About this plant
What makes this plant special
'Harlequin' unfolds small purple leaves that are soon heavily splashed with pink and silvery white in late spring, turn purple again in summer and finish orange-red in autumn. The dense, bushy shrub reaches about 1.2 to 1.5 m and suits a low mixed hedge or a large container.
Barberry Berberis
Barberries (Berberis) are spiny shrubs from East Asia, the South American Andes and Europe, with well over 400 species, both deciduous and evergreen. They are loved for their dense growth, their yellow to orange spring flowers that attract bees, and their red or blue-black berries in autumn.
Japanese barberry Berberis thunbergii
Japanese barberry is a deciduous shrub from Japan with a dense, rounded and slightly spreading habit. Its small leaves turn bright red in autumn, and many garden forms have purple, yellow or variegated foliage. Small pale yellow flowers in April and May are followed by glossy red berries that persist into winter.
Location and soil
Plant in full sun: in too much shade the summer and autumn colours fade. It grows in almost any well-drained soil, tolerates dry and chalky ground and copes with urban conditions. It is very hardy.
Pruning and care
Hedges are cut back each year in March to encourage fresh foliage and can be trimmed again from June to August. Free-growing shrubs need little pruning, which keeps the berries. Diseases are rare on well-drained soil.
Use in the garden
A classic for medium-height hedges, free-growing or clipped, and for defensive plantings, as well as for colour in shrub borders. Birds spread the seeds; in parts of North America the species has become invasive.
Plant characteristics
Flowering
| Flowering period | may |
| Colour (flower) | yellow |
Foliage
| Evergreen | no |
| Colour (foliage) | red, variegated, pink |
Growth habit
| Height | 100 cm, 150 cm |
Location
| Winter hardiness | -30 °C |
| Soil type | kalkrijk |
| Location | sun, half shade |
| Soil moisture | normal |
Use
| Type (use) | shrub, hedge plant, fruit/berries, solitary, in group |
Care
| Pruning | march, june, july, august |
Related products
Berberis thunbergii 'Harlequin'
cont. 3,6L 30-40 cm +p
Berberis thunbergii 'Harlequin'
cont. 10L 40-50 cm +p