Physocarpus Species, Atlantic Ninebark, Common Ninebark, Eastern Ninebark

This shrub is very impressive for streamside plantings. It is tough and withstands tremendous abuse from high energy streams with drastic...Read More gradients and rocky riparian edges. A few nice trout streams here in Western PA exhibit these characteristics and are dominated by Ninebark which seems to be the only shrub that can withstand the torrent flows that batter the stream banks with rocks and ice during high water events when they occur throughout the year. Definitely a native whose earned its place on the banks of several mountain streams in this area.

I remember my old famous woody plant teacher, Dr. Michael Dirr, when he was at the University of Illinois in the 1970's, not warming up t...Read Moreo Ninebark because it can get messy with a very twiggy habit and it does not have fabulous fall color. (He often likes naturalistic, but his view is mostly towards the refined, ornamental, neat landscape). If one knows how to properly prune shrubs to keep their natural form, this shrub is perfectly fine even in a fairly refined landscape, and one can look upon its interesting bark of different shades of color and smooth plus exfoliating. My favorite landscaping is naturalistic, so having this straight species in one of my landscapes would be something I would like, as I love Nature, and using eastern American native plants in eastern American landscapes will give the greatest amount of ecological benefit to birds, beneficial insects, and other wildlife. Check out Doug Tallamy in his book -- "Bringing Nature Home." By the way, there are a number of red-leaved Ninebark cultivars as found in these DG pages that are loved by those who want the more ornamental yard, though they aren't as ecological as the mother species.

This is a tough, easy, adaptable shrub. The species is big and rangy, and very coarse in winter. Some of the dwarf cultivars, particularl...Read Morey with chartreuse or purple foliage, are much better ornamentals for most home landscapes.

The flowers are attractive but not overwhelming, definitely not in a league with bridalwreath spirea.

Gets straggly in partial shade.

"After looking over the entire group, I still came away with the opinion that about anything is better than a Physocarpus."---Michael Dirr

We planted 4 ninebark from a native plant nursery 6 years ago and it has been delightful to watch them grow. We live in solid clay on the...Read More side of a south facing hill and have constantly changing springs on our property. Ninebark has tolerated having its feet in water for months and having 2 inch cracks going through its root system the year and a half we were in 'exceptional' drought conditions. It is also used here for erosion control. This year it has performed beautifully and very similarly to bridal veil spirea. The few early butterflies we had and the bees and flies swarmed to it.
But beware you in deer country, they love it, too.