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THE NINEBARK REVOLUTION Who ever said there’s nothing new under the sun? Thanks to the work of hybridizers, hundreds of new varieties of common plants appear each gardening season. One recent example, a native shrub called ‘Ninebark,’ has been elevated from a scraggly streambank wildling, to a must-have standard in many of the finest gardens. Ninebark, or Physocarpus opulifolius, was first described in 1687 but languished in obscurity until the end of the last millennium. The common or eastern ninebark is found along sunny streams and river banks from Quebec to Tennessee, and west to Illinois. Typically green-leafed in spring and summer, with dull-yellow fall foliage and cream-colored spring flower clusters, it was deemed too rangy and unremarkable for inclusion in the ornamental landscape. Then a flurry of hybridizing gussied up this ugly duckling for twenty-first century gardens. Europeans were the first to go wild about ninebark cultivars, but North Americans are quickly catching on to the multi-season charms of the new introductions. In the rose family, and a close relative of spirea, ninebark was named for its exfoliating winter branches, with the speculation that it did indeed have nine layers of peeling bark. So of course winter interest is one selling point. The hybrids also display a graceful arching silhouette reminiscent of their cousin the bridal wreath spirea, in heights from dwarf two-footers to 12-foot behemoths. Foliage color has undergone particularly dramatic revision, ranging from purplish-red to coppery-orange to lime green. And the hybrids also have improved fall foliage, ending the gardening year in a chorus of autumnal tones from deep burgundy to pumpkin to gold. But the real appeal may be the small white or shell-colored snowballs of bloom that appear in June, ripening to brilliant berry clusters by summer’s end. The flowers and berries are attractive to all sorts of winged creatures. And florists find the dried berried branches an interesting accent in fall and winter arrangements. Now let’s take a look at ninebark’s planting and care requirements, which can be summed up as “easy” and “minimal.” The hybrids do best from zone 2 to zone 7. Full sun to part shade works well, in soil conditions from damp and humusy to sandy and dry. Periodic pruning after bloom is recommended for shape retention, although the exfoliating bark only appears on older branches. So some horticulturalists advise severe pruning when young, as the shrub establishes its form, followed in subsequent years by minimal shaping to allow the papery peeling bark to reach its full expression. If you’re ready to purchase one of these ugly ducklings-turned-swans, some of the more popular cultivars are ‘Diablo,’ ‘Coppertina,’ and ‘Snowfall.’ ‘Diablo’s’ hallmark is reddish-purple, almost black, foliage – a dramatic foil for the white flower clusters and brilliant red fruit. ‘Coppertina,’ as the name implies, features orange spring foliage maturing to rich red in summer. And ‘Snowfall’ is a much refined version of the common ninebark, with green leaves, very showy white flowers, and a dense seven-foot expanse. So there is indeed “something new under the sun,” and your garden will be much enhanced by planting one of these twenty-first century improvements on the non-descript common ninebark. Maybe Thomas Jefferson was right: “The greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its culture.” Kathleen Arcuri Published July 6, 2008 — The Danville Daily Item |
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Kathy’s Garden Writing |