Japanese Barberry 'Deep Purple'

Japanese Barberry 'Deep Purple' (Berberis thunbergii 'Deep Purple') - a bright, richly coloured and exceptionally ornamental deciduous shrub. The cultivar is highly valued in landscape design for the depth of its colour, its tolerance of urban conditions and how undemanding it is to care for.

It looks superb as a low clipped or informal hedge, in contrasting compositions with conifers, in rockeries and alpine gardens, and for creating vivid splashes of colour in mixed borders.

• Bush shape: Spreading and densely branched, with upright shoots that may arch over slightly with age.
• Dimensions: An adult plant reaches 1.0-1.2 m in height and up to 1.2 m in diameter. It grows moderately, with an annual increment of about 10-15 cm.
• Foliage colouring: The main asset of the cultivar is its very dark, saturated purple-violet (almost beetroot) foliage, held through the whole season. In sunny positions the colour becomes especially deep, and in autumn it takes on bright fiery red and crimson shades.
• Flowering: Takes place in May. The flowers are small and delicate, yellow-red or pale buff, they have a pleasant scent, contrast beautifully with the dark foliage and attract bees.
• Fruit: Small, elongated, glossy coral-red berries. They ripen in September and October and often stay on the branches all winter, adding a graphic touch to the garden.
• Frost resistance: High (zone 4-5, withstands down to -29°C). It overwinters excellently throughout Ukraine.