| Description | A medium sized thorny shrub with foliage in shades of reds and purples. Best grown in the full sun. |
|---|---|
| Plant Type | All Plants, Shrubs Deciduous |
| Hardiness Zone | 4-8 |
| Sunlight | for maximum foliage color it needs full sun, in shaded conditions the foliage color will fade to greenish purple |
| Moisture | average |
| Soil & Site | average |
| Flowers | small yellow flowers with purple veins in the early spring, produced on 1 year old stems |
| Fruit | red berries |
| Leaves | new growth will be reddish maturing to a darker maroon or purplish color, fall color is reds to maroons |
| Stems | spines |
| Roots | fibrous |
| Dimensions | Listed as 4'-5' wide by 4'5' tall. I had a pair in a landscape that were never pruned and they reached 5-6 by 4-5 feet in about 6-8 years. |
| Maintenance | A combination of the dense foliage and the spiny stems make this plant a garbage collector. They grab onto any piece of paper that blows through the yard. To avoid lots of punctures and scrapes, a good pair of gloves and a long sleeve shirt are required when cleaning this plant in the spring. Some pruning may be needed to maintain shape. If you like the flowers pruned after the blooming period |
| Propagation | seeds and cuttings |
| Cultivar Origin | Originated in 1913 in the Renualt Nursery, Orleans France. |
| Author's Notes | This plant will provide the landscape with a nice rich reddish or purple color. Give it at least 4 feet to spread. This will help negate hard yearly pruning to keep it within bounds. On one of the landscapes I maintained there were Red Barberry over 10 years old and they were at least 6 feet tall with equal or greater spread. |
| Notes & Reference | #01-Manual of Woody Landscape Plants (Michael Dirr) |
Cart
