Barberry is a thorny perennial shrub from the Barberry family that bears 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
Under natural conditions occurs most often in the Northern Hemisphere. On average, bushes grow up to two meters. The bush has simple toothed leaves and spiny shoots. The plant begins to bear fruit from the third year after planting. Up to 10 kg of berries are harvested from one bush. The plant is known for its numerous beneficial properties: the berries contain a lot of vitamin C, the leaves contain malic acid, vitamins C, E. Oil is obtained from the seeds. The roots and bark are used as a yellow dye.
Barberry: types 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 it is used in landscapebarberry design. Edible varieties belong to two types - Amur and ordinary.
Common barberry
Shrubs of this species grow up to 2.5 m. They have thorny shoots, dark yellow in color, which diverge from the stem in different directions, forming arcs. The leaves are dark green with a gray underside. Plants bloom in May-June. The inflorescences are drooping, racemose, fragrant yellow brushes.
This barberry bears fruit in autumn, with oblong, very beautiful berries that have a sour taste. Their size is 1.2 cm. Due to the fact that the berries do not fall for a long time, the bushes retain their decorative effect for a long time. The common barberry is a frost and drought tolerant plant that also tolerates air pollution well.
This species should be planted in a well-lit area, but it can also grow well in partial shade. It is undemanding to soils, but this type of barberry develops better on light and non-acidic soils. Varieties, photos of its species are presented below.
The most popular three varieties:
- Atropurpuria is a shrub with yellow flowers and bright red (edible) berries. The leaves are reddish-lilac in color, provided that the plant is well lit. The variety tolerates temperature extremes well; when propagated by seeds, it does not always inherit a beautiful shade of leaves.
- Albovarigata is a low-growing variety that grows no more than a meter in height. The foliage is dark green with streaks.
- Aureomarginata is a special variety with variegated leaves. In the shade, the color intensity may be lost, the culture is photophilous.
Ordinary barberry has one significant drawback - in a wet 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 up to three and a half meters. Bushes have a wide spreading crown and large foliage (up to 8 cm in length). It changes color several times throughout the year: emerald green in spring, bright yellow or red in autumn.
This species bears fruit in autumn. Bright red oblong and shiny berries with a diameter of one centimeter appear on the bushes. Amur barberry is resistant to fusarium and rust. It is often used for growing living, and rather tall, 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 Japonica, which attracts summer residents with long yellow brush-shaped inflorescences and wide leaves.
Canadian barberry
It 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) oval. In the middle of May duringblooms for weeks with beautiful yellow buds.
Fruiting is abundant with red berries, the length of which does not exceed 0.9 cm. Fruits ripen at the end of September. This species loves sunny areas more than others, in the shade it quickly loses its decorative effect. Undemanding to the composition of the soil, frost-resistant and easily tolerates drought. The most popular varieties are Declinata, Rederiana, Oxyfilla.
Korean barberry
Barberry varieties of this species came to us from the Korean Peninsula. Bushes grow up to two meters. The leaves are painted in a beautiful red color. Fragrant flowers are collected in brushes of fifteen pieces. The berries are quite small, rounded, not exceeding one centimeter in diameter.
This species is not only highly drought-resistant, it also tolerates a sharp short-term drop in air temperature.
Monetary barberry
Heat-loving deciduous plant. Young plants often freeze slightly and recover for a long time after that. Bushes have a spreading crown. The plant does not grow more than two meters in height. The shoots are covered with large spines (up to 3 cm). The branches are painted dark red. Barberry varieties of this species bloom with bright yellow flowers from late June to mid-July.
Fruiting occurs 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 excessive moisture at all - with stagnant water, the root system rots and rots. Prone to rust.
Ottawa barberry
This is a hybrid form of Atropurpurea barberry crossed with Thunberg barberry. Bushes grow up to two meters. It features unusual purple foliage that turns red in early autumn. This species blooms at the end of May with yellow racemes.
In care, this species is unpretentious. It tolerates winter well without shelter. Resistant to major diseases of shrub plants. In ornamental culture, the following varieties are most often used:
- Purpurea having scarlet leaves.
- Superba, with dark red almost burgundy leaves.
- Aurikoma, with bright red foliage.
- Silver Miles, having dark leaves covered with a silver pattern.
Siberian barberry
As the name suggests, this species is native to Eastern and Western Siberia, the Middle East and Kazakhstan. The bushes are small - no more than a meter in height. Barberry varieties of this species enter fruiting and flowering only at the age of six.
Flowering begins in mid-May and lasts twelve days. Red oblong fruits appear in August. The Siberian barberry belongs to species with average winter hardiness. Due to its low decorative effect in culture, especially in our country, it is almost never used.
Barberry Thunberg: varieties, description
This variety has a small height. Under natural conditions, it grows in China and Japan. This species is recognized as the most decorative. The shoots of the bushes are densely branched, sprawling. One of the advantages of the varietyBarberry Thunberg is a variety of colors. They are brown, red, yellowish.
The fruits of barberry varieties of Thunberg are not eaten. And not because they are poisonous, but because they are quite bitter. Low-growing varieties of Thunberg barberry do not grow above one meter. In diameter, the bushes are sprawling (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, the leaves also change their color, which in this species are quite small (no more than 3 cm). In spring they are bright green, in autumn they acquire a noble burgundy color. Thunberg varieties bloom at the end of May with yellow-red inflorescences. It bears fruit in autumn, and the 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:
- Dwarf barberry of the Bonanza Gold variety attracts landscape designers with a small height (up to 50 cm) and golden yellow leaves.
- Golden Rocket - distinguished by an unusual columnar crown shape, golden leaves. The plant has many advantages: winter, wind and drought resistance, shade tolerance, rapid acclimatization in urban environments.
- Yellow barberry variety Thunberga Aurea is quite compact (up to 0.8 m). Due to the rich yellow color of the shoots, flowers and leaves, it looks very impressive in group plantings in combination with others.varieties.
- Atropurpurea is a shrub up to one and a half meters high, with purple-red leaves, yellow flowers with red stains.
- Bagatelle - small bushes, no more than 40 cm high. They have a flat spherical crown shape, brown leaves that turn bright red by autumn. The variety is not winter-hardy.
- 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-color red-yellow flowers. They gather five buds in inflorescences.
Koronita is another dwarf variety with a spherical crown. The leaves of this plant are green with a yellow border
It is impossible not to mention the variegated varieties: Harlequin, Kelleris, Rose Glow, Cornic.
Yellow varieties
Despite the fact that most of the barberry berries are colored brilliant red, there are exceptions. For example, the varieties Lutea and Alba. Lutea is a variety of common barberry. Deciduous shrub up to 2 meters high. The shoots of the plant are painted in rich yellow. Quite long (up to six centimeters) leaves are painted in salad color with a red border. Twenty flowers are combined into brushes. Ripe fruits about a centimeter long are pale yellow in color. We have already talked about barberry varieties with yellow leaves and shoots.
In conclusion, it should be recognized that it is practicallyimpossible. Choosing the right plant for you largely depends on how you intend to use it (food use, landscaping). Also, consider the climate in your area, as not all varieties can survive cold winters.
