Berry Heavy® Gold Winterberry Holly – January 2021

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All The Reasons Why You Should Grow Winterberry Holly

A good winterberry holly is a sight to behold, whether it’s in your garden, floral arrangements, or winter decorations. That’s why we’ve chosen Berry Heavy® Gold Winterberry Holly as our January 2021 Plant of the Month! Lots of people want to bring this beauty to their own backyards, but there’s a lot of confusion about how exactly to be successful. We’ll highlight why Berry Heavy® Gold is one of our favorite plants and spell out the knowledge you need to grow this durable, easy-going shrub.

It's Deciduous

The berries shine without any leaves!

Unlike the evergreen hollies most people are familiar with, Berry Heavy® Gold Winterberry actually loses its leaves in winter. While that may sound like a liability at first, it actually makes those fabulous berries pop even more. Plus, the foliage of winterberry holly is soft – no unpleasant spikes to contend with.

Close up of Berry Heavy Gold Winterberry Holly with green leaves and gold berries
Before Leaves fall
Close up of the tightly-packed gold berries on the Berry Heavy Gold Winterberry Holly after the leaves fall
After leaves fall

It's One Tough Shrub

Don't waste your time worrying!

Berry Heavy® Gold Winterberry is exceptionally durable. It’s very tolerant of shade – though fruiting is best with at least some sun – and can grow in poorly drained soils, even standing water. More good news: it is very deer resistant, so you don’t need to worry about bambi munching the berries.

A group of Berry Heavy Gold Winterberry Holly shrubs with thin branches that are littered with bright gold berries.
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Plants Are Either Male or Female

It takes (at least) two to tango!

Here’s where people start to get confused: Winterberry hollies are naturally either male (pollen-bearing) or female (fruit-bearing). This means the males won’t develop any fruit, but you must plant both a male and a female to get fruit on the female. Berry Heavy® Gold Winterberry is a female, so we suggest planting with male Mr. Poppins or Little Goblin Guy

Here’s the good news: one male plant can pollinate up to five female varieties, so you can get away with fewer of the less showy member of the pair. Just make sure the male selection is compatible with the female(s), and plant them all within about 50’/15.24m of one another and you’re good to go!

Slow And Steady

Patience, please!

There’s no beating around the bush: winterberry holly is pretty slow-growing. So you’re going to need to give plants a few years until you get a display like this, especially from the small size available on our site. They’re more than worth the wait, though, so a small investment now pays big dividends for many years.

Shop now, ship in spring! If you want to add Berry Heavy® Gold Winterberry to your landscape in 2021, you can order now and the plants will ship this coming spring at the proper time for planting outdoors.

Stay tuned for more on Berry Heavy® Gold Winterberry this month!

Written by: Miranda Niemic, click here to read bio.

Questions, comments, or concerns? Let us know! We have an experienced, knowledgeable staff ready to make sure your garden turns out perfect. Or check out our other blogs, here.

 

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