Bright Berries for Winter Gardens

Winter berries are a familiar way to add color and interest to a landscape. Just picture one of the classic winter icons, the holly (Ilex spp.), with its bright red berries set against deep green leaves. Using berry producing plants in a year-round landscape goes beyond a simple holly plant however, and we are going to examine the possibilities that are available to modern gardeners.

Some tips for keeping your berries longer through the winter and avoiding giving them up for the birds to enjoy are simple. First plant your berry accented plants in a busier area of the garden where birds are unlikely to linger for a meal; near the entrance way, a path where people walk often or by the mailbox for example. Another thing to consider is that most birds are naturally attracted to red berries first so planting cultivars with white, yellow or orange berries may help you keep the berries from turning into snacks.

Another thing to be aware of to get the best berry production, is that some plants will need a male and female plant. Evergreen hollies and Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) need a male plant nearby for pollination and berry production. Native Bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica) is another species where only the female plant produces berries when a male plant is available to pollinate it.

Anything in the Ilex family will almost always have winter berries. This is the Holly family but you need to do your homework before you take one home; some of the members of this family are actually small tree size, while others grow no taller than a foot. Be sure you find out which one you are putting in the garden!

Some berry producing plants have quite an interesting history. For example, native Bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica) plants are known for their waxy, fragrant winter berries and are often used in today’s garden. However, they were used by early American settlers to make candles by melting down the berries. Sometimes you can still find real bayberry candles and enjoy the true-to-life fragrance.

Not all berry plants need to be shrubs in the back of a garden bed. The Mohave Firethorn (Pyracantha coccinea ‘Mohave’) for example can be trained up a wall, fence or trellis to produce masses of bright orange berries against an evergreen background, providing a stunning vertical accent in the winter landscape. A variety of Crabapple trees (Malus spp.) and tree Hawthorns (Crataegus spp.) are beautiful small trees in their own right, that also provide decorative winter fruit. Other winter fruits of interest are provided by conifers in the form of cones.

Find plants with winter berries or other interesting fruit in these categories:

• Red (or pink) Winter Berries
• Red Winter Fruit
• Blue, Purple or Black Winter Berries and Fruit
• White or Grey Winter Berries
• Yellow, Gold or Orange Winter Berries
• Decorative Winter Cones

Using plants with winter season fruits and berries create an incredible array of possibilities for adding interest to your landscape. See all six ways of using plants to create winter interest in the garden.