Winterberry is a shrub, not a tree. I'm not picking up the photo on my monitor that well so can't see the individual berries, but I can say that the color indeed looks like the color of the berries on my winterberries - flamin' red. Also, while I have cultivars that top out at about 5-6' and those in the photo obviously are taller, the overall growth habit is similar. So, yes, might be winterberry. There are various cultivars, so those may be taller variety.

I love winterberry. While the foliage is rather nondescript, it is attractive spring though fall, and the tiny white flowers are lovely in the spring. I have the male by the wood pile about 20 feet away - I only need his manliness in the spring :p The red berries on the females are *gorgeous* this time of year, I have them planted by my garage so I can enjoy them when I pull up.

Looks like winterberry to me. I grow Ilex 'Sparkleberry' and have Ilex 'Apollo' tucked behind a Mahonia nearby as the stud. Some people complain about the berries not persisting through the winter because the birds eat them all, but in my garden, the berries are only eaten in the Spring when they sweeten up a bit, usually by Mockingbirds and Cardinals. I have this planted on the North side of my house where it can be viewed from the porch, but I've always thought these plants would look spectacular against an evergreen backdrop.

Your "other" tree might be a persimmon...

I'm going out and try to take a pic of the shrub. It's very sunny but at 12F :D

I was wrong with the appearance but correct with the fruits. It's single trunk. Also, they're like 18' to 25' tall.

Here are the pics. :D large pics

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Well, okay, then, that settles that. Those are not winterberries (Ilex). No clue what kind of tree those are, but yes they are pretty.

My guess would be a cultivar of Malus, or ornamental flowering crabapple. Many have an excellent spring floral display, persistent fruits that hang on into winter, and can easily attain that size and height. There are also orange and yellow fruited cultivars. Look for newer cultivars that retain their fruit display into the winter and are resistant to apple scab, or they can loose most of their leaves and look pretty ratty by the end of the summer.

I think mxk3 thought you were talking about those last trees being winterberry, but from what I understood, you thought the tree in the first photo is winterberry and the other threes in the three linked photos are are a different kind of tree that you're also interested in.

It's possible they're hawthorns. English hawthorn can have trunks that look like separate stems that grew together or like a bundle of muscles, for lack of a better description. Your pic 2 seems to show those characteristics. Are they thorny trees? Some hawthorns are thornless, so that may not be a determining factor. Some have small berry-like fruit, and some have larger fruit.

Could be the flowering crab apple with red fruit that hangs on most of the winter named Malus 'Donald Wyman'. Very attractive during the cold months and favored by birds looking for winter food.

I'll try my best to get a more closer picture of the fruit and the trunk. I'm also not sure if this is owned by someone or our Huntley village. The reason I mentioned that is because, I'm worried that if I get really close to the tree, and someone sees me with a camera, they might think I am spying on something. :D hehehe.

You know what, I'll just take the pictures in spring. I'll just go there by bike with my camera.

Nah, I don't think you can wait till spring! :-D

You seem like me -- a little OCD about gardening.

A closeup of the fruit and a reasonably close bark/trunk shot would help.

ok ok, ha ha ha. It'll be 45F on Sunday. Hopefully the snow will melt. Problem is, the major street doesn't have enough parking shoulder. Or I can walk from my house to there. :D

I'll check my load today, hahaha! :D

Or I think the best I need to do is to talk to the homeowner.

could the tree in your 'link' be some kind of Hawthorn?
hawthorns can get 20-35 feet and can carry their red berries into winter.
the first photo in your post looks like winterberry, Ilex verticillata.

The first photo is winterberry, Ilex verticillata. I found it on google. I just used it to describe what I saw at Huntley Rd.

I'm heading to the place now. Give me few mins. :)

She was right beside me just about 1 ft. I can feel the warmth of her body so vividly. I even touched her whole torso. Hahaha! LOL.

Anyways, here she is. Large images. :D
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Yup, it sure looks like a hawthorn to me! Big bad thorns on that baby, too. Hope you didn't touch too closely!

I don't have one, but I'm thinking of getting a hawthorn for the winter color. You can find thornless varieties if you have kids who might want to play around them. Or maybe you want to keep kids away? :-)

stevation, that was a really good guess on your earlier post. :)

I'm glad you mentioned there is a thornless variant. Now, before I purchase one in spring, I need to look at my plan and find an area first. Not sure if putting it in front of the redtwigs and beside the driveway(right beside the bench) is a good idea. I read that they're trunks are short. So looks like they're not good for fronts.

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Am I correct that as much as possible, we should plant a tree in a location that when it matures, it doesn't extend to our neighbor's property?

Speaking about the thorns on the Hawthorne tree..what type of predator do they repel other than humans??? Are they deer repellants? How about maybe Opossums or groundhogs they might work for those because they are large but I imagine mice and rats can still climb the trees and eat the berries...same with squirrels. i was just wondering about the purpose of the thorns!
Joann

Not all hawthorns will produce that much persistant fruit......I'd guess this tree was Crataegus viridis 'Winter King', which is an extremely popular variety for the midwest, most particularly because of its very heavy and long lasting fruit display.

Thanks gardengal for the specific variant. I'll put it in my notes. :)

I am not a fan of Hawthorn, it is too apt to get spread around us in the fields. Having cleared a LOT of field fence from the encroaching Hawthorne and Honeysuckle, I have no kind feelings for either species.

The thorns are awful, usually to walkers, bike riders, and very apt to flatten a tire or spike on thru your shoe. 2-3" is most common but some are longer! They grow very fast and any fruit on these volunteers is usually gone pretty fast. I don't think any animals really are slowed down in climbing them to reach the fruits. Our local deer slide in and out of the spiky thickets of Hawthorn and wild roses without ever slowing down.

I will admit there is a lovely smell for a week or so in the spring with the volume of blooming trees, but I find no other redeeming features. I think in the UK, Hawthorn is one of the varieties used for hedging, instead of fences. Grown and trimmed into shape yearly, it is inpenatrable by large livestock. The spikes have to help in making the animals think twice.

My mother has one of these unnamed Hawthorns, received in the Arbor Society packet. I think it should be on the invasive species list! It survived, but has been a PAIN to live with. I tried killing it, but it came back. My mom likes it for the flowers. I cut the branches very high now to prevent being spiked while mowing lawn, damaging the neighbor. Then you have the spiky branches and trimmings to deal with, I always get spiked at least once moving them. Leaves usually are scabby in late summer, hers has no fruit. Not an attractive tree much of the time. Other varieties appear quite similar even when mature, scabby and unappealing, from viewing the ones on MSU campus. Also trades apple scab back and forth with her red cedars who have all succumbed to the disease. Hawthorn is an alternate host to the apple scab, so must be sprayed if there are apple trees around. Just keep hoping it will die, haven't resorted to Roundup yet, but close to it!

I would go for the Winterberries over Hawthorns. Look much more eyecatching, hold the fruit longer if berry sweetening is not till spring. And they appear to have less undesirable features than Hawthorn. I had not heard of a spineless Hawthorn variety, but still would not care to have Hawthorn with the scab problems. Not an attractive tree MOST of the year.

I did a search on Winterberries and found 2 pages of information, descriptions, and some opinions on various named varieties. I am seriously thinking of getting a couple myself for the winter color. Says you need two bushes for pollination.

Thank you OP for putting up the great winterberry photo to catch my attention and get my interest going!! Looks like it might be real happy in our woody area by the back yard.

Here is a link that might be useful: Winterberry Information

Yep, I contacted the nursery to ask if they still have Hawthorne. They still have 1 more 3" caliper from Baileys for $75. A really great deal. However, he told me that it's a low branching. When I went to the area, I had to duck down because it was to low. Honestly, I was thinking about the long sharp thorns night. I don't want my kids to get hurt. So looks like, I might not buy it anymore.

For the Winterberries, they don't have anymore. Why do we need 2 for pollination? Also, how does Winterberry look like in spring and summer, do they flower?

You can get persistent, red, winter fruit from some other trees, including some varieties of crabapple. I'm growing two Prairiefire crabapples, and they hold their tiny little apples all through the winter. The robins eat them when they return in the spring. Here are a few photos:

This one is a little abstract, I know, but I loved taking this shot one day last month, when the setting sun was shining on the fruit and making them sparkle.
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This shows how beautiful it is in May when it flowers. The flowers last two weeks, maybe three. The little crabapples get nice and red in the fall and last till the birds eat them in spring.
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Not all crabapples have persistent fruit like this (yes, that's the technical term for fruit that stays on the tree all winter). Prairiefire is a great tree for me in the Rocky Mtn west, but I'm not sure if it would get diseases or mildew back where you live. It's said to be very disease resistant, so it's probably much better than other crabs.

I'll have to visit my prairie fire crabapple. Looking from the kitchen, I don't remember seeing fruits. My crab is multitrunk.

You have a gorgeous garden!!! :)

The article said one male is needed to pollinate the females which have the colored berries. One male would be fine with 3-4 females, but more bushes would need a second male bush. Like other Holly bushes, you need the male to pollinate the female bushes so you have the attractive berries. Bushes should be labeled male or female when you purchase them, so you have the correct genders for berry production at home.

Amazing! I didn't know about the male/female information. Is it usually mentioned on the tag?

Hi v1rtus1ty, Ilex verticillata is dioecious, which means that the seedlings are either genetically male or female. You need to have at least one of each to get fruit. Usually it is difficult to tell which are which until they flower. My experience is that the nurseries will stock the male or pollinator along with a female in this case.

I have a fairly large lot and am planting out several native dioecious species. I purchase them in packs of 10 seedlings, figuring that out of 10 there is sure to be both males and females.

Re: Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) pollinators. You need to make sure you get the *correct* male pollinator for the female cultivar, as bloom times are different, so make sure to do a little homework before you invest - don't trust the nursery to stock the correct male. They may carry one male cultivar and quite a few females, and the male is great for one or two of the gals but not all of them.

V1rtu0s1ty: As I mentioned in my original post, the foliage of Winterberry is nondescript yet attractive through the growing season, the bush is well foliated, and the overall growth habit is pleasing. It doesn't get crazy out of bounds, it stays nice and neat. Both males and females get tiny sparkling white flowers in the spring (sometime in May where I am), and while they are quite small there is an abundance of them. Soon the berries appear, which of course are green but mature to red in the fall.

IMO the smaller cultivars of Winterberry are definitely front-of-the-house-worthy shrubs, they are truly lovely bushes. Also, they are native to this area, so they're generally happy as clams unless the soil is too dry. Mine are in part shade under a redbud tree and are thriving.

Get them!!! :0)

Re: Crabapples. Yea, they're gorgeous when blooming, but so many of them look like cr*p come mid-summer when all the leaves fall off. I had one at my other house that had big crabapples and stayed lushly foliated all season, but that cultivar (I have no clue what it was) seems to be the exception in this regard from what I've seen of the Crabs in my area. No, thanks....too many other gorgeous flowering trees to waste time on that nonsense.

Wow Mxk, I didn't realize that getting this pollination to work was that specific. It can be a little challenging shopping for these dioecious cultivars in the nurseries, I guess, if you want to get a nice display of fruit.

This makes sense though because I've observed significant genetic variation in the bloom time amongst a grouping of seedlings of the same species and from the same source of seed. It's amazing! Just hope that when my Ilex verticillata seedlings bloom that there's at least 1 male and 1 female blooming at the same time! Although that will probably be years from now because they are only 1 foot tall. :)

Hawthorn - Crataegus - is a pretty diverse genus and I think we need to be careful about generalizing regarding invasive species. Only a couple of species of non-native hawthorns are considered potentially 'invasive'......many others are native plants, including the 'Winter King' noted above, which by definition inludes them in a non-invasive category. They may very well be weedy in some circumstances but not invasive according to the accepted definition of that term.

Not all hawthorns produce thorns, either. Some species will produce significant thorns when young but will outgrow this tendency as they mature. Hawthorns are members of the rose family and are subject to a number of disease issues - leaf spot and rusts primary among them. Cedar-hawthorn rust (not scab) is a fungal disease that utilizes hawthorns as a host plant - the disease can cause spotty leaves and defoliation of the hawthorn (disfiguring but seldom fatal) but is typically not an issue to the junipers (the 'cedar' in cedar-hawthorn rust or cedar-apple rust refers to eastern red 'cedar', aka Juniperus virginiana). Hawthorns, which are closely related to both apples and crabapples and can get scab and fireblight as well but there are many very disease resistant cultivars of hawthorns (as there are apples and crabapples) and rust resistant species of junipers also.

Native hawthorns are considered excellent plants for wildlife plantings, are generally rather drought tolerant and adaptable to tough situations (poor soils, poor drainage, urban pollution). The fruit of several southern species, commonly referred to as mayhaws, is often used in making preserves.

If you have the space, Crabapples can be really lovely. Maybe not in the front yard in the most focal spot, but in the back or in a wild area, they have a lot of good qualities.

I have small thickets of wild Crabapples in the way back yard. They are a bit weedy, and probably a hybrid mix of native and non-native Crabs. But when these trees are in bloom, sitting underneath them is like being transported into heaven. Very floriferous fragrant blooms buzzing with all sorts of bees on a warm Spring afternoon. The fruit is very ornamental from fall and even into winter. Quite a variation in fruits too - some are big, some small, yellow and red. And the birds love them!

Blooms in early May -
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fruits in October-
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Some of the bigger fruits still hanging around during a snowstorm last January -

Beautiful!!!

Asked the nursery few minutes ago and they still have Donald Wyman and Golden Raindrop. Both are single trunks. The former has red fruits and the latter has yellowish fruit.

Purchasing it is no problem but the problem I am having right now is where to plant it. :)

He said, at maturity, it's going to be 20ft tall and 15 to 18ft wide. If I put it at the back, I'm not sure where. Maybe, I should transfer the 4 yellowtwigs(second link) on my drawing and put it in front of my viburnums then just prune it yearly. Or don't touch the planted yellowtwig and just plant the crabapples adjacent to the summer cottage plan(first link). Or maybe, you have other ideas that you can share.

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or maybe, keep the yellowtwig in place and put the crabapple in front of it??? Please let me know your thoughts please.

Thanks!

Thanks mxk3, for pointing out the need for specific males to use with Winterberry females and why. I was reading about Berry Nice and Berry Heavy at the Proven Winners site, and they recommend using the male Jim Dandy for both of them. Didn't say WHY though. Viburnums are similar in needing specific males that will pollinate when the females are blooming. The About Gardening site on link above, called the Berry choices natives, found in Michigan. I like natives and had planned to look for those choices, should be happy here! Maybe one of each and the male Jim Dandy pollinator. Now I know to ask better questions in my search.

I have a Coralburst Crabapple, a dwarf variety. Very nice tree, seems quite resistant to any of the apple tree problems. Nice leaf look all summer and fall. The resistance is bred into them. Nice rounded shape though it may need shaping every few years. I have had it about 8 years, been quite happy with it's flowers and fruit. My birds don't eat the fruit, not much winter color because they are very small. Nice choice if fruit bothers you. Really coral color blooms.

The differences in invasive Hawthorns might be our locations. Hawthorns here are HAPPY and reproduce in QUANTITY out in unmowed fields. They are ALL thorny, with the big spikes. They are happy in snow and cold, hot, dry summers, nothing makes them wilt or fail, darn it! Again, have not seen any spineless Hawthorns advertised or grown in public areas. Maybe more recent introductions have not been used yet. The MSU trees are mature, all the common ornamental varieties that do well here. REALLY spiked on all parts! Our Tree and Shrub class covered the good and bad on Hawthorns as we walked around to view them, for planting uses in this locale. All smell good, some better than others if you choose by flower and scent.

There are junipers growing locally, but not the ones going by Red Cedar names. That disease just doesn't let them get any age unless you get out and spray them religiously to keep them alive. Too many old, uncared for apples, volunteers, which harbor disease. Used to be the State Gov. would make you cut old apples to prevent disease spread to the producing orchard trees. Difficult in the home setting to care for 30ft Cedar trees, who are trying to get even larger! Easier to plant other evergreens who don't need such care. Too bad, the Red Cedars are very pretty with their soft, feathery branching. More flowing than the volunteer Junipers along the roads.

I received a go signal from wife this evening. Now, I don't know which one I need to buy, Donald Wyman or Golden Raindrop. They are both white flowering. However, I don't know if Golden Raindrop flowers abundantly. I did see many images though of Golden Raindrop and they look very similar to Donald Wyman. The only difference is the fruit, Donald being red and Raindrop being yellowish.

Which one has higher trunk? Which one grows taller in maturity? Which one is more rounded?

I will purchase it tomorrow because some landscaper grabs them again like last week. :P

Any help would be greatly appreciated.