Ilex verticillata 'Southern Gentleman'
- Phonetic Spelling
- EYE-leks ver-ti-si-LAY-tuh
- Description
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The male pollinator plant for female Ilex verticillata plants. You need one male winterberry for every 6-10 female winterberry plants. The female plants it pollinates include ‘Cacapon’, ‘Shaver’, 'Sparkleberry’, ‘Sunset’, 'Winter Red', and ‘Winter Gold’. Highly adaptable to soils including heavy clay but ideally prefers organically rich, moist loamy soils. It needs an acidic soil or may suffer from chlorosis. Prune in early spring before leaf out.
VIDEO Created by Elizabeth Meyer for "Trees, Shrubs and Conifers" a plant identification course offered in partnership with Longwood Gardens.
- Profile Video:
- See this plant in the following landscape:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- Tags:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- Tags:
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Attributes:
- Genus:
- Ilex
- Species:
- verticillata
- Family:
- Aquifoliaceae
- Dimensions:
- Height: 6 ft. 0 in. - 8 ft. 0 in.
- Width: 6 ft. 0 in. - 8 ft. 0 in.
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Whole Plant Traits:
- Habit/Form:
- Erect
- Multi-stemmed
- Rounded
- Growth Rate:
- Rapid
- Maintenance:
- Low
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Cultural Conditions:
- Light:
- Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
- Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
- Soil Texture:
- Clay
- High Organic Matter
- Loam (Silt)
- Sand
- Soil pH:
- Acid (<6.0)
- Available Space To Plant:
- 6-feet-12 feet
- USDA Plant Hardiness Zone:
- 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5b, 5a, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9b, 9a
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Fruit:
- Fruit Description:
- Will not produce fruits as this is a male plant.
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Flowers:
- Flower Color:
- Green
- White
- Flower Inflorescence:
- Insignificant
- Flower Description:
- Insignificant greenish-white male flowers appear in clusters of 6 or more leaf axils.
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Leaves:
- Leaf Color:
- Green
- Leaf Feel:
- Glossy
- Deciduous Leaf Fall Color:
- Gold/Yellow
- Purple/Lavender
- Hairs Present:
- No
- Leaf Description:
- Dark green glossy leaves that have purple-bronze to yellow fall color.
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Stem:
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
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Landscape:
- Landscape Location:
- Pond
- Riparian
- Landscape Theme:
- Rain Garden
- Design Feature:
- Foundation Planting
- Hedge
- Mass Planting
