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| "Our landscapes
and our way of life are defined by pavement and our desire to drive in individual
cars on it. Don’t think so? Try, for just one day, to eliminate using
your personal automobile to go about doing the rituals of your daily routine.
...." - Read more from Mike's Blog |
December:
Ilex verticillata -- Winterberry
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You’d be hard pressed to take notice of lex verticillata –Winterberry – in the landscape most of the year.
Its dull green foliage, insignificant blossoms and stiff unimpressive form leave it languishing in visual obscurity until late autumn when, after leaf drop, its prolific berries sparkle in the gloomy December light.
In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find a better plant for color in the winter landscape.
Large stands, impressively large and ‘leggy’ in stature, typically growing within wet margins in wild areas, become quite visible around Thanksgiving time.
Named
cultivars such as ‘Sparkleberry,’ ‘Winter Red,’
and ‘Red Sprite,’ produce large quantities of bright red
fruit on compact sized plants – 4-8’ tall and wide –
more suitable for the home landscape, often well into late winter.
A male plant – such as ‘Jim Dandy,’ -- is needed for
pollination.
For best fruiting, plant in a sunny location, in fertile, moist soils
high in organic content.
Best used in the landscape in large groupings, as a backdrop in the rear of the mixed border, or as an accent plant, combined against a background of conifers or ornamental grasses.
Give
it a good haircut every few seasons to keep its size in bounds. Hardy
zones 3-9.
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