Ilex Berry Poppins®

Genus:Ilex
Species:verticillata
Variety:’FarrowBPop’
ppaf:PP25835
Item Form:1-Quart
Zone:3 – 9
Bloom Start to End:Early Summer
Habit:Compact
Plant Height:4 ft
Plant Width:4 ft,Arizona,Idaho

Ilex Berry Poppins is blazing with red berries in autumn and winter, this deciduous female winterberry holly is as ornamental as one could desire from any plant. Indispensable to bird lovers and cut-flower arrangers, it is a blast of warmth for the chilly seasons, and is willing to be sited in damp, even wet soils.

A selection of the native American species, Berry Poppins is quite compact and very heavily branched. It needs a good hard pruning every late winter, for it blooms on new wood. And this works out well, because the plant becomes denser and better branched each time it grows back. Just 4 feet high and wide, it is sturdy and eye-catching, just the right size for foundation, a row along the driveway, the woodland garden, or the sunny to partly shaded garden. Adaptable and easy.

The berries are preceded by small white flowers, not particularly ornamental but incredibly profuse. It needs a male pollinator (like Mr Poppins®) for best flowering and fruiting. Other than that, Berry Poppins is carefree and, like its namesake, “practically perfect in every way”!

Note: According to the Humane Society of America, Ilex berries can be toxic to pets.