Photo: Anders Hastings https://www.inaturalist.org/people/andershastings — CC BY 4.0 · source
Survives zone 4 through 8
Sharp, tart — mostly for jelly; barberry dried as a spice.
- Hardiness
- Zone 4 to 8
- Habit
- Groundcover
- Edible part
- Fruit
- Ripens
- Late summer–autumn
- Mature size
- Shrub 0.3–3 m; containerable
- Light
- Partial (widest tolerance — full sun to full shade); excels in dry shade
- Soil pH
- 5.5–7.0
- Environment
- Montane
- Status
- Both wild and cultivated
- Years to fruit
- 2–4 yrs
- Pollination
- Self-fertile (family default)
Growing guide
Fertilizing. Needs little or no regular feeding in typical garden soil; for weak plants, a general-purpose fertilizer applied in spring and topped with mulch is enough.
How it spreads. Spreads by stolons and creeping underground stems to form a low colony or ground cover; not aggressive, but unwanted growth at the edges can be trimmed back to keep it in bounds.
Growing tips. Susceptible to rusts, leaf spots, and chlorosis in alkaline soil; watch for aphids, scale, and whitefly. Extra winter protection helps at the coldest end of its hardiness range, where exposed plants can suffer leaf scorch.