4-8 ft. (existing records show a wider 3-12 ft. range)
• Fall Color: Yellow
• Bloom Color / Period: White; May-June
• Wetland Indicator Status: FACW (Facultative Wetland)
• Native Range: Newfoundland to Ontario and Minnesota, south to Alabama
• Pollinator Value: Supports bees - inconspicuous flowers are an important early-summer nectar source, and this dioecious species requires insect pollination between separate male and female plants to set fruit.
• Hydrology: Moist-Wet
• Root Depth: Moderate (12-24 in.)
• Salinity Tolerance: Low
• Growth Rate: Moderate
• Shade Tolerance: Intermediate
• Growth Habit: Multi-stemmed/Thicket-forming - suckering
• USDA Hardiness Zones: 3-9
• Deer Resistance: Yes (Rarely Damaged)

Planting Guidance

• Dioecious - requires both a male and female plant within about 50 ft. for cross-pollination and berry production; one male can pollinate 6-10 females.