Barberry is a thorny perennial shrub offamily 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.
In natural conditions occurs most often inNorthern 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 shrub gather up to 10 kg of berries. The plant is known for its many useful properties: in berries there is 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.
In nature there are about five hundred species of thisshrubs - 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.
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-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-litsite, but it can also develop well in the penumbra. It is undemanding for soils, but this kind of barberry develops better on light and non-acid soils. Varieties, photos of its species are presented below.
Three varieties are most popular:
Ordinary barberry has one essentiallack - in the humid and cold summer period, the plant is often affected by fungal diseases: powdery mildew, rust, etc. In landscape design is used in group and single plantings, to create hedges.
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 the spring, bright yellow or red in the autumn.
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.
This is a tall and spreading shrub whichgrows 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 with red berries, lengthwhich does not exceed 0.9 cm. The fruits ripen in late September. This kind of more than others likes sunny areas, in the shade quickly loses decorativeness. It is undemanding to the composition of the soil, frost-hardy and easily tolerates drought. The most popular varieties are Deklinata, Rederiana, Oxifila.
Varieties of barberry of this species came to us fromKorean 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 in diameter, not exceeding one centimeter in diameter.
This species differs not only in its high drought resistance, it perfectly tolerates a sharp short-term drop in air temperature.
Heat-loving deciduous plant.Young plants often freeze and recover long enough after this. 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 in 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 - not more than one centimeter in diameter. This species completely does not tolerate excess moisture - when the water is stagnant, the root system gets out and rot. Subject to rust damage.
This is a hybrid form of barberry Atropurpura,crossed with barberry Tounberg. Bushes grow to two meters. It differs with unusual purple foliage, which in the beginning of autumn turns red. Blossoms this species at the end of 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:
As can be understood from the title, this species - come fromEastern and Western Siberia, the Middle East and Kazakhstan. The bushes are small - no 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 continuestwelve 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.
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 varieties of Tunberga in food are notuse. And not because they are poisonous, but because they are quite bitter. Low-grown barberry varieties Thunberg do not grow above one meter. In diameter, the bushes are spreading (up to one and a half meters). Young, covered with large thorns branches of yellow color. Later they become red-brown or brown.
Depending on the season, they change their color andleaves, which in this species are rather small (not more than 3 cm). In 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:
It is impossible not to mention the variegated varieties: Harlequin, Kelleris, Rose Glaw, Kornik.
Despite the fact that most of the berriesBarberry is painted in a brilliant red color, there are exceptions. For example, the variety 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, we should recognize thatthe best variety of barberry is practically impossible. Choosing the right plant for you depends largely on how you are going to use it (use for food, landscape design). In addition, one should take into account the climate of your region, since not all varieties are able to endure cold winters.
