My Barberry is blooming.

This is Cherry Bomb. I planted it in 2003. I have never noticed it blooming before although the tag says 'inconspicuous blooms in the spring'. When I first looked at it tonite I thought it was sunlight on the leaves. Looks quite pretty I think.

Close up of the flowers.

It's lovely Carol! It's so nice to see such a beautiful bush available here again (and so many gorgeous cultivars are available now). I'm pretty sure the old varieties carried a disease (or virus) that attacked wheat.

Very nice Carol. I like the purple/ yellow contrast.

Steve

Japanese Barberries have unassuming flowers but enough of them can make a good show. Yours looks like it will have a bumper fruit crop this year.

You're right about the wheat rust, lilypon. I remember that barberries were outlawed on the prairies for many years because of the threat to the wheat crop. Barberry is an alternative host (as currants are to white pine blister rust). The new varieties of barberry are resistant, so we can enjoy them now.

That's a beautiful specimen, Carol. Thanks for sharing it with us. A friend here in Ottawa has one with deep rose blooms, and quite dark burgundy foliage. They love the sun, and she has it in a full-day southern exposure.

Keeps the dogs away, too.

Funny, there are some very old barberry hedges in St. John's, obviously planted before the ban due to wheat rust. People often exchanged suckers so they are actually quite a common shrub here. More than likely, ours are NOT resistant to rust but then, I don't think our rolling wheat fields in Newfoundland have anything to worry about!

As a side note, it was well known that the evergreen types were naturally resistant to wheat rust, yet Agr Canada being Agr Canada, put a ban on the import and selling of ALL Berberis. Only when rust resistant thunbergii types were developed, did they raise the ban on all Berberis. For those of us in zone 5 or better, there are some very attractive evergreen types...still as thorny (maybe moreso!) but with miniature holly-like leaves and bright yellow flowers. B. julinae, B. gagnepainii and G. verruculosa are the hardiest of these. In zone 6 or better, you can try the bright orange flowered B. darwinii.

I understand they were banned for over 30 years but that there was never good solid evidence about the rust issue in wheat(but I have not researched that one - could be wrong) The ban was lifted 4-5 years ago in Canada. I have another one called Rosy Glow which is a variegated. They are sure pretty bu have lethal thorns!
I saw a huge one here( about 6 feet high and 3-4 feet across) in somebodys yard a couple of years ago and asked the homeowner - she said it was there when she bought house, obviously very old and gorgeous but I dont want mine to get that big as they are in the flower beds.

Todd you said Fancy's bush would have a bumper crop of fruit this year. Is it edible?

Thanks Andy (et all) for confirming that it was wheat rust (I was tempted to put that but I couldn't be sure that was what my father told me). I just remembered him saying, when I was a young teen, that it was a lovely bush that had pulled off the market. I think I'd been complaining that we never see pretty leafed bushes here so he mentioned the Barberry.

The berries are not edible....not even the birds around here bother with the fruit.

Hey gang, I think they are one of the most useful shrubs in containers and the colour of course, is superb! Elaine

nice shrub fancyvan,Todd i think theres a fue beautyful one in on forest road ,i think there bayberry a friend of mine lives there and next door there is a large hedge of them ,will you could call it a hedge its realy grown every were ,so the suckers will grow mmmmmm might call my buddy he has a shovel i think lol.

Curiousity about the common Barberry (Berberis vulgaris) and Growin's Government of Canada Agriculture Inspection site link lead to this:

"Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergii DC.)

The USDA, due to demands from the nursery trade, has been testing horticulturally desirable barberry species including varieties and cultivars of Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii DC.) for susceptibility to the stem rust fungus. In the U.S., cultivars of Japanese barberry that test resistant to black stem rust have been permitted, under certain restrictions, to be sold commercially to the public. This has not been the case in Canada, where these varieties have been prohibited from being imported and sold.

Prior to 1966, Japanese barberry was considered by AAFC to be resistant to stem rust, and was on the approved list for importation and sale within Canada. In 1966, based on scientific literature, AAFC concluded that some of the resistant species of barberry were potentially susceptible to certain rust races in some parts of the world and could, therefore, constitute obstacles to the control of stem rust. Berberis thunbergii DC was, then, removed from the approved list.

The Japanese barberry, Berberis thunbergii DC., is a deciduous, multi branched, dense, compact, often thorny shrub that grows to about 1.5 metres in height. The stem surface may be smooth or grooved, with greenish grey, purple or brown bark. This species of barberry is generally considered resistant to stem rust.

In the US, there are approximately 200 susceptible species and/or varieties of Berberis and approximately 64 that are considered resistant to black stem rust of wheat. Berberis thunbergii DC has the largest number of varieties (about 50) that are resistant to the disease.

Certain barberry species can cross-pollinate with other barberry species to form hybrids (e.g. Japanese barberry and common barberry). Some hybrids can be morphologically very similar to either parent and be variable in their susceptibility to the stem rust pathogen. For example, it is possible to have hybrids between Japanese barberry and wild barberry that morphologically resemble the Japanese barberry but yet carry the susceptibility of the wild barberry. To prevent this situation, CFIA has adopted a program equivalent to the one in the US that strives to ensure that only approved stem-rust resistant varieties are imported, sold and multiplied by the nursery trades. This is done by ensuring that the approved varieties are only propagated clonally and are moved and sold under strict requirements.

Over the past few years, CFIA has developed a program under which certain approved rust-resistant varieties of Japanese barberry can be imported and sold in Canada. The program, which allows the importation of USDA-tested stem-rust resistant cultivars of Japanese barberry, was developed in cooperation with the USDA. Under this program, the USDA will be required to monitor the propagation of approved cultivars and issue phytosanitary certificates for plants exported to Canada. In Canada, the plants will retain their identity by strict labelling requirements and application of control measures at nurseries selling and propagating these plants. These requirements are outlined in the Directive, D-01-04, "Plant Protection Import and Domestic Movement Requirements for Barberry and Buckthorn" of the Plant Health Division. Both the identification manual and directive are accessible on the CFIA website."

This message was edited May 28, 2006 12:16 AM

Thanks Pam! Knew it was something like that.



This message was edited May 28, 2006 7:04 AM

you know what i found odd when reading about that ban,know one was made to remove the type of bayberry that was suppose to have the rust.
Makes me think of something that happened a fue years ago here were i live ,im not sure if thay did it in town Todd but it was the chinese red pine that was around most of the goverment buildings .
some group or something, said that there was a fungis in the pine that would kill off our native trees most of the pine that people had in the gardens were cut down it was sicking to watch .
however when that came to cut the ones down at our town hall we and it stoped,that had no evedence that it would kill the trees it was only a guess ,and thay didnt even know if that lot of pine that was suppose to have the fungis ever came to newfoundland so our trees were saved.But when going around our town it is sad to see stumps of were there was a pine.
Todd do you know if this happened in town as will .

A very attractive bush Carol - I like the contrasting colours and it looks as though there's some pink in the yellow flowers. I like this. Joan

Beautiful, Carol!
:) Donna

DigD, the only pine I know of that is susceptible to rust is white pine. The alternate host is currants. While some trees in St. John's have died from it, there are others still living. No pines have been systematically cut down in St. John's.

Reading Todd's newest reply and rereading one of his above I had to chuckle (again ;) when I looked at:

Who says gardeners don't have a sense of humour!

I,m glad to here that Todd but thay did out here,now i know there was a place across from the village mall,the old san i think thats right the pine there thay arn't white pine are thay.

I,m glad to here that Todd but thay did out here,now i know there was a place across from the village mall,the old san i think thats right the pine there thay arn't white pine are thay. arn't white pine soft needled,The ones im talking about you can almost sew with the needles hmmmm maybe thay are a jack pine.

DigD, those pines are scots pines...looking 'burnt' due to their intolerance to roadside salt spray.

thats it gees i couldnt think of the name. Thats why thay allways looked so dreadful because of the salt i'm trying to get the info on the fungis in the pineout here the town office has it ,i will get it and give you the infomation on it.It maybe of some intress for you.