Berberis thunbergii (Barberry) alternatives

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Brent_In_NoVa Sterling, VA(Zone 6b) Jun 20, 2007

Berberis thunbergii is such a common plant but I do love how the burgundy foliage can stand out in a garden. I am not a real fan of plants with thorns and Berberis thunbergii shows up on the list of invasive plants for Virginia. What are some good alternative plants with a similar size (3-4')?

What about Physocarpus opulifolius 'Summer Wine'? It looks like a nice shrub though in pictures it is browner (where Berberis tends to be redder).

While searching around I came across Weigela florida 'Ruby Queen' which looks like a very interesting plant. Anybody growing this?

- Brent

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MaryMD7 Chesapeake Beach, MD Jun 21, 2007

Good for you for avoiding the berberis. I'm fond of physocarpus. I have the diablo which gets bigger than 4', but I think the summer wine is supposed to be shorter.

There are some abelia cultivars with a purplish tinge to the leaves at least in the fall.

It gets a bit bigger, but I think some of the most interesting and appeal dark-foliaged plants out there these days are some the sambucus nigra cultivars like 'black lace' or 'black beauty.'

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Resin Northumberland, United Kingdom(Zone 9a) Jun 21, 2007

How about some of the purple leaf cultivars of Cotinus coggygria?

Resin

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Brent_In_NoVa Sterling, VA(Zone 6b) Jun 21, 2007

Are there smaller cultivars of Cotinus coggygria available? As I understand, this plant can be cut back heavily but it will not produce the "smoke" flowers.

Looks like a lot of these plants are sold under the Proven Winners brand. They also list Physocarpus opulifolius 'mindia' (Coppertina) which looks really cool! http://www.colorchoiceplants.com/Cool_New_Plants.htm

- Brent

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rutholive Tonasket, WA(Zone 5a) Jun 21, 2007

I planted Physocarpus Copper tina this spring. Looks good so far, but now see that is in a too shady location, so will probably try to move it next spring. Also have the common Physocarpus, tthat is so yellow green that I really like it in late spring. And also Diablo which looks good year round but both of those grow larger than I would like.

DonnaS

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