Sparkleberry Winterberry
Ilex verticillata 'Sparkleberry'

Foliage: Dark green
Fall Foliage:  Little, but not significant
Fruit:  Bright red 
Habit/Form: Rounded
​Uses: Hedges, shrub borders, wetland areas (no sitting water)

Zone Hardiness:  5 - 9
Plant Height:  6 - 10  ft
Plant Width: 6 - 10 ft 
Light: Sun/part shade
​Growth Rate: Slow

‘Sparkleberry’ is a deciduous hybrid female winterberry that typically matures to 6-10’ tall and as wide. It is the result of a cross between Ilex serrata and Ilex verticillata. 'Sparkleberry' is noted for its dense, heavy fruiting of bright red berries, with good retention of the fruit throughout winter. This is a slow-growing, deciduous, multi-stemmed, suckering shrub with lustrous dark green leaves that turn yellow-bronze in fall. Relatively inconspicuous greenish-white flowers appear in the leaf axils in late spring.  Showy berries will persist throughout the winter (hence the common name) and often to early spring. Berries provide considerable impact and interest to the winter landscape. Berries are a food source for birds.  Planted at the woodland's edge or in a massed grouping, ‘Sparkleberry’ will add sparkle to your landscape! ‘Sparkleberry’ is a female selection and requires a pollinator, such as 'Apollo' or Southern Gentlemen',  for more berries.