I planted a Sunsation Barberry in late September 2008 and it is still doing just fine considering my 'survival of the fittest' attitude toward my garden. Parts of it that weren't under snow didn't do so well but after a good cleanup pruning it looks really quite good. It doesn't seem to suffer from sun scald even here is sunny (& semi-arid) southern Alberta - a harsh zone 3b. This winter I'll be sure to toss extra snow on it. It's also not the biggest plant, if you get one put it somewhere really special. I can post a picture if you'd like, I was actually just outside admiring it in the evening light.

Hope that helps!

My sister grows Aurea Nana in her zone 3b garden, and it does very well for her. It's in full sun in an area that gets good snow cover. I've never seen any sunscald on it. It's a beautiful 2-foot ball of gold that turns orange in the fall.

Aurea is situated in my front bed along the sidewalk, it always gets good snow cover and has done extremely well. It will sometimes burn a bit, though otherwise it's a very striking plant that really catches the eye. Sunsation has done poorly in comparison. It died back badly, that despite having been well covered with snow and has been very slow to recover ... though, many of the barberries had suffered this past winter. Time will soon tell if I'll be keeping it or not.

Terry

I would like to thank everyone for their replies. I will plant
Aurea and provide some snow cover.