After the winter solstice, all increasing photons are measured against every decreasing degree, as in “when the days lengthen the cold strengthens.” Despite the temperatures, another old saying goes, “No winter until the swamps are full.” Although the dreary factor is unusually tolerable when days are mild, seeps and boggy spots are looking as if they hold a good amount of water.
The winterberry blazes in them everywhere, lighting up short December days, whether dreary or bright. At this time of year, it is a real lift to see winterberry’s improbable scarlet in plantings at such public places as the airport, the Registry of Motor Vehicles, and the North Tisbury business district, as well as in natural ones.
Winterberry (Ilex verticillata), a native deciduous holly, is iconic for Island winter landscapes, especially up-Island. It associates with damp or boggy places, where it forms colonies, but also grows well and with less suckering in drier locations. Only the females produce berries, but they need males somewhere in the vicinity for pollination.
Wholesale clearing or brush-cutting of property destroys many native plants of interest — you might already have some winterberry! To have your source of decorating material, learn to recognize the young plants, including drab ones that might be males. Look for slender shrubs with whitish-grey multiple stems and finely textured leaves.
Newer cultivars have been developed, berrying more heavily than the type, and are listed in the following from the Piedmont Master Gardeners (Charlottesville) website, piedmontmastergardeners.org/article/winterberry-holly/:
- ‘Berry Heavy’ — Size: 6 to 8 feet tall and wide. Just as its name suggests, this female cultivar produces abundant bright red fruit. Its shiny foliage takes on a purplish-bronze tint in autumn. Pollinator: Early-blooming ‘Jim Dandy.’
- ‘Berry Nice’ — Size: 6 to 8 feet tall and 3 to 5 feet wide. It produces deep-red berries in stark contrast to its autumn foliage. Pollinator: ‘Jim Dandy.’
- ‘Bonfire’ — Size: 8 feet tall and wide. A hybrid between Ilex verticillata (North American) and I. serrata (Japanese finetooth holly), this cultivar grows more rapidly than the species and produces masses of small red berries at a young age. Pollinators: ‘Apollo,’ ‘Jim Dandy,’ or ‘Southern Gentleman.’
- ‘Cacapon’ — Size: 6 to 8 feet tall and wide. This cultivar has a nice upright, rounded habit and is distinguished from other winterberries by its crinkled, glossy dark green leaves. It has abundant bright red fruit and makes a great landscape plant with year-round interest. Pollinator: ‘Jim Dandy.’
- ‘Red Sprite’ — Size: 3 to 5 feet tall and wide. The smallest of the cultivars, this compact female, bears abundant, large, bright red berries and densely spaced, dark green leaves. It is an excellent choice for a smaller garden or for a mixed border. It is also ideal for a mass planting or low hedge. Pollinators: ‘Jim Dandy’ or ‘Apollo.’
- ‘Sparkleberry’ — Size: 12 feet tall and wide. Introduced by the United States National Arboretum, this is a hybrid of I. verticillata and I. serrata. A fast grower with an upright form, it produces generous quantities of large, brilliant red fruit that persist through the winter. Berries facing the sun may fade. Pollinator: ‘Apollo’ (a hybrid resulting from the same breeding program and the same cross as ‘Sparkleberry’).
- ‘Winter Red’ — Size: 6 to 9 feet with a slightly narrower spread. This female cultivar has an upright habit and is one of the most popular winterberries grown commercially. It produces abundant, long-lasting, pea-size bright red fruits that are very showy in the winter landscape. Pollinators: Late blooming ‘Southern Gentleman,’ ‘Apollo,’ or ‘Raritan Chief.’
New plants here
From the National Garden Bureau comes a listing of 100 new varieties for 2016. It is too comprehensive to list individual entries here, so please go to ngb.org/varieties/index.cfm?VID=651 to view them all.
Flowering tobacco
The genus Nicotiana, natives of South America, austral Pacifica, and southwest Africa, contains a huge number of useful varieties, many of which seem to have slipped under the radar of gardeners and growers. That is a pity because these are fabulous plants, of grand stature and commanding habit.
With the renewed interest of homegrown everything, not only will tobacco users find the “Illustrated Guide to Flowering Tobacco for Gardens,” by Richard Pocker (self-published, available through Amazon) handy, and gardeners such as myself, with a love for them as flowering plants, will find the book a fascinating guide to all things Nicotiana. The book’s comprehensive list of common names and a complete list of Nicotiana seeds and sources are invaluable, and will help the aficionado track down desirable varieties. Many photos of various tobaccos are a bonus.
Garden miscellany
Deer ticks are prevalent. Tropical hibiscus, and many others pot plants benefit from a period of dormancy after having been brought indoors; achieve it by withholding water for four to six weeks after bringing inside, until daylight has noticeably increased. Misting and watering from below are good ways to counter the inevitably dry indoor atmosphere that is so challenging for houseplants.
Clear away leaf accumulations lodging in trees and shrubs centers, especially evergreens. This is less surface for snow and ice to cling to. Boxwood plucking and pruning, to create stocky plants and eliminate willowy stems with only a tuft of foliage at the outer end, are good ways to avoid winter damage to prized plants, and apply to some others, such as inkberry, yew, and rhododendron. For this year, it may be somewhat late but plan to do this for the coming year.
Merry Christmas
“For the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great”: Those who live in mean circumstances, or without justice, fairness, or concern for the natural world, do not thrive — and there is, therefore, no true thriving for anyone.
