Garden Notes - an occasional column

Sign Up to be notified of new columns

February 2003 - Red Robin’s Treat

The winterberries are gone. A robin ate them. Watching him from the living room window, the cat and I were much entertained the last few weeks. Poor cat, lucky robin separated by glass, so close yet so far away. I found them both entertaining. Simple pleasures. Robin redbreast eating from the two large containers set near the front door filled with branches of spruce, rhododendron, and tons of winterberry holly. The arrangements served to welcome our friends and family, and now birds, all winter long.

In November we notice the winterberries—brilliant scarlet in the landscape of tree trunk and twig brown, burgundy wine, and gray. Sometime in February, perhaps late January this year, the berry color changed. It was so gradual, I didn’t notice the gradations from the bright red to an old wine brown as I scurried to the car intent on staying warm. While the extreme cold and frost of this winter was chilling and distracting me it was working the berries into bird food. Softened and signaled by the color change, the high protein became available to the birds.

Winterberry or Ilex verticillata , a plant native to New England, grows happily under the canopy. Woodland edge or your shrub border, the species grows up to 8’, but there are cultivars available now that fit into entry and patio gardens. A local nursery catalogue lists nine cultivars—two male and seven varieties of female. If you want the beautiful fruit you must plant a male somewhere within a hundred feet of the female. Of the males listed, ‘Apollo’ is the larger and ‘Jim Dandy’ considered dwarf at 6’ high. Both are considered excellent pollinators!

Of the female varieties mentioned the smallest at 5’ high are ‘Cacapon’ (heavy fruiting with medium-sized red-orange berries), the 1998 Cary Award winning ‘Red Sprite’ (heavy clusters of large bright red berries, dark green foliage that turns yellow in the fall), and ‘Shaver’ (glossy foliage, masses of large orange-red fruit). Any of these would work well in an small scale garden positioned to be seen from inside the house, from the drive, and entry walk.

The taller cultivars are best grown in the shrub or mixed shrub and perennial border. Consider ‘Afterglow’ at 6’ (glossy leaves with large orange-red berries maturing to orange), or ‘Maryland Beauty’ at 7’ (clusters of dark red berries that retain their color well in winter, dark green foliage all summer). At 8’ high is ‘Fairfax’ (heavy-fruiting, red-berried, large, leathery dark green leaves), ‘Stoplight’ (large, glossy dark red berries coloring early in fall, dark green foliage), ‘Winter Red’) (intense red berries last well into winter, heavy fruiting, dark green foliage).

The tallest is ‘Sparkleberry’ at 10’ high. (the U.S. National Arboretum hybrid, heavy fruiting, long-lasting small berries, vigorous, performs well in wet or normal planting locations). All are listed as hardy in zones 5 and some in 4. All require sun or part shade. When planting them, consider their native habitat under the canopy getting morning or afternoon sun, perhaps at the base of a hill.

For most of the growing season, winterberry is an anonymous green bush providing contrast in your garden to the white flowering spring blooming viburnums and summer blooming oakleaf hydrangeas. By late summer the fruit is visible with the green leaves, and more striking with the yellow fall leaf color. By leaf drop in late October or early November the winterberry just glows! Because the birds can’t eat the hard fruit of early winter, the brilliant berries persist until February or March depending on the winter. This year’s harsh winter made the berries soft for the birds earlier than usual I think.

So when you’re thinking of filling containers or borders for winter beauty plant the very beautiful and bird friendly winterberry. You’ll be glad as you watch Robins dine! But, of course, now that the branches are empty of fruit, I want to empty the containers and welcome spring! But pansies won’t be available until end of March or April. And until then the rhododendron branches in the containers tell me instantly if its very cold (leaves curled in tight), moderately cold (somewhat curled), or comfortably cold (is that a concept or what).  So I’ll resist the impulse to compost the greens for a bit longer. But soon as the ice on the drive thaws, empty containers will signal that I’m ready for pansies!

Action Items for Busy Gardeners

1. Shade gardeners: Order this great catalogue from Underwood Shade Nursery for $2.00. P.O. Box 1386, North Attleboro, MA 02763 .  They've an extended plant list (260 varieties of perennials) for shady gardens. The plant descriptions are accurate and comprehensive.
2. You can cut Forsythia branches anytime now to force into flower. The closer to April, the shorter time you have wait for the yellow flowers to appear. But if you have some tall vases or oriental jars and space for tall branches, this can be fun. When cutting for indoor stems, I'll pick a branch that needs pruning and cut it off close to the ground. Trim off what I want for forcing and recycle to the wood pile the rest. Before putting into a container filled with water, smash the stems with a hammer against a wooden  cutting board, or cut "x's" into stem bases with clippers.