Ilex verticillata 'Winter Gold'
- Phonetic Spelling
- EYE-leks ver-ti-si-LAY-tuh
- Description
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'Winter Gold' is a deciduous shrub that provides year-round interest makes an excellent hedge or addition to a rain garden. It is a female plant and needs a male to produce its showy orange-yellow fruits. It prefers full sun with some afternoon shade and medium to wet soils. Because it tolerates wet soils it does well in pond margins, stream beds, or low lying areas of the yard. Mass plant or in small groups and place it in shrub borders or as foundation plants. Prune to maintain an attractive shape in early spring before leafing out.
Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: No serious problems. Powdery mildew and leaf spots are occasional problems. Plants will show a decline in alkaline soils.
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
- Wildlife Value:
- Fruits attract birds.
- Dimensions:
- Height: 5 ft. 0 in. - 8 ft. 0 in.
- Width: 5 ft. 0 in. - 8 ft. 0 in.
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Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Shrub
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Deciduous
- Habit/Form:
- Erect
- Multi-stemmed
- Rounded
- Growth Rate:
- Slow
- Maintenance:
- Low
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Cultural Conditions:
- Soil pH:
- Acid (<6.0)
- Neutral (6.0-8.0)
- Soil Drainage:
- Moist
- Available Space To Plant:
- 3 feet-6 feet
- 6-feet-12 feet
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Fruit:
- Fruit Color:
- Gold/Yellow
- Orange
- Display/Harvest Time:
- Fall
- Summer
- Winter
- Fruit Type:
- Berry
- Fruit Length:
- < 1 inch
- Fruit Description:
- Orange-yellow 1/4" fruits appear only if there is a male plant like 'Southern Gentleman' around to pollinate. They set in late summer but can persist into winter hence the common name.
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Flowers:
- Flower Color:
- Gold/Yellow
- Green
- White
- Flower Inflorescence:
- Insignificant
- Flower Bloom Time:
- Spring
- Summer
- Flower Size:
- < 1 inch
- Flower Description:
- Tiny white flowers with a green/yellow center in leaf axils from May-June.
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Leaves:
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Deciduous
- Leaf Color:
- Green
- Deciduous Leaf Fall Color:
- Gold/Yellow
- Hairs Present:
- No
- Leaf Length:
- 1-3 inches
- Leaf Description:
- Dark green leaves 2"-3" long with obvious venation outline on top with a lighter green underside where the veins are obvious in a pale-green. Fall color is variable but sometimes attractive yellow-bronze.
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Bark:
- Bark Color:
- Dark Gray
- Light Gray
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Stem:
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
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Landscape:
- Landscape Location:
- Pond
- Riparian
- Landscape Theme:
- Rain Garden
- Winter Garden
- Design Feature:
- Border
- Foundation Planting
- Hedge
- Mass Planting
- Small groups
- Attracts:
- Songbirds
- Resistance To Challenges:
- Erosion
- Pollution
- Wet Soil
