Plant: Mr. Poppins® Winterberry
Holly · Ilex verticillata 'FarrowMrP'
Size: 2 gal
Light
Bloom
Mature size
More about this plant
Mr. Poppins is a compact male winterberry holly, a space saving deciduous shrub of only 3 to 4 feet tall and wide that is hardy from zone 3 to 9. It bears insignificant white flowers on old wood in spring and no berries of its own; its job is to pollinate female winterberries such as Berry Heavy and Berry Poppins, and one plant can serve up to five females planted nearby. It thrives in full sun to partial sun and tolerates wet soils, so it fits the same rain garden and pond edge conditions as the females it pollinates.
- Full Sun
- Grows to 4 ft tall and 4 ft wide
- Blooms in spring
- Hardy in USDA zones 3-9
- Deciduous foliage
- Native plant
Plant description
Mr. Poppins is a compact male winterberry holly, a space saving deciduous shrub of only 3 to 4 feet tall and wide that is hardy from zone 3 to 9. It bears insignificant white flowers on old wood in spring and no berries of its own; its job is to pollinate female winterberries such as Berry Heavy and Berry Poppins, and one plant can serve up to five females planted nearby. It thrives in full sun to partial sun and tolerates wet soils, so it fits the same rain garden and pond edge conditions as the females it pollinates.
- Flowers
- Insignificant white flowers open on old wood in spring; this is a male selection, so it bears no fruit and exists to pollinate female winterberries such as Berry Heavy and Berry Poppins, one male serving up to five females.
- Foliage
- Deciduous, simple, smooth, acuminate, cuneate, obovate to oblong-ovate leaves 1.5 to 4 inches long with doubly serrate margins.
- Bark & stems
- Olive-brown to purplish-brown lenticelled stems; grey to blackish bark with knobby lenticels.
- Native range
- Eastern North America
