No berries on winterberries again!

20 years ago

I purchased 2 winterberries laden with berries in '00. They didn't bloom in '01 so I had a male planted nearby. They didn't bloom in '02, and I thought it was because I had trimmed them back too much over the summer. So, this year I didn't touch them . . . and no berries in early November! Any advice? Thanks.

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wintergardener_zone5

17 years ago

Dear winterberry growers,

I have a wet, winter garden and focus on winter interest plants as winter is my longest season here.

Here are more things I've learned from growing winterberries:
1. Be patient. They take about 3 years to settle in. They will set fruit in August and then drop it soon after for several years. This is normal. Don't despair.
2. They are wind pollinated, which is why the male has to be within "X" feet of the females. One mature male will pollinate up to 5 females if at the right distance. I have also planted small male plants right next to females so they grow together.
3. Be accurate. You must have the right male for the female, as noted in e-mails above.
4. Males tend to grow larger/sucker more than females over time as they don't spend all their energy setting fruit.
5. Bluebirds flock in my yard and eat the winterberries typically by Jan 1. The berries need to freeze/thaw often for the fruit to be palatable to birds.
6. Try the dwarf form Red Sprite (about 3' tall and wide). They set huge berries that last until spring. Birds don't tend to eat these dward-variety berries. I grow the dwarf in shade and sun, and it does better in shade.
7. All winterberries really need is the right pollinator and plenty of moisture. They love wet feet in winter.
8. If there is a drought in August, they may drop their fruit out of stress. Doesn't hurt the plant.
9. Starting after leaf drop, deer eat the outer branches of winterberry, fruit and all. I cover the most-visited plants with black bird netting which is 100% effective and invisible from 6 feet away. Remove netting before they leaf out in spring or you'll be sorry.

Winterberry is lovely from Sept through Jan. They look pretty with green leaves in Sept, have lovely yellow leaves in Oct, and have great berries once established from Nov-Jan. I have never pruned them. Happy plants sucker on the sides so you can give them to friends.
I have alternated winterberry and yellow-twig dogwood (all moisture lovers) and it is stunning in winter sun. Put this combo in front of an evergreen hedge, like pine trees, and it is stunning. HAve to be ruthless to the yellow-twigs in spring or they'll crowd out the slow-growing winterberries.
Go winter!

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Comments (8)

shadygrove
20 years ago
You may need to make sure that your winterberries (I'm assuming Ilex verticillata) females have a male planted nearby that is actually the appropriate male to pollinate them--ie, blooms at the time they need. Not all males do that at the right time for all females. Any idea what varieties of Ilex vert. you have?
shrubs_n_bulbs
20 years ago
The mae may still be too young to flower well, or may be a poor match for your females. Or it may have been a bad spring for the pollinators, cold wet weather stops them flying about so much.

The flowers that should have been on the bushes this spring (did you see any?) would be set on the previous year's wood late in the previous season. So your pruning last summer could have affected this autumn's berry crop.
Loretta NJ Z6
20 years ago
I have a few winterberries, both I. verticillata and I. veriticillata x serrata. That would be Winter Red, Winter Gold, Red Sprite, Bonfire, Oosterwijk and Sparkleberry. Several of them were just rooted cuttings when I got them and they already held berries. Maybe seed grown will take time to flower but I think plants of named varieties from cuttings will flower the first year. Apollo pollinates all except Red Sprite and Oosterwijk. A friend has Red Sprite with Raritan Chief and has yet to see berries on it also. This year I purchased Jim Dandy because the local arboretum has Red Sprite full of berries every year and that is their male that I noticed. However, because I purchased it from zone 7 in a greenhouse and I am in zone 6, it was already blooming when I purchased it. Won't know if it worked until this year. If you have Red Sprite, you might notice the bark is whiter instead of black. Thought maybe it was a mistake but the local nursery had Red Sprite with light bark too. There are charts available that match male blooming times with female blooming times. Forest Farm has one in their catalog. They list in 2002 as follows:
End of May to early June bloomers:
Males: 'Early Male', 'Jim Dandy'
Females: After Glow, Autumn Glow, Cacapon, Harvest Red and Red sprite
Early June to end of June bloomers:
Males: Apollo, Southern Gentleman
Females: Bonfire, Maryland Beauty, Sparkleberry, Sunset, Winter Gold and Winter Red
Hope this helps. They are worth the trouble.
WebsterGrvs
17 years ago
Have 4 females, 3 Sparkleberry and 1 Winter Red. All are planted within seven feet of each other. A Southern Gentleman is located within the group with a Jim Dandy approximately 50 feet away. For the second year in a row the Sparkleberrys are healthy and loaded with berries but the Winter Red berries which had been abundant after flowering have turned black and dropped off the plant. It has been a dry summer and I have been watering every few days. The Winter red seems to show a bit more stress than the Sparkleberrys. Is it possible the Sparkleberry are a bit more hardy than Winter Red? Anyone have any similar observation?
bogturtle
17 years ago
No answer to your question, however, consider the frustration. Found unknown female at a great price years ago. Went years with only a dozen or so berries. Bought tiny Apollo male. That died, either from drought or being stepped on, or both. Bought foot tall 'Southern Gentleman' that coincided in bloom to female. Total load of big berries until last week. The first wave of migrating robins ate almost every one,leaving the native hollies mostly untouched. Will use bird netting next year, at least until the leaves are gone, or it snows. See bushes loaded all Winter locally, in neighboring swampland. Ya gotta laugh!
Embothrium
17 years ago
Well, at least you know your efforts were appreciated.
fred_grow
17 years ago
Ilex verticillata blooms on new wood, so pruning the bushes last year would not affect flowering this year. A very rainy period during bloom might well decrease the number of berries but I doubt if it would result in no berries at all. My guess would be either your male isn't a male or it blooms either earlier or later than your females.