Barberries

Barberries

Barberries are some of the most beautiful and colorful shrubs available. They keep most of their color all year long until the frost hits them.

New growth is usually spectacular in color. Barberry bushes are easy to keep pruned to a full and compact size and shape. Some do it without much of your help.

Flowering on a Barberry is usually not a highlight. If even visible, there will be tiny yellow flowers tucked in among all the leaves and needles. They grow many extremely sharp needles. Handle with care and use gloves.

Barberry branches are loaded with lots of very sharp needles. They usually grow in tandem and are well hidden among the leaves. For this reason, be careful handling the plants because the tips can break off in a finger or leg and be very painful and even get infected.

They can be used as effective hedges or borders under windows. Any place that you don’t want people or animals to go, Barberry will work. Of course, they are so beautiful that you just might want to put them front and center to showcase them.

Some varieties will have little red seedpods in the fall. Birds can eat these and inadvertently spread the seeds. This has caused some areas of the country to declare them as invasive. They don’t grow true to the parent plant either.

Some of the Barberries we may have available here are:

• Rose Glow
• Crimson Pygmy
• Golden

Rose Glow

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Berberis thunbergii ‘Rose Glow’
Easily pruned to 2′ to 5′ high and 2′ to 4′ wide.
Full sun
Small oval-shaped leaves are burgundy on red stems. New growth is pink and white variegation, giving the plant its glowing namesake appearance. Branches are loaded with very sharp needles.

Crimson Pygmy

Berberis thunbergii ‘Atropurpurea Nana’
1′ to 2′ high and 2′ to 3′ wide.
Full sun
Small reddish-green oval leaves abound on red stems. New growth is bright red in color. These keep small in size without pruning. Branches are loaded with very sharp needles.

Golden

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Berberis thunbergii ‘Aurea’
2′ to 4′ high and 3′ to 5′ wide.
Full sun
Small oval-shaped leaves are golden yellow, especially in full sun. Less sun gives them a green tint. Branches are loaded with very sharp needles.

Not all of these may be available. There may be others.