Kinds and grades of barberry

Barberry is a thorny perennial bush from the family of Barberry, which fruits bright red berries. It is grown as a medicinal, ornamental and honey plant. The berries of this plant (some species) are used to make caramel, jelly, juice, jam and seasoning.

Description of the plant

In natural conditions occurs most often in the Northern Hemisphere. On average, shrubs grow to two meters. The bush has simple jagged leaves and spiny shoots. Fruit-bearing plant begins from the third year after planting. From one bush gather up to 10 kg of berries. The plant is known for its many useful properties: berries contain a lot of vitamin C, the leaves contain malic acid, vitamins C, E. Oil is obtained from the seeds. Roots and bark are used as a colorant of yellow color.

Barbaris: species and varieties

In nature, there are about five hundred species of this shrub - deciduous and evergreen specimens. Forty-five of them are cultivated in many countries. In our country, barberry is used in landscape design. Edible varieties are of two types - Amur and common.

Barbaris vulgaris

Shrubs of this species grow to 2.5 m. They have spiny shoots, dark yellow color, which from the stem diverge in different directions, forming arcs. The leaves are painted in a dark green color, their lower part has a gray tinge. Flowering plants in May and June. Inflorescences are drooping, racemose, fragrant yellow in color.

Fruits this barberry in the autumn, oblong, very beautiful berries, which have a sour taste. Their size is 1.2 cm. Due to the fact that berries do not fall off for a long time, shrubs for a long time retain decorativeness. Ordinary barberry is a frost and drought-resistant plant, which is also well tolerated by air pollution.

This species should be planted in a well-lit area, but it can also develop well in the penumbra. The soils are undemanding, but this kind of barberry develops better on light and non-acidic soils. Varieties, photos of its species are presented below.

Three varieties are most popular:

• Atropurpuria is a shrub with yellow flowers and berries (edible) of bright red color. The leaves are painted reddish-lilac, provided that the plant is well lit. The variety tolerates temperature changes well, when seeds are propagated they do not always inherit a beautiful shade of leaves.
• Albovarigata is a low-growing variety that grows no more than a meter in height. Foliage is dark green with divorces.
• Aureomarginata - a special variety, with variegated leaves. In the shade, the color intensity can be lost, the culture is photophilic.

Ordinary barberry has one significant drawback - in the humid and cold summer period, the plant is often affected by fungal diseases: powdery mildew, rust, etc. In landscape design it is used in group and single plantings to create hedges.

Amur barberry

This is a very large variety. Amur barberry, under favorable conditions, grows to three and a half meters. The bushes have a wide spreading crown and large foliage (up to 8 cm in length). It changes the color several times during the year: emerald green in spring, in autumn - bright yellow or red.

Fruits this species in autumn. On the bushes appear bright red oblong and shiny berries with a diameter of one centimeter. Amur barberry is resistant to fusariosis and rust. It is often used for the cultivation of living, and rather high, hedges. The most popular varieties of this species are Orpheus, which is a compact, non-flowering bush (no more than a meter in height), and Japan, which attracts summer residents with long yellow flowers in the form of a brush and wide leaves.

Canadian barberry

This is a tall and spreading shrub that grows up to 2.5 meters in height and up to 1.8 meters in diameter. The plant has dark red or brown shoots, small leaves (about three centimeters) of oval shape. In the middle of May within a week flowers beautiful yellow inflorescences.

Fruiting abundant red berries, the length of which does not exceed 0.9 cm ripen fruit in late September. This species more than others likes sunny areas, in the shade quickly loses decorativeness. It is undemanding to the composition of the soil, frost-resistant and easily tolerates drought. The most popular varieties are Decline, Rederian, Oxifyl.

Korean barberry

Varieties of barberry of this species came to us from the Korean peninsula. Bushes grow to two meters. The leaves are painted in a beautiful red color. Fragrant flowers gather in a brush for fifteen pieces. The berries are rather small, round, not more than one centimeter in diameter.

This species is distinguished not only by its high drought resistance, it perfectly tolerates a sharp short-term drop in air temperature.

Monkey Barberry

Heat-loving deciduous plant. Young plants often freeze and recover long enough after this. Shrubs have a spreading crown. The plant does not grow more than two meters in height. Shoots are covered with large spines (up to 3 cm). The branches are painted in a dark red color. Blossom varieties of this species have bright yellow flowers from the end of June to the middle of July.

Fruiting begins in the second decade of September. Brilliant bright red fruits are not large - no more than one centimeter in diameter. This species does not tolerate excess moisture at all - when the water is stagnant, the root system gets out and rot. Subject to rust damage.

Ottawa Barberry

It is a hybrid form of barberry Atropurpura, crossed with the barberry of Tunberga. Bushes grow to two meters. It differs with unusual purple foliage, which in the beginning of autumn turns red. Blossoms this species in late May with yellow racemose inflorescences.

In the care this species is unpretentious. Perfectly tolerates winter without shelter. Resistant to the main diseases of shrubby plants. In the decorative culture, the following varieties are most often used:

• Purple with scarlet leaves.
• Superba, with dark red almost burgundy leaves.
• Auricoma, with bright red foliage.
• Silver Miles, having dark leaves covered with silver pattern.

Siberian barberry

As can be understood from the name, this species is native to Eastern and Western Siberia, the Middle East and Kazakhstan. The bushes are small - not more than a meter in height. In the fruiting and flowering of the barberry variety of this species enter only at the age of six.

Flowering begins in mid-May and lasts twelve days. Red oblong fruits appear in August. Siberian barberry is a species with an average winter hardiness. Because of its low decorative in culture, especially in our country, almost not used.

Barbaris Tunberga: varieties, description

This species is distinguished by a small height. In natural conditions it grows in China and Japan. This species is recognized as the most decorative. Shoots near the bushes densely branching, spreading. One of the advantages of the barberry variety of Tunberg is the variety of colors. They are brown, red, yellowish.

The fruits of barberry of the Tunberga varieties are not used for food. And not because they are poisonous, but because they are quite bitter. Low-grown barberry varieties of Tunberga do not grow above one meter. In diameter, the bushes are spreading (up to one and a half meters). Young branches covered with large spines are yellow. Later they become red-brown or brown.

Depending on the season, their color and leaves change, which in this species are rather small (not more than 3 cm). In the spring they are painted in a bright green color, in the fall they acquire a noble burgundy color. Blossom varieties of Tunberga in late May, yellow-red inflorescences. Fruits in the autumn, and berries can remain on the bushes throughout the winter, which significantly increases their decorative characteristics.

This species has many very interesting varieties (about 50). Among them:

• Barbara dwarf Bonanza Gold attracts landscape designers with a small height (up to 50 cm) and golden yellow leaves.
• Golden Rocket - is distinguished by an unusual column-shaped crown shape, golden leaves. The plant has many advantages: winter, wind and drought, shade tolerance, rapid acclimatization in urban conditions.
• Barberry yellow variety of Tunberga Aurea is quite compact (up to 0.8 m). Due to the rich yellow color of shoots, flowers and leaves, it looks very impressive in group plantings in combination with other varieties.
• Atropurpurea is a shrub up to 1.5 meters high, with purple-red leaves, yellow flowers with red divorces.
• Bagatel - small bushes, no more than 40 cm high. They have a flat spherical shape of the crown, brown leaves, which turn bright red by autumn. The variety is not wintery.
• Atropurpurea Nana is a dwarf variety with a round and flat crown, 50 cm high. It is especially beautiful during flowering, when the bush is strewn with two-colored red-yellow flowers. They collect five buds in the inflorescence.

• Coronita is another dwarf variety with a spherical crown. The leaves of this plant are colored green with a yellow border.

We can not fail to mention the variegated varieties: Harlequin, Kelleris, Rose Glaw, Kornik.

Yellow varieties

Despite the fact that most of the berries of barberry are painted in brilliant red, there are exceptions. For example, varieties of Lutea and Alba. Lutea is a sort of barberry ordinary. Deciduous shrub up to 2 meters high. The shoots of the plant are colored yellow. Quite long (up to six centimeters) leaves are painted in a salad color with a red edging. Twenty flowers are combined in a brush. Ripened fruit about a centimeter in length is pale yellow. About the varieties of barberry with leaves and shoots of yellow color, we have already told.

In conclusion, it should be recognized that it is almost impossible to single out the best variety of barberry. Choosing the right plant for you depends largely on how you are going to use it (use for food, landscape design). In addition, you should take into account the climate of your region, because not all varieties are able to endure cold winters.