I think it can do either. My Coppertina is on its own just outside a bed and Centre Glow is in a bed. Both look great. The Coppertina is about 5-6' tall - i've had it for about 5 years now, and the Centre Glow is maybe 4' tall. It's about 3 years old. I think they'll top out at about 6'.

Thanks Marcia. Are they pretty wide? I'm looking at pictures and some look like they go straight up but some look very bushy.

Centre Glow is fairly narrow, but Coppertina has bushed out a bit. I'll try to get a picture sometime today. Oh, and Centre Glow had some mouse damage this spring, so it's busy recovering from that. :)

I loved my Diablo at my old place. It was about 6 feet tall by about 4 - 4.5 wide. I think it was pretty much fully grown by then too. I had it in a large shrub bed and it looked great. Those clusters of white flowers against the dark leaves were sooo eye catching. $5 is an awesome buy...congrats!

My friend has one. She just trimmed it a bit, as it was a good six feet high, five to six feet wide, and four feet deep. I'm not a fan of dark colored shrubs, but hers looks great against a white fence with other shrubs. It's in direct sun.

You certainly have a knack for getting good buys. Anything I've ever seen on clearance looks beyond help.

I'm starting to think about renovating the gardens in front of my house - they're just overgrown with invasives. I would have to dig everything out and remove the soil. I'm wondering if the ninebark would look nice next to the front steps but not too close up... hmm.

Where's that foreign sounding fellow from the bubble? I can't even remember his name - just the sun glinting off his golden skin... LOL.

That was a real bargain. I love Ninebarks and bought 2 last year, Diabolo Physocarpus opulifolius 'Monlo' and Coppertina Physocarpus opulifolius 'Mindia'. They did very well until fall when the deer discovered them and apparently really, really like them! The shrubs are growing well this year but if the deer prune them every fall they'll never get too large. I planted both of mine in mixed perennial beds.