Red Barberry

Red Barberry

Berberis sp.

(BEAR-ber-is)

Normally I don’t like posting invasive species on this blog but the red version of this plant doesn’t seem to be a heavy seeder. This is not one of the nice horticultural types of Red Barberry but it is in the garden so I have to deal with it. The yellow flowers are really small and usually hidden amongst the leaves and thorns but this one was standing out on the top of the plant. Red Barberry can provide a nice foliage color during the season and in autumn they often look nice with a mixture of red, orange and yellow fall colors.

Golden Barberry

Golden Barberry
Berberis 'Golden Carousel'
(BUR-bur-is)
Synonyms: Bailsel

The flowers on this plant are almost insignificant as they are just about the same color as the foliage. They do add a little pizzazz to the plant in the spring and look nice against the reddish new growth. The red on the leaves does fade to yellow and is most pronounced during the spring. The fall color is great, like most Barberries, a good mixture of orange, red and yellow.

When I got ‘Golden Carousel’ I didn’t know too much about it except that it was $10 more per plant than the regular Golden Barberry. I now know that it is a hybrid between Korean and Japanese barberry species. The premium turned out to be worth it as ‘Golden Carousel’ has turned into a handsome shrub. Its final height is listed, as 4 to 6 feet and I have been able to keep it to 4 feet over 12 years. It has a strong vertical growth habit that makes it an interesting accent in the garden. It also appears to be deer resistant, as it hasn’t been browsed in a heavily populated area. All in all it is a nice shrub that can find its own niche in your garden lighting up a corner with its bold foliage color. Plant in full sun for best color although in part shade it still looks good with more of a lime green color.

Golden Spike Winter Hazel

Golden Spike Winter Hazel
Corylopsis spicata 'Golden Spring'
(kor-uh-LOP-sis) (spi-KAH-tuh)

This plant's fall color is amazing to me. It gets kind of a golden-pink hue to it and when the sun is shining on it the leaves really light up. It is a new cultivar of Corylopsis and it cost an arm and a leg. It gets up to 6 to 8 feet tall but mine is about a foot tall and had maybe 12 leaves this year. I may have missed the flowers this year if it had any as it blooms very early.

I had my camera at work the other day and snapped these pictures of this very nice Golden Barberry seedling. It is several years old now and I am debating if we should rip up the stones to transplant it to a better location. It truly grew in about a one-inch crack between the granite paving and the fieldstone wall. It really gets a great fall color and the summer color is bright, bright gold. I think it is worth saving. This year’s seedling roundup at the Estate produced a few nice items. Seedling day, and it is actually a couple of days, is where we go around and transplant all the plants that have seeded themselves. They have to be either out of place or something special to be moved. I got a couple of Viburnums, Dogwoods and Hydrangeas this year.



Here is a flower picture. This Korean Chrysanthemum is nice since it has some blush pink in the flowers. I notice that some of the white ones tend to turn a little pink when they have gone by but this one had the pink blush built in right from the start.

Golden Barberry (Berberis 'Golden Carousel')

Golden Barberry
Berberis 'Golden Carousel'
(BEAR-ber-is)

This is actually a spring picture. I have been going through the archives because someone contacted me about possibly using some spring flower shots. I found several that I never processed and have been scouring my hard drives for some other appropriate material. One thing I love about digital flower photography is you can see right when you took the picture. Among other things I have been searching by date for any files created in April and May. I could see all the dates that took pictures this spring. It seemed like I was getting out with the camera every four or five days.

I think this is part of the ‘Carousel’ series of Barberries (along with ‘Ruby Carousel’ and ‘Emerald Carousel’). This cultivar is a fantastic plant that has dramatic new growth. These flowers could probably be called insignificant, as they are really small and a little hidden along the branches. They are plentiful and pretty and add a bit to the general color of the plant. The fall color is quite good, also. I saw some people were recommending part shade but mine is in full sun here in Connecticut. It never seems to get too big which is a nice attribute and has a little less coarseness than some of the other Barberry.

Here is a snapshot of the new growth.

Dwarf Redleaf Barberry 'Crimson Pygmy'

Dwarf Redleaf Barberry
Berberis thunbergii var. atropurpurea 'Crimson Pygmy'
(BEAR-ber-is)

I know a lot of people don’t like Barberry. I find it an attractive plant that can be useful. The ‘Crimson Pygmy’ Barberry is a dwarf mounding very colorful shrub. It is an easy way to get color throughout the season. The dark foliage is a nice foil for flowers and grey foliaged plants. If this plant is really happy it can grow a little bigger than what is advertised. Some hard pruning usually brings it back into shape. I also love Golden Barberry. I usually try and slip a couple of Barberry in because they are easy to grow. Most have this nice fall color and the newly emerging foliage is usually a very nice color. The only type I have had seeding is the upright columnar type called ‘Hellmond’s Pillar’. That is a nice type for a tight upright foliage accent. I still haven’t decided if the seedlings are coming true (only time will tell but the color looks good). Among some of my other favorite Barberry cultivars are:

‘Rosy Glow’, upright variegated form. Needs full sun.
'Bonanza Gold' and 'Gold Nugget' are superior gold foliage selections.
‘Ruby Carousel’ is a nice upright red.
'Bagatelle' is a very slow growing red. Much slower and smaller than ‘Crimson Pygmy’.
‘Angel Ring’ is a dense upright red form with a light green margin on the leaves.

These are just a few of the ones available! I just planted “Royal Burgundy’ and ‘Concorde’ so I will let you know how they turn out. I don’t like the Green Barberry that seeds all over the place and is, in my opinion, of little horticultural value. I remove it whenever I see it in the garden. Some people consider Barberry to be an invasive plant but that has not been my experience with the garden types.

This is a shot of ‘Ruby Carousel’ I took last year.

Chinese Dogwood (Cornus kousa)

Chinese Dogwood
Cornus kousa
(KOR-nus) (KOO-suh)


A short post today as I put the final touches on the proposal I am presenting today. The house is been recently lovingly restored and is on a beautiful piece of property. You can see from the plant list that it will be a very nice garden once planted. This list is for the heart of deer country. The Pound Ridge neighborhood is over run with deer. I am planting a mix of deer resistant species and some that we will spray with repellent during the season. Some seasonal fencing may be in order for the winter. I found that after the plants get established they are a little less appetizing to the deer.

I took this picture at a local garden retailer named Lexington Gardens. They always have some interesting plants. As I was driving away I saw this Kousa planted in the display gardens. It was literally covered with fruit. It must have been a selection or cultivar, as I have never seen such a compact heavy fruiting type like this. The tree was big but not as big as the species. A couple of the guys at work like to eat these berries but I find them disgusting.

Here is the plant list from the proposal:

2 Globe Blue Spruce (Front Door) (Picea pungens glauca 'Globosa')
2 Fastigiate Norway Spruce (Picea abies 'Cupressina')
1 Dragon Lady Holly (I. x aquipernyi ‘Dragon Lady’)
1 River Birch (Betula nigra ‘Heritage’)
1 Dwarf Laceleaf Red Maple (Acer palm. dissectum)
1 Kousa Dogwood (Cornus kousa)
1 Weeping Cherry (Prunus subhirtella 'Pendula')
1 Fastigiate Blue Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica 'Fastigiata')
18 Dwarf Fountain Grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hameln')
6 Royal Burgundy Barberry (Berberis thunbergii 'Gentry')
6 Blue Mist Shrub (Caryopteris x clandonensis)
3 Tardiva Hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata 'Tardiva')
6 Helleri Japanese Hollies (Ilex crenata 'Helleri')
3 Miss Kim Dwarf Lilac (Syringa meyeri ‘Palibin’)
9 Large Pieris (Pieris japonica ‘Mountain Fire’)
9 Medium Pieris (Pieris Mixed Species)
5 Small Pieris (Compact) (Pieris japonica ‘Compacta’)
9 Blue Hollies (I. x meserveae ‘Blue Princess’)
6 Spreading Deutzia (Deutzia gracilis ‘Nikko’)
1 Bush Clover (Lespedeza thunbergii)
1 Tigertail Spruce (Picea alcoq. 'Howell's Dwarf Tigertail')
5 Variegated Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens 'Variegata')
2 Large Common Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens)
2 Medium Common Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens)
12 Astilbe (not too tall) (Astilbe x arendsii hybrids)
12 Daisies (Chrysanthemum maximum)
12 Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
16 Siberian Iris (Iris sibirica mixed cultivars)
12 Old Fashioned Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra spectabilis)
12 Sedum (Sedum telephium 'Autumn Joy')
6 Tall Garden Phlox (Phlox paniculata)