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  • AGM plants

    AGM plants have been through a rigorous trial and assessment programme. They are:

    • Excellent for ordinary use in appropriate conditions
    • Available to buy
    • Of good constitution
    • Essentially stable in form & colour
    • Reasonably resistant to pests & diseases
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Berberis darwinii

Darwin's barberry

AGM plants

AGM plants have been through a rigorous trial and assessment programme. They are:

  • Excellent for ordinary use in appropriate conditions
  • Available to buy
  • Of good constitution
  • Essentially stable in form & colour
  • Reasonably resistant to pests & diseases
© RHS 2002
Sold by 53 nurseries

  • Other common names Darwin's barberry

  • Family Berberidaceae

  • Genus Berberis can be deciduous or evergreen shrubs with spiny shoots bearing simple, often spine-toothed leaves, and small yellow or orange flowers in axillary clusters or racemes, followed by small berries

  • Details B. darwinii is a dense, medium-sized evergreen shrub, with dark glossy green, broadly oblong, sparsely-spined leaves, and drooping racemes of rich orange flowers, tinged red in bud, followed by blue-black berries

  • Plant range Chile, Patagonia

Characteristics

  • Foliage Evergreen

  • Habit Bushy

  • Toxicity Ingestion may cause mild stomach upset

  • Hardiness

    Hardiness ratings

    All ratings refer to the UK growing conditions unless otherwise stated. Minimum temperature ranges (in degrees C) are shown in brackets

    • H1a - Under glass all year (>15C)
    • H1b - Can be grown outside in the summer (10 - 15)
    • H1c - Can be grown outside in the summer (5 - 10)
    • H2 - Tolerant of low temperatures, but not surviving being frozen (1 to 5)
    • H3 - Hardy in coastal and relatively mild parts of the UK (-5 to 1)
    • H4 - Hardy through most of the UK (-10 to -5)
    • H5 - Hardy in most places throughout the UK even in severe winters (-15 to -10)
    • H6 - Hardy in all of UK and northern Europe (-20 to -15)
    • H7 - Hardy in the severest European continental climates (< -20)

    H5

Colour

Sunlight

  • Full Sun

  • Partial Shade

  • Aspect North-facing or South-facing or East-facing or West-facing

  • Exposure Exposed or Sheltered

Soil

  • Clay

    Clay

  • Chalk

    Chalk

  • Sand

    Sand

  • Loam

    Loam

  • MoistureWell-drained, Moist but well-drained

  • SoilClay, Chalk, Sand, Loam

  • pHAcid, Alkaline, Neutral

Size

  • Ultimate height 1.5-2.5 metres

  • Ultimate spread 1.5-2.5 metres

  • Time to ultimate height 10-20 years

How to grow

Cultivation Grows in any soil except waterlogged. A sunny position will encourage fruiting

Propagation Propagate by seed or from semi-hardwood cuttings

Suggested planting locations and garden types Low Maintenance Hedging & Screens Banks and Slopes Coastal Cottage & Informal Garden

How to care

Pruning Pruning group 8

Pests Could be affected by berberis sawfly

Diseases May be infected by powdery mildews

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