Barberry is on the invasive list for CT

Barberry

I already have 2 red barberry. I mostly see the green in the woods though, have not seen the red. Is the red considered invasive too?

Yes, as far as I am aware, the red reverts to green when it reseeds. I seen the reds specifically on the lists in other states.

Weigela 'Wine and Roses' or similar cultivar.

it would helpful to know.. how much space you have .. and your location ... south side of your house isnt real helpful .. lol ... and z6 is rather divergent ...big city name plz ...

a pic of the spot sure wouldnt hurt either ...

ken

Purple leaved smokebush (Cotinus coggygria ctvs). 'Diabolo', 'Little Devil', 'Ginger Wine' or 'Lady in Red' ninebarks. 'Black Lace' elderberry.

Others' experience may be different but I don't find the redleaved weigelas hold their color very well. Most seem to age to a more reddish brown color.....kind of dull and muddy looking.

If you don’t find a good red, you can get a nice yellow-green foliage with Spirea or Caryopteris. Edit; i now see that spirea is also mentioned in ct as a problem, not on the list but on the UConn website.

My red Berberis (barberry) doesn't reseed. I have 5-6 different cultivars.

If it has berries, it has seeds. Burgundy leafed barberries have been seen in woodlands where the seeds are transported by birds and other wildlife. In shade, the red color is reduced somewhat.

Barberry info

Or you know the old go-to, a crimson/purple japanese maple cultivar.

This one can get to 10’, but should be able to handle full sun.

Original post listed nine-bark as one of those not wanted. Experience with Japanese barberry in California does not pertain to conditions on summer rainy eastern sites where this eastern Asian species is already a fully demonstrated noxious weed. Large eastern production nurseries which are continuing to select and introduce new forms of this and other woody species now long seen to be nuisances back there have sometimes been claiming in later years that their most recent barberry offerings were infertile.

There are some newer Weigelas that have better color than Wine and Roses such as Tiny Wine or Midnight Wine.

There are also some smaller ninebarks/Physocarpus. My Tiny Wine has stayed far more restrained in size, even without pruning, than any other I have seen, and totally without any mildew.

Some of newer cultivars of small-leafed rhododendrons have reddish green leaves in summer and turn much redder in winter, a mahogany red which contrasts well with evergreens.

Check out Corylus avellana ‘Red Dragon’, a contorted red-leafed Filbert. It is supposed to hold the red tones better into summer than previous cultivars.

I haven't seen any in person, but have seen information of some cultivars of Diervilla with red toned or orange toned foliage. Both are in the Kodiak series.

One cultivar of silky dogwood, Cornus obliqua Red Rover, starts green, develops purple tones in summer, and is bright red in fall.

B. thunbergii 'Admiration' has berries; have never had a seedling. Ditto for the several others. I understand your point, I am just relaying one person's experience. I have many other plants that reseed with abandon, so I know the issue.

Open-to-the-sun south walls not suitable for rhododendrons except in adequately cool and dull summer climates.

I missed the south of the house part, sorry. Although Rhodies are fine with a south or western summer exposure here in northern New England if they get more winter shade due to changes in sun angle, I don't know about Richie's location.

Nandina? I don’t know them well but there are bright red leaved cultivars. Not sure about invasive issues.

Not only is barberry invasive, it also supports higher populations of ticks carrying Lyme disease which is an ever-growing problem in the Northeast. Not only should it not be planted, but those who have it should be getting rid of it!

https://today.uconn.edu/2012/02/controlling-japanese-barberry-helps-stop-spread-of-tick-borne-diseases/

Canna with red foliage introduces a good pop of dark crimson.

Thank you everyone. Looks like a dwarf weigela might work. I really like ninebark and saw a dwarf variety at White Flower Farm this past weekend, of course there was no sign on this plant in the perennial border but the last time I had a ninebark it got a white fungus all over it. Not sure about the dwarf variety they had though.

This one looks interesting and is mildew resistant.Little Devil

Tiny wine is supposedly extremely mildew resistant too.Tiny wine

P. Tiny Wine has never shown even the slightest hint of mildew in my garden. It is finishing its fourth season, and this was a terrible year for mildew on many plants in my garden.

Another perspective on plants that appear not to re-seed in one's own garden: but have proved either invasive or dominant in wilder areas. It's a pretty simple explanation, but I could be all wrong.

Birds eat the seeds and berries from the cultivated garden and fly on their way.. They may find shelter or food in uninhabited wooded areas. The berries pass through their digestive system. and take root. The gardener isn't in these areas to weed out the new plants.

So the position that "it has never reseeded in my garden" suggests that the gardener hasn't observed other places where it has.

We're not trying to swat anyone down. I've read "not in my garden it doesn't" many times over the years on Gardenweb, and many times about barberry in particular.

I think that you are absolutely right; we don't always see the effects of our actions. But I am on a 33 acre ranch and something tells me that if any of these 60-70 Berberis in my garden had seeded, I would have seen at least ONE seedling! I am not trying to belabor this for no reason; I am genuinely curious as to how various plants behave, and I am also curious whether the Berbers cultivars are all sterile. Sterile cultivars can open one up to an entirely new level of derision from those unaware of the sterility. I have sterile Cortaderia on the hillside above my pond. They are 'Silver Comet' and are white/green variegated - gorgeous. But the average person and even the average gardener just assumes that because it is pampass grass, it is invasive.

I have no idea what the answer is to whether B. cultivars are invasive. They can't be invasive here, in any case; we have no summer rain. But it would still be nice to know if these cultivars are invasive or not.

Sara, it may be location specific as well. Your much drier area may not provide the moisture or other growing conditions barberries need to sprout, but they are all over my north eastern woodland (old farm fields) and I don’t grow any barberries nor were there any in the yard when we acquired the place many years ago, so definitely bird or rodent planted. I tend to view claims of sterility in anything other than interspecies hybrids with some skepticism, though perhaps I am overly cautious due to the number of invasives here.

Yes that makes sense, but it is still odd that I have never seen a seedling. I have Cotinus seedlings all over - dozens, not hundreds - for example. The only Berberis that shows any inclination to reproduce is B. frikartii 'Amstelveen' but it does it via runners and really just ends up making the clump larger. The Nandina cultivars do not appear to be invasive here, either - no runners, no seedlings.

In nearly all cases, invasiveness of any particular plant type will be highly dependent on location. What is invasive in one area may be perfectly well behaved in another. This is usually due to climate issues that do not encourage berry or fruit/seed production or ripening. Or even the inability to winter over. Almost no plants that are invasive on the east coast are considered invasive in the PNW. Same with CA - what is invasive there seldom has a similar effect here. OTOH, we do have our own share of invasive species that are not necessarily duplicated elsewhere.

yeah and I can grow Ampelopsis and Fallopia without any fear of invasiveness as the minute the water gives out, so does it!

I picked up a ninebark little devil at Winterberry Gardens in Southington, CT yesterday at 30% off along with a variegated boxwood, and a red sprite winterberry. I only went for one plant and ended up with 3....LOL.

Thanks NHBabs! I realized that on the way home from the nursery. I'll have to give them a call and see if they have the mate.