Plant: Admiration - Barberry
Barberry · Berberis thunbergii 'Admiration'
Size: 3 gal
Light
Bloom
Mature size
More about this plant
A dwarf Japanese barberry selection grown for its coloured foliage, following the species in being a dense, rounded, thorny deciduous shrub of 3 to 6 feet with alternate simple leaves that colour gold, orange and red burgundy in fall. Small pale yellow flowers hang under the foliage in April and May and are followed by glossy bright red ellipsoidal berries that persist into winter and draw songbirds. It tolerates clay, loam or sand, drought, heat, salt and urban conditions in full sun to partial shade. Note that Japanese barberry is recorded as an invasive species and the stems are spiny.
- Full Sun
- Grows to 6 ft tall and 6 ft wide
- Blooms in spring
- Hardy in USDA zones 4a-8b
- Deciduous foliage
Plant description
A dwarf Japanese barberry selection grown for its coloured foliage, following the species in being a dense, rounded, thorny deciduous shrub of 3 to 6 feet with alternate simple leaves that colour gold, orange and red burgundy in fall. Small pale yellow flowers hang under the foliage in April and May and are followed by glossy bright red ellipsoidal berries that persist into winter and draw songbirds. It tolerates clay, loam or sand, drought, heat, salt and urban conditions in full sun to partial shade. Note that Japanese barberry is recorded as an invasive species and the stems are spiny.
- Flowers
- Small pale yellow flowers about a third to a half inch across in late spring, April to May, borne under the foliage.
- Foliage
- Alternate, simple leaves about half to one and a third inches long.
- Fruit
- Bright, glossy, ellipsoidal red berries a third to one inch long that persist into winter.
- Bark & stems
- Numerous angular dark brown stems with slightly curved spines.
- Native range
- Asia (Japan)
