Thanks for the Memories

Berberis thunbergii 'Bagatelle'

Now

I miss more people than I currently know;
That’s what happens when you get old.

The same could be said about many plants I have grown, that I have discontinued more taxa in my career than I currently grow. Good riddance to some, my crew would say, such as the Berberis genus that caused groans when a barberry thorn would embed itself into the tip of their thumbs, later to infect. We would also top graft the dwarf B. thunbergii 'Bagatelle' onto a single stem of the vigorous upright B.t. 'Helmond Pillar'. Probably no other wholesale nursery in the history of horticulture has attempted such folly, but our crop was of a common plant, but one produced differently, which allowed us to compete with the large wholesale nurseries that grow millions from rooted cuttings. Einstein once said, "Imagination is more important than intelligence."

Berberis temolaica

Berberis temolaica

Most garden retailers in America only know the Berberis thunbergii species, primarily due to its deep red summer foliage which evolves to dazzling crimson in autumn. But there are dozens of other species or hybrids that are worthy of growing, even though they are not well known. Berberis temolaica is a rambunctious species that features powder-blue stems and leaves. Coming from the arid environment of southeast Tibet it prefers a sparse soil with sharp drainage, not necessarily the lush, well-irrigated conditions at Buchholz Nursery. Still, I have one happy specimen in the ground at Flora Farm, and we might bring it back into production in the future. The species was first collected by Frank Kingdon-Ward in 1924 and it received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. The specific epithet temolaica is due to its discovery on the Temo La (Pass) in the Tibetan province of Pome, although it was also distributed as B. mekonensis when first introduced.

Berberis darwinii

Berberis darwinii

Charles Darwin

Berberis darwinii, with its yellowish orange flowers abundantly borne, makes a dramatic statement in the spring garden. The thorny shrub is evergreen, unlike many other barberries, so foliage lacks the autumn appeal of the deciduous species. Frankly, we discontinued with B. darwinii because of: 1) poor sales and 2) it is invasive in certain USA states such as California and countries like New Zealand. But, I've seen the species in a few gardens besides my own and it didn't appear to be overly thuggish or spreading. B. darwinii is native to southern Chile and Argentea and was discovered by Charles Darwin (1835) during the voyage of the Beagle. Despite its reputation for invasivity, the RHS gave the species its Award of Garden Merit.

Berberis linearifolia 'Orange King'

Berberis linearifolia is another evergreen shrub from Chile. I have never encountered the straight species, only the cultivar 'Orange King', where the spring flowers are most vividly orange. It's a strange color, really, perhaps a little too gaudy for the discerning gardener. But it was fun when our crop was in bloom in the middle of the greenhouse, and our late-March visitors would hurry past all the other plants to see what the fiery glow was all about. The flowers are larger than with B. darwinii, and the leaves – gray-green with silvery undersides – are also more attractive in my opinion, but then I'm a fan of the skinny. I don't collect plants for myself anymore, although I do so for the new nursery owners, so maybe we'll bring back 'Orange King' into production. A sister B. linearifolia is 'Jewel' which I have not seen, but The Hillier Manual of Trees and Shrubs (2019) indicates: "Flowers scarlet in bud opening to bright orange." That would be fun to see, but Hillier threw me a curve by listing B. linearifolia as the old name for what should now be called B. trigona (three-angled).

Berberis 'Red Jewel'

Berberis 'Red Jewel'

Berberis 'Red Jewel'

E.H. Wilson

I collected the hybrid Berberis 'Red Jewel' many years ago under the botanic name of B. x hybridogagnepainii 'Red Jewel'. The gagnepainii species is native to Sichuan, China and was introduced by E.H. Wilson in 1904 while collecting for the Veitch Nursery firm in England. We discontinued with it a dozen years ago although a couple of 7' tall and wide specimens remain in the landscape which are about 25 years old. In the trade it is often listed as B. x media, but RBG Kew's Plants of the World Online sticks with the x hybridogagnepainii and suggests its cross is B. candidula x gagnepainii. Stunning in the early winter landscape, 'Red Jewel' looks like a vigorous B. thunbergii cultivar to me, but maybe its mature size is why it never garnered much favor for Buchholz Nursery sales. As I alluded at the beginning, the employees are happy about that.

Berberis jamesiana

Berberis jamesiana

"James' barberry," Berberis jamesiana, is a deciduous shrub with a vigorous, upright, bushy habit. Native to China and Tibet – but only hardy to 10F, USDA zone 8 – it was introduced by George Forrest in 1913. Drooping, spring flower clusters are a cheerful light-yellow. Oblong fruits with a pale-white color develop in summer, then they evolve to salmon-red in autumn, then to deep-red at the onset of winter. I like to pop a ripe berry in my mouth; I don't really eat it, instead I nibble out the tart juice then spit out the pulp.

Berberis nevinii

Berberis nevinii

I collected Berberis nevinii years ago, a southern California evergreen native that Hillier and others classify as a Mahonia. Taxonomists debate the two genera in the Berberidaceae family with some suggesting that all Mahonias are actually Berberis. In any case, the "Nevin's barberry" features small, narrow blue-gray leaves and tiny berries that ripen to red. According to Calscape (California Native Plant Society) it is "cold hardy and heat tolerant," and a solo specimen at Flora Farm has experienced both extremes. We used to root the species from summer cuttings under mist, but there wasn't much demand so we discontinued about 20 years ago. I was surprised that Calscape claims it is a "federally and state listed endangered species with about 500 individuals remaining," but nevertheless "it is widely cultivated in gardens and parks." It was first described by American botanist Asa Gray in 1895 and named for a fellow botanist, Reverend Joseph Cook Nevin (1835-1912).

Helen Ganderton - EH Wilson's Wife

Berberis wilsoniae

Berberis wilsoniae is a deciduous shrub from Yunnan, China, originally introduced by E.H. “Chinese Wilson” in 1904 and named for his wife.* We propagated the cultivar 'Ace' for a number of years, but discontinued when our original stock plant perished in a near-zero Arctic freeze. The propagating crew was not at all sorry to have it gone. But it showed off in spring with numerous yellow flowers which pleased the bees, and then was followed by attractive red berries. The summer foliage color was an interesting reddish blue-green that transformed to brilliant orange-red in autumn, and the fall color persisted well into winter. I'm not sure how the selection 'Ace' differs from the type because it's the only one I have grown.

*Specific epithets that end in “iae” honor females, such as Corylopsis willmottiae and Rhododendron dalhousiae. I wonder why the eminent plant-hunter Wilson would name a thorny bush for his wife when they apparently got along well with each other.

George Forrest

Berberis replicata

Berberis replicata

Berberis replicata is a Chinese species seldom encountered, but one that is championed by Oregon plant expert Roger Gossler who writes, “People always see this barberry and ask what it is and want it.” The narrow evergreen leaves are dark green above and glaucous beneath, but the real fun is the mahogany-red new growth which lasts into summer. Roger continues, “Our plant is 10 ft. tall by 9 ft. wide after 20 years. Hardy to 0 F – a really tough plant.” The species was introduced to cultivation by George Forrest in 1913.

Frank Ludlow and George Sherriff

Berberis sherriffii

A Quest of Flowers by Harold Fletcher

Berberis sherriffii is another rarely-encountered species that was introduced from Tibet by the plant-hunting team of Ludlow and Sherriff in 1938. It is renowned for drooping panicles of blue-black berries, but I don't have it anymore and can't recall the flower color (probably yellow). Major George Sherriff (1898-1967) was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour for his plant introductions but Frank Ludlow, while equally qualified, refused the award out of excessive modesty. I have been fortunate to walk in their footsteps in Bhutan and the Himalaya, all prompted by Harold Fletcher's A Quest of Flowers which chronicles their discoveries.

Jean Andre Soulie

Berberis soulieana 'Claret Cascade'

Berberis soulieana 'Claret Cascade'

The Long Road section of the nursery is highlighted by an impressive specimen of Berberis soulieana 'Claret Cascade', an evergreen shrub with arching branches, purple young foliage and rich yellow-orange flowers. The Chinese species honors Father Jean Andre Soulie (1858-1905), a French missionary and botanist who collected more than 7,000 species. Poor Soulie's life ended after he was captured, tortured for twelve days, then thankfully shot by murdering lamas in Sichuan during the 1905 Tibetan Revolt. The common name of 'Claret Cascade' is the “rosemary barberry” due to its similarity to Rosmarinus officinalis, and the “claret” part of the cultivar name refers to the claret-red stems, most noticeable in spring.

Berberis stenophylla 'Corallina Compacta'

Berberis stenophylla 'Corallina Compacta'

Berberis x stenophylla* is also called a rosemary barberry, and it is a hybrid of B. darwinii x B. empetrifolia. I've never grown the straight hybrid, only the dwarf cultivar 'Corallina Compacta' which grows only 12” tall and 18” wide. It features coral buds that open to orange flowers, and also for its coral-colored berries that eventually ripen to black. As with most barberries 'Corallina Compacta' prefers full sun, and it will succeed in almost any soil as long as it is well-drained. It is perfect for the rock garden or a container, attractive all months of the year.

*The hybrid name comes from the Latin word stenophyllus which means “having narrow leaves.”

Berberis thunbergii 'Helmond Pillar'

Helmond Castle, The Netherlands

Hillier describes Berberis thunbergii: “An invaluable small shrub, compact in growth and unsurpassed in the brilliance of its autumn foliage and bright red berries.” I totally agree with that assessment, however that doesn't necessarily mean that I should be growing it at all. Cultivars have come and gone over the years besides the 'Bagatelle' grafted onto 'Helmond Pillar' I mentioned earlier. We also top-grafted 'Gold Nugget' to nice effect...until I discovered it was ® – a restriction of the use of the trade name I assumed – so we discontinued to not run afoul of the law. As for 'Helmond Pillar', it was named for a city in southeastern Netherlands which is perhaps more famous for its 15th-century castle. The barberry starts out with a narrow pillar shape which looks good initially, but at Buchholz Nursery we find that it continues to broaden with age. Our oldest specimen is located by our front gate and is about 8' tall by 4' wide in 15 years. Since we discontinued propagation some of our other garden specimens were dug and potted up; however they didn't go entirely away since they resprouted from the roots that were left behind, and those shoots arose in an even less pillar-form.

Berberis thunbergii 'Pow Wow'

Berberis thunbergii 'Gold Pillar'

Berberis thunbergii 'Gold Pillar'

Berberis thunbergii 'Orange Rocket'

Berberis thunbergii 'Pow Wow' and 'Gold Pillar' faced the same broadening issue, with 'Pow Wow' being a total sham with the description (from Hillier) “A slender, upright, dwarf shrub...” A planting of three at Flora Farm has filled in the middle, so the entire patch is about 2' tall by 8' wide. The planting scheme was a profound failure but the new Flora Farm owners have kept them intact. I also had an 'Orange Rocket' in a container but decided not to put it into the landscape.

Carl Peter Thunberg

Thunberg's Flora Japonica

The Berberis thunbergii species honors Carl Peter Thunberg (1743-1828), a Swedish naturalist who was a student (“apostle”) of Carl Linnaeus, and he was sometimes referred to as the “Japanese Linnaeus.” He was promoted to head surgeon and gained fame helping local doctors to cure syphilis, known in Japan as the “Dutch disease.” While restricted at first, eventually Thunberg was granted access to the Japanese interior where he collected extensively, leading to two scientific works, Flora Japonica (1784) and Fauna Japonica (1833). Besides the Berberis thunbergii, other specific epithets honoring him are Allium thunbergii, Arisaema thunbergii, Spiraea thunbergii, Pinus thunbergii and others.

Berberis calliantha

Berberis tricanthophora 'Cally Rose'

Berberis tricanthophora 'Cally Rose'

The name Berberis is from Medieval Latin and refers to B. vulgaris, The “European barberry,” and is thought to have derived from barbariyya in the Berber language. I have read that there are about 400 species (Missouri Botanical Garden) and other sources suggest 600-800 species. That wide variation in the number means that taxonomists will squabble forever about the nomenclature.* I was on a barberry collecting phase in my career about 25 years ago, for despite the thorns and the fact that some species are invasive, I was still attracted to the berries and fall foliage colors. I bought three plants each of about 12 species from a retail mail-order company. We were very careful about the correct identification, but at the seller's end there was a significant mix-up. For example, two plants of one species were clearly different from the third. So, was the solo plant correctly identified, or were the other two? The company was contacted for assistance, but they shrugged it off as: “Well, you win some and you lose some,” a slap in the face of the integrity of the Flora Wonder Arboretum. As far as “losing some,” they lost me as a customer from that point on.

*The leading authority on the Berberidaceae family was British botanist Leslie Walter Ahrendt (1903-1969), known for his revision of the Berberis and Mahonia genera. I assume he kept a pair of impenetrable gloves on hands.

In an abstract from the Journal of the Linnean Society of London in May 1961, Ahrendt wrote, “The time is fast coming when gardens of any pretensions to beauty will be judged by their collections of Berberia, for there is not any other class of evergreen shrub which affords so many points for interesting observation.” Perhaps a little over the top.

If the reader hasn't yet fallen asleep and desires more barberry news, I can recommend a fun article, A Berberis Journey by Julian Harber.