General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Shrub
Vine
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Partial Shade to Full Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Dry Mesic
Dry
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 5a -28.9 °C (-20 °F) to -26.1 °C (-15 °F)
Plant Height: 50 feet
Leaves: Evergreen
Flowers: Inconspicuous
Uses: Will Naturalize
Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Stem
Layering
Pollinators: Various insects

Image
Common names
  • Winter Creeper
  • Wintercreeper
  • Wintercreeper Euonymus
  • Fortune's Spindle
  • Japanese Spindle Shrub
Botanical names
  • Accepted: Euonymus fortunei
  • Synonym: Euonymus hederaceus
  • Synonym: Euonymus kiautschovicus
  • Synonym: Euonymus patens

Photo Gallery
Location: Fairfax, VA
Location: Aberdeen, NC 
Date: July 15, 2022
Winter creeper #69 nn; LHB page 633, 112-6-4, "Ancient Greek name
Location: Middle Tennessee
Date: 2014-07-29
Location: Fairfax, Virginia (April 2022)
Date: 2022-04-30
Location: Aberdeen, NC 
Date: July 15, 2022
Winter creeper #69 nn; LHB page 633, 112-6-4, "Ancient Greek name
Location: Aberdeen, NC 
Date: July 15, 2022
Winter creeper #69 nn; LHB page 633, 112-6-4, "Ancient Greek name
Location: Middle Tennessee
Date: 2012-11-13
Fall
Location: Tennessee
Date: 2012-01-29
beginning to emerge and spread in the yard
Location: South Jordan, Utah, United States
Date: 2021-08-07
Location: Tennessee
Date: 2012-02-03
Location: Middle Tennessee
Date: 2014-07-29
Location: Frederick MD zone 7A
Date: 2020-08-14
Spreading vines on ground
Location: Frederick MD zone 7A
Date: 2020-08-14
Climbing vine attaching to tree trunk
Location: Frederick MD zone 7A
Date: 2020-08-14
Location: Aberdeen, NC 
Date: July 15, 2022
Winter creeper #69 nn; LHB page 633, 112-6-4, "Ancient Greek name
Location: Washington 8b
Date: 2017-06-06
Location: Washington 8b
Date: 2017-06-06
Location: Middle Tennessee
Date: 2012-11-13
Fall colors
Location: Tennessee
Date: 2011-08-31
Comments:
  • Posted by flaflwrgrl (North Fl. - Zone 8b) on Oct 26, 2013 1:30 PM concerning plant:
    This plant is native to east Asia, including Japan, Korea, China, and the Philippines. It is on the invasive lists in Missouri, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Indiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Virginia. It is also listed as invasive in numerous US National Parks in Maryland, Washington D.C., West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Connecticut, Ohio, Alabama, and Tennessee.

    It is recommended you DO NOT plant this! Not only does it spread vegetatively, but its seeds are also dispersed by water, as well as by animals.
  • Posted by ILPARW (southeast Pennsylvania - Zone 6b) on Jul 25, 2019 5:46 PM concerning plant:
    I've never seen the straight or mother species of this east Asian evergreen, woody plant, but there are a few different varieties and numerous cultivars, as it produces lots of sports. It can be a groundcover or a vine or a low shrub with vine-like extensions above or just a low shrub. There is a large number of various variegated low shrub forms that are commonly planted, and I can't think of those mutations as bearing any fruit. All forms can be attacked the white shelled Euonymus Scale insect that usually is deadly, and most types and cultivars by Crown Gall that is a soil bacterial disease that causes brown galls on stems near or along the ground. After experiencing this plant a number of years in many landscapes of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, I just don't consider this to be a good quality plant, and there are reports of the forms that can bear fruit of becoming invasive.
  • Posted by SongofJoy (Clarksville, TN - Zone 6b) on Feb 3, 2012 5:01 AM concerning plant:
    Winter Creeper is a very aggressive perennial woody vine that climbs as well as spreading over the ground. It tolerates full sun, heavy shade, and most soil moisture conditions other than wet. It can grow up trees, poles, and buildings by attaching itself with aerial roots.

    Winter Creeper can cover the ground and vegetation and eliminate native groundcovers and spring ephemerals. It is a serious potential threat because it spreads so rapidly and shades out other vegetation.
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