Winterberry

Bare stems set with red berries from October into February, when there is little else showing color outdoors. Ilex verticillata is a native deciduous holly growing 7 to 8 feet tall and wide in full sun to part sun, hardy from Zone 3 through Zone 8. The leaves drop in fall and the fruit carries the plant through winter.

This is a female plant and requires a male to produce berries. Plant a male such as Jim Dandy or Apollo within about fifty feet, matched to bloom time. One male will pollinate up to five females.

Winterberry grows wild in swamps and wet woods, so it takes standing water and low ground that never drains, and it does fine in ordinary garden soil that does not bake dry. It is a host plant for Henry's elfin, and songbirds take the fruit in late winter after freezing has softened it.

It wants acidic soil and the leaves yellow in alkaline ground. Deer leave it alone. This is the straight species, which suits a naturalized wet area or a hedgerow.