Winterberry vs Falsebox - TreeTime.ca

Winterberry vs Falsebox

Ilex verticillata

Paxistima myrsinites

CUSTOM GROW

CUSTOM GROW

Winterberry
Falsebox

Winterberry is a small shrub that produces large quantities of bright red berries that remain on the plant through the fall and into the winter. Adding this shrub to your yard will give it a unique splash of color and attract birds, especially after the leaves drop.

Note: although the foliage is attractive on its own, you need at least one male plant near your female plants or they won't produce berries.

Falsebox is a hardy, native evergreen shrub found in forests, rocky slopes, and open woodland sites. Though small and easily overlooked among the leaves, the maroon flowers still supply nectar and pollen for pollinators such as native bees and flies. Blooming in spring, they provide an important early-season food source. Its year-round greenery adds visual interest through the winter.

Falsebox is a low-growing shrub that tolerates a wide range of conditions, including drought once established. It thrives particularly well beneath the shade of mature trees, where few other plants succeed. With its resilience and ecological value, Falsebox is well-suited for naturalization, restoration projects, and diverse landscape plantings.

Winterberry Quick Facts

Falsebox Quick Facts

Zone: 3a
Zone: 5a
Height: 3 m (10 ft)
Height: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Spread: 1.8 m (6 ft)
Spread: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: any
Moisture: normal, wet
Moisture: dry, normal
Growth rate: slow
Growth rate: slow
Life span: medium
Life span: medium
Growth form: prostrate to spreading
Spreading: layering - medium
Suckering: medium


Foliage: yellow-green
Foliage: evergreen, leathery leaves
Fall colour: bright orange to red
Bark: reddish-brown
Flowers: small, maroon-purple, fragrant
Bloom time: summer
Berries: bright red, stays through winter
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, PE
Native to: AB, BC
Other Names: black alder, canada holly, coralberry, fever bush, michigan holly, winterberry holly
Other Names: false box, mountain boxwood, mountain lover, myrtle boxwood, oregon boxleaf, oregon boxwood