Dazzling barberries - Oregon Association of Nurseries

Dazzling
barberries
These stunning new introductions and old favorites are useful
in many landscape settings
The beautiful, green-edged
Golden Ruby™ barberry
(Berberis thunbergii ‘Goruzam’
PP16203) was introduced by
breeder Jim Zampini of Lake
County Nursery and is grown
in Oregon by Monrovia Nursery
Co. It won Best in Show in the
New Varieties Showcase at last
year’s Farwest Show.
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AUGUST 2010
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Barberries come in a variety of delightful shapes, sizes and colors, including (l-r) Berberis thunbergii ‘Aurea Nana’,
B. t. ‘Orange Rocket’, and the new Green Hornet™ barberry (B. t. ‘Grhozam’). ‘Orange Rocket’ was introduced by
Czech breeder Michal Andrusiv, and is among the selections featured in this year’s New Varieties Showcase at the
Farwest Show (see page 51). It is offered by Fisher Farms as well as Kraemer’s Nursery.
By Elizabeth Petersen
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AUGUST 2010
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Clipped into tidy hedges or left natural, barberries are staples of landscape
design. They line suburban streets,
define boundaries and fill in planting
beds with accenting colors. They boast
tough-as-nails constitution, adaptability,
and many uses in the landscape.
Landscape designer Mulysa Melco
of Dennis’ 7 Dees Nursery in Portland,
Ore. likes barberries. “They are great
accent plants: fountains, pillars,
mounds, even ground cover,” she said.
“They show off the seasons and accentuate structure in the landscape.
“I like to use them nested in a
wide or deep mixed border, where
their colors and forms do a good job of
tying everything together. I weave other
plants around them or use them as
repeating accents among other plants.
They pair well with conifers and other
evergreen plants and are useful in dry
situations. If you want to create a wall
of pricklyness to keep kids or animals
in or out, barberries make a great
hedge, too.”
New introductions of Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii) offer slowgrowing, easy choices for adding color
and sparkle to the landscape, Melco
said. For instance, she mentioned desirable, compact cultivars with “sparkly
gold leaves” such as Golden Nugget™
(B. thunbergii ‘Monlers’), Sunsation® (B.
thunbergii ‘Monry’ PP11332, Can. PBR
Pending) and Golden Ruby™ (B. thunbergii ‘Goruzam’ PP16203) as useful
plants that require little attention.
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AUGUST 2010
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Dazzling barberries
Refining the look
Improved barberry cultivars with
striking combinations of color, consistency, habit and hardiness continue
to arrive on the market. A couple of
breeders in particular, Jim Zampini
of Lake County Nursery of Ohio and
Michal Andrusiv of the Czech Republic,
are responsible for many new selections
making it to market through partnerships with Oregon growers.
Fisher Farms in Gaston, Ore., trials
and grows plants from both breeders.
Sales Manager Jerry Brown said that
Berberis is among the top 5 genera
grown by Fisher Farms (at least 100,000
units of each type) and that it enjoys a
wide distribution geographically.
“In the northern tier of the U.S.,
you see barberries everywhere. They
have great colors and great habits; they
have hardiness for the intermountain
states (Zones 4-5) and they are extremely versatile,” he said.
Brown traced recent developments
to the best-selling B. t. ‘Crimson Pygmy,’
which came out a few years ago as an
improvement over B. atropurpurea. “It
has been around the longest and has
the most familiar name,” he said.
Newer introductions of B. thunbergii just keep getting better. Crimson
Ruby® (B. thunbergii ‘Criruzam’ PPAF
Zone 4) — a smaller, brighter red selection from Zampini — was the first of
the current generation of barberries,
Brown said. For 2010, Fisher Farms
selected the naturally dense bush,
which gets only about 2’x2’ and has
vivid burgundy-red foliage, for inclusion
in its Biltmore™ Collection, “a retailready finished plant program offered by
Fisher Farms,” he said.
Choices for the Biltmore brand
have to live up to George Vanderbilt’s
original goal of accumulating plants
considered “the best of the day,” Brown
said. All barberry introductions must
pass the USDA’s Cereal Rust Disease
Trial and must have improved coloration, habit and sterility.
Bonanza Gold™ (B. thunbergii
`Bogozam’) is another 2010 introduc-
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• Selection
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Berberis thunbergii ‘Crimson Pygmy’ is another Lake County Nursery introduction. It has an appealing
presence in this garden, contrasting the ornamental grass and emerald green arborvitae hedge behind it.
“It’s a real show stopper,” Brown
said. “I have not seen this level of
interest in a foliage plant for a long
time. The color is simply amazing and
the upright, columnar habit will add
a dynamic vertical element to any
landscape.”
‘Admiration’ (B. thunbergii
‘Admiration’ PP16921) offers other superior features. “A big improvement over
‘Gold Ring,’ it has very consistent coloration and a very compact growth habit,”
Brown said. Each bright orange-red
leaf has brilliant gold edging that holds
well during summer. The broad, upright
plant works both in the landscape and
as a container plant. Easy care, it stays
about 2.5’ tall and wide and is cold
hardy to Zone 5.
Fisher Farms is sold out of both of
34
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tion to the Biltmore™ Collection. From
breeder Zampini, it is “one of the best
yellow varieties on the market,” Brown
said. “Older varieties can fade out in
summer and drop leaves, but Bonanza
Gold™ holds its color and its leaves
all summer even in full sun.” Its small,
brightly colored leaves and a compact
habit (1.5’ x 2’ Zone 4) make it an
excellent choice for small spaces.
Fisher Farms also added three
selections from Andrusiv to the
Biltmore™ Collection this year.
Represented in the North American
market by PlantHaven, these plants represent distinct improvements in the species. Brown’s favorite is called ‘Orange
Rocket’ (B. thunbergii ‘Orange Rocket’
PP18411). He called it a “wow plant
with stunning coloration.” The plant
gets up to 4 feet tall and is cold hardy
to Zone 5.
• Innovation
AUGUST 2010
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Dazzling barberries
these selections, and is trying to get as
many liners as possible. “The demand is
amazing,” Brown said.
Rounding out the new Biltmore™
Collection additions for 2010 is ‘Tiny
Gold’ (B. thunbergii ‘Tiny Gold’
PP17084). True to its name, the compact, hardy plant (1.5’ x 1.5’ Zone
5) has tiny gold leaves and a broad,
spreading habit.
Nicholas Staddon, new plant director for Monrovia Nursery Co., said barberries are multiple-sale items that are
very popular in the landscape. Current
efforts at breeding, he said, are seeking
smaller, more compact varieties, distinct
color breakthroughs and few seeds, an
answer to concerns about the invasiveness of barberries.
Monrovia is a licensed grower of
Golden Ruby™ (B. thunbergii ‘Goruzam’
PP16203), the new cultivar discovered by
Zampini that has all these attributes. It
won Best of Show in the New Varieties
Showcase at last year’s Farwest Show.
“There is nothing comparable
to Golden Ruby™,” Staddon said. “It
represents an absolutely unique color
breakthrough.”
In spring, the first flush of growth
is enough to “blow your socks off,”
Staddon said. The brilliant red-coral
color captures the attention of customers who spot it 1,000 feet away across
the field when touring the nursery.
As the leaves mature, the centers turn
wine-burgundy and the edges develop
a yellow-gold margin that holds through
summer and fall until leaf drop.
“This well-behaved garden plant is
rounded and compact and needs trimming only once a year to keep it a tidy
2’ tall and across,” said Staddon. “It
would work fabulously in a cobalt blue
or sage green container.”
The plant also demonstrates virtual
sterility. “We have not observed Golden
Ruby™ setting any seed at the nursery,
but the jury is still out,” Staddon said.
Monrovia offers this variegated, twotone dwarf in #2 containers this year.
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AUGUST 2010
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36
Picks
from the
Pros
Maria Zampini
Lake County Nursery
Perry, Ohio
Creme de Mint™
dogwood (Cornus alba
‘Crmizam’) – This upright
and rounded variegated
shrub dogwood is a
compact and slower
growing cultivar. The mintgreen and creamy-white
glossy foliage takes on hues of pink and red in
the fall. It tolerates overhead watering much
better than other red stemmed, variegated
selections. Its winter stems are a showy,
golden chartreuse.
Highland Park® maple
(Acer grandidentatum
× saccharum ‘Hipzam’)
– This tree has exceptional
thick, leathery, tatter-proof
foliage; glossy, blackgreen in the summer,
turning orange-red in
fall. It performs spectacularly even in adverse
conditions including dry, arid soils. Its high sugar
content also means it makes a great sugar bush
for maple syrup production.
Weeping Extraordinaire™
cherry tree (Prunus
‘Extrazam’) – Copper-red
new growth and very shiny
foliage accentuate the
silver dollar size double,
light pink flowers of this
weeping cherry. It is a more
vigorous grower and holds its pleasing burgundy
fall foliage longer than other cherries.
Jerry Brown
Fisher Farms
Gaston, Ore.
Hydrangea paniculata
‘White Diamonds’™ –
This great new summer
flowering hydrangea has
dark green foliage and is
adorned with full glistening
white flower panicles. The
blooms last well in to the
fall. The big advantage for White Diamonds˛
as compared to other paniculata varieties is its
compact size. It will grow to 4’ tall and 4’ wide.
So it is perfect for small spaces and gardens.
Nicholas Staddon
Monrovia Nursery
Dayton, Ore.
Paeonia (Itoh) × ‘Pink
Double Dandy’ – The
large, semi-double to
double flower measures
up to six inches and is held
on strong stems above
a compact mound of 24
It isn’t hard to get growers to talk about plants. The tough part is
getting them to narrow down their list of favorites to just a handful.
Here are some of the varieties our sources recommended:
to 30 inches tall and wide, dark green foliage.
As the flower matures, the dark lavender pink
petals slowly fade to a soft pink, revealing a
cluster of yellow stamens in its center. The
flower is lightly fragrant. Prefers full sun to
dappled shade. Hybridized by Don Smith, a
leading Itoh Peony breeder.
Vancouver® starry nights
clematis (Clematis ×
‘Starry Nights’) – This
clematis sports large,
eight-inch fuchsia flowers
that grow darker towards
the center. With age, the
flowers become paler.
However, the mid-rib of the bloom continues
to be very colorful and appears “dusted with
gold”, which shimmers in direct sunlight. This
fast-growing vine works well in a container
trained on a tripod, or on a metal or wooden
arbor. Clematis can also be used on a fence or
wall if support is provided.
Windcliff Pachysandra
(Pachysandra axillaris
‘Windcliff’) – Collected by
Dan Hinkley on LongShou
Shan in Sichuan Province
in the summer of 2006,
this rarely encountered
species of Pachysandra
offers distinctive evergreen foliage and
noticeably fragrant white flowers in early spring,
repeating again in autumn. An ideal and unique
groundcover, just four to six inches high, for
shade or sun.
Chinese fairy bells
(Disporum cantoniense
‘Green Giant’) – This
magnificent perennial was
found and named by noted
plant explorer Dan Hinkley
in Sichuan Province, China.
Its bamboo-like shoots
emerge in shades of pink, white and green,
maturing to deep green. Fragrant, creamy-white
flowers unfurl like nodding bells with the new
growth each spring. The flowers are followed by
glistening black fruit in fall.
Flower Carpet Amber
groundcover rose (Rosa
× ‘NOA97400A’ P.P.A.F.)
– From soft red buds, an
abundance of semi-double
peachy amber flowers,
fading to seashell pink,
envelop the plant and are
fragrant — a first for the series. It features
greater disease resistance than others in the
series. It’s beautiful in containers or planted
in mass.
Peter Eastman
Fairdale Nursery / Countryside Nursery
Wilsonville, Ore.
Acer circinatum ‘Pacific Fire’ – This selection
of our native vine maple has brilliant coral-red
bark that shines in the winter landscape. The
new growth emerges yellow, with reddish
highlights slowly aging to yellow-green
through the summer. It makes a perfect small
ornamental tree for urban landscapes. Since
it is a native, it doesn’t suffer from the many
diseases that plague the Japanese type maples
that are so often used locally.
Osmanthus
heterophyllus ‘Goshiki’
– This is a beautiful
variegated form of false
holly. Evergreen hollyshaped foliage emerges
pinkish-red and fades to
yellow with green mottling.
No. 2 leaves are alike in their variegation. This
cultivar is slow growing, forming an upright,
small cone. It can be sheared into a small
hedge or into rounded globes. Photo © 2007
Derek Ramsey, licensed through GFDL v1.2.
Picea omorika ‘Berliner’s Weeper’ – This
is the most slender form of weeping Serbian
spruce. It maintains an upright central leader
and all side growth strongly weeps straight
down. Needles are a beautiful combination of
blue, green and white. It’s a great accent plant
for small spaces.
Vinny Grasso
A & R Spada Farms
St. Paul, Ore.
Pinus parviflora
‘Fukuzumi’ – Lots of
excellent features make
this cultivar great for
small gardens. Its slowgrowing habit creates a
natural bonsai appearance.
Its needles are twisted,
with blue green coloration. Cones are highly
attractive and develop at an early age.
Picea orientalis ‘Aurea
Spicata’ – This is a plant with
a big surprise. New growth
emerges an unexpected
bright yellow, making a
terrific contrast with the
older, darker needles. Truly a
standout in any garden.
Pinus strobus ‘Stowe
Pillar’ – A columnar white
pine with a significantly
narrower, tighter growth
habit than the more
common ‘Fastigiata’.
Discovered by Greg
Williams in the snow country of Northern New
England, it’s a superior selection.
AUGUST 2010
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Dazzling barberries
Green Hornet™ barberry (B. thunbergii ‘Grhozam’) was added to Monrovia’s
availability list for 2010 too. Another
selection from Jim Zampini, Green
Hornet™ is a very compact, low-growing,
ground-covering type that gets about 1½’
tall and about 3’ wide (Zone 4).
“The leaves are as green as green
can be, and have teal blue undersides,”
Staddon said.
It makes a dramatic addition to the
early winter garden with orange-gold
fall foliage. Staddon suggested that one
could use it to define a walkway or as a
mass planting in a larger area of the garden or as an alternative for rock juniper.
The last new barberry addition for
Monrovia in 2010 is another Zampini
plant, a “naturally dense, globe-shaped
shrub that needs no trimming to maintain its neat, dwarf habit.” Called Pygmy
Ruby™ (B. thunbergii ‘Pygruzam’), its
leaves are ”true, shiny red.” Staddon suggested using the low-maintenance plant
in mass plantings, as a low border or in
a border to complement plants such as
Caryopteris or Choisya ‘Sundance.’
Older selections
Staddon also recommended a couple of older barberry selections.
“New isn’t the only important factor,” he said. One of his picks was
‘Royal Cloak’ barberry. He called it “a
striking, dynamic, larger plant (4-8’ tall)
that makes a great specimen.”
‘William Penn’ (B. gladwynensis
‘William Penn’ Zone 4) is another familiar barberry that Staddon described as a
“big, thorny, mostly evergreen plant that
will keep dogs out.”
“When you go to the colder parts
of the country at high elevations, somewhere you will bump into Bill as he
is affectionately called,” Staddon said.
This selection sports broad, glossy, dark
green leaves and showy, bright yellow
flowers in spring. Its dense, upright
habit makes it a great barrier.
Brown also likes ‘Red Carpet’ (B.
thunbergii ‘Red Carpet’ PPAF Zone
4). “It stays low and spreads out with
good, consistent color,” he said. From
the breeding of Michal Andrusiv, this
very dense cultivar is “great in mass
plantings and will perform well in full
sun to part shade.”
Underappreciated options
Although Japanese barberries are
the most familiar, available and used,
designer Mulyssa Melco said that some
of the species barberries deserve greater
use and increased production. Such
plants are uncommon in the trade,
but a few Oregon growers offer some
alternatives.
B. darwinii (Darwin barberry) has
“gorgeous flowers that are bolder and
brighter orange and really pop in early
spring,” Melco said. She described it as
“one of the most attractive barberries.”
The hardy, compact, evergreen shrub
is available from Northwoods Nursery.
Owner Jim Gilbert advocates for its
abundant, dark blue berries that are
nutritious and very high in Vitamin C.
B. x stenophylla ‘Corralina
Compacta’ is “vigorous and free-flowering with skinny foliage and sorbet
orange flowers,” Melco said. “The semievergreen shrub is great for edging or
an accent and works well for bonsai
or in a planter.” Bloom River Gardens
offers the plant, which the website
describes as “thorny, but irresistible.”
The easy, elfin plant (12”x12”) is adaptable and has many landscape uses,
including xeriscape plantings, rock
gardens, slopes, and as a carefree low
hedge. Although less hardy than other
barberries (Zone 6-9), it received the
2004 Award of Garden Merit from Royal
Horticultural Society.
Bloom River Nursery also offers B.
calliantha, a compact (2’x3’) evergreen
shrub with holly-like leaves, large yellow
flowers, up to one inch (Zone 7-9).
Elizabeth Petersen writes for gardeners
and garden businesses, coaches students and writers, and tends a one-acre
garden in West Linn, Ore. She can be
reached at [email protected].
We Wrote the
Book on Blueberries.
At this year’s Farwest Show, we are thrilled to
introduce our “Field Guide to Blueberries.”
We’ll be taking orders for this informative
booklet that our customers can use as a
sales tool and for reselling. It’s loaded
with the latest growing tips for home
gardeners. Helping you ensure home
gardeners are successful with blueberries
is a responsibility we take seriously.
It’s just one more way we stand behind
our customers.
For more information
on the “Field Guide To Blueberries,”
come by our Farwest Show
Booth #15117/15119.
1.800.538.3001
www.fallcreeknursery.com
2010 ▲ DIGGER FARWEST EDITION 37
FCN OAN DIGGER Farwest Show Edition AdAUGUST
2010