Japanese Barberry 'Chiquita'

Japanese Barberry 'Chiquita' (Berberis thunbergii 'Chiquita') is a cultivar with two-toned foliage. Each small dark red blade is edged with a narrower, paler margin, and in autumn the crown takes on the fiery shades typical of Japanese barberry, brighter still than it was in summer.

Japanese barberries are planted as a low hedge, a thorny barrier, a note of colour in a mixed border or a group along a path. 'Chiquita' earns its place through contrast: beside plain purple cultivars it reads lighter and more delicate, while the thorny shoots make the planting impassable.

Key characteristics:

• What makes it special: The leaves here are two-toned: a dark red blade with a narrower, paler margin along the edge, so the shrub looks as though it has been outlined.
• Hardiness: It takes down to -34 °C (USDA zone 4).
• Flowering: In April and May small but charming pale yellow flowers open.
• Light: It shows best in full sun; it takes partial shade, but the brightest leaf colour comes in an open spot.
• Soil: It takes any garden soil whatever its pH, so long as it drains - the one thing it will not stand is standing water.
• Watering: Watering dry to medium: mature bushes take heat and drought in their stride.
• Care: Care is easy; prune to RHS group 8 - shape and thin out after flowering.
• Landscape use: A hedge, a thorny barrier, a border and a splash of colour in a mixed planting.