Ilex glabra
Inkberry
 
If you love the color and berries of holly but don’t enjoy the spiny leaves of the American holly, Ilex glabra might be just the shrub for you!
 
Known as inkberry, this evergreen holly grows to 3-8 feet tall and can adapt to a wide variety of sun and soil conditions . There are a couple of considerations that need to be taken when adding these to your landscape. While these shrubs are very full and bushy when they are young, they tend to lose the lower leaves as they age, so they will have a “leggy” appearance when fully grown. This isn’t a bad thing! Plan to have these as a background planting with a full perennial garden in front. 
 
Inkberry can also tolerate a heavy pruning, if you enjoy that sort of thing. In a more formal setting, inkberry could well take the place of the ornamental boxwood . If you are interested in having the berries (which you should! The birds love them!) you will need to have both a female and male plant. It can be very difficult to sex a young shrub or tree so plan on planting 3-5 of the same species within an area to insure at least one of each. You will need at least one male for every 20 females to see berries.
 
Plants can be purchased in-person or online (with in-person pick-up).
All online orders will be ready for pick-up 24-72 hours after purchase. You will receive an email to let you know when your order is ready. We kindly ask that you pick-up any orders within one week of purchase.