Ilex verticillata 'Winter Gold'

Ilex verticillata, or Winterberry, is dioecious (meaning individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if fruit (berries) are required). The 'Southern Gentleman' I. verticillata cultivar is the most common late blooming male pollinator plant for late blooming, female Ilex verticillata plants. 'Winter Gold' is a late blooming female I. verticillata cultivar that is compatible with 'Southern Gentleman'.  You need a ratio of one male Winterberry for every 6 to 10 female Winterberry plants. The other, late blooming female I. verticillata cultivars, include ‘Cacapon’, ‘Shaver’, 'Sparkleberry’, ‘Sunset’, and 'Winter Red'. 

'Winter Gold' is a deciduous shrub that provides year-round interest and makes an excellent hedge or addition to a rain garden. Its primary characteristic is the dense, heavy fruiting of orange-yellow berries that last throughout winter.  As noted above, 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. It needs an acidic soil or may suffer from chlorosis. 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. Flowers appear on new growth. Prune to shape in early spring just before new growth appears.

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.

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