Yellow or Orange Berry Plants
Winter Interest with Orange and Golden Berry Producing Plants
Yellow, bright orange or golden colored winter berries can make a fantastic splash of color in a garden landscape.
Holly (Ilex spp.): While most people tend to think of hollies as having red berries, there are several cultivars with yellow or golden berries.
- Ilex opaca Xanthocarpa is an evergreen holly with dark green, shiny leaves and bright yellow berries. It is hardy in zones 5-9 and grows rather large from 25’ tall and 15-20’ wide. Full sun or full shade, this large holly can bring color and interest to your garden year round.
- Ilex meserveae ‘Golden Girl’ - A so-called “Blue Holly”, the Golden Girl is a dense, evergreen holly with tight conical growth habit and profuse golden berries. Great for borders, foundation plantings or even large containers, this holly plant grows to 12’ x 15’ in ten years and is hardy zones 4b-9.
- Ilex verticillata 'Winter gold' is a smaller holly shrub growing to 6’ tall and wide. This holly, often called winterberry, is deciduous but the bright yellow-orange berries put on quite a winter show, even without the foil of green leaves behind.
For more information on the hollies and all they have to offer consider the book Holly: The Genus Ilex by Fred C. Galle; a definative look at the genus and all it entails.
Firethorn (Pyracantha spp.):
- Pyracantha ‘Mohave’ is a great example of the bright orange berries a firethorn can produce. Hardy zones 6-9 and growing well in full sun this 6’ shrub is a mass of berries all winter long. Let grow in a bushy mound or train along a fence or wall as an espalier.
- Pyracantha Gnozam is a dwarf variety growing only to 4’ tall. Like all Firethorns, the Gnome Firethorn is evergreen making it a great specimen to add to your garden for winter interest. The dense, multi-branched bush produces brilliant orange berries in the fall that last all winter long.
The American Cranberrybush or Viburnum is another terrific winter berry producer that is hardy through zone 3. There are several yellow or orange producing viburnum cultivars that make great additions to any garden. Viburnum opulus ‘Xanthocarpum’ is hardy to zone 3 and grows to approximately 5’. The Micheal Dodge Viburnum is 5-6’ as well and has brilliant reddish fall foliage.
Yellow berries can be a bright spot on a dreary winter day. Plant them where you can enjoy them to brighten up your garden!
See all the winter berry plants in other colors or learn more about using plants to create winter interest.
