June ANTI-Shrub of the Month-Barberry

OUCH!

I’m not sure what is more painful, pruning and removing  mature barberries, or the fact that homeowners have been dealing with them for so many years when they didn’t have to. That quote about beauty comes with a price is evident in this case by the thorns…LOTS of them. They are sneaky little devils, too, hiding under the foliage so any unsuspecting child reaching in to retrieve a ball, or an adult trying to retrieve the constant stream of trash stuck in the middle, ends up scratched and bleeding.

But let’s go back to that ‘beauty’ thing…the aesthetic popularity of the common Japanese barberry, Berberis thunbergii, stems from the foliage color. The straight species, native to Japan and Asia, was discovered by Carl Peter Thunberg (1743-1828), the Swedish plant hunter who reportedly identified this species in Japan in 1784. The beautiful, deep-red foliage was undoubtedly an eye-catcher for Europeans, but the medicinal qualities of the Japanese barberry and the common barberry (B. vulgaris, also native to Asia) made it even more popular. The presence of berberine is indicated by the yellow color in the inner stem and root bark, which were used to aid the liver and gallbladder, relieve stomach pain, bloating, heartburn, nausea, vomiting, canker sores, and even burping. The strong antibacterial properties of berberine can be used both internally and topically. And that’s just stems and roots. Wowzers! Who knew?

Back to that ‘beauty’ thing again, though…the plant gained in popularity with the Victorians, who we know LOVED their exotics. The burgundy foliage of these exotics not only provided great contrast in the garden, but it also made intruder-proof hedges to help protect those gardens.

So with numerous medicinal qualities, beautiful foliage, edible fruit, and thorns that can be used for good, not evil, you can see how the plant took off and eventually became a commonly-used landscape plant. Things were getting good with fun cultivars like ‘Rose Glow’, and chartreuse-colored foliage like Limoncello. But like many other seemingly perfect landscape plants, it was too good to be true. Now we have yet another invasive problem, and other than the native barberry, Berberis canadensis, barberry is listed as a noxious weed in over thirty states that ban the sale, transport, and propagation.

So what’s a colored foliage-lover to do?

First, ditch the thorns! Try one of the many weigela cultivars, including purple or variegated varieties with showy pink flowers; May Shrub of the Month-Weigela –

Try a nativar of our native elderberry with purple or variegated foliage, also with showy blooms.

June Shrub of the Month-Elderberry –

Neither of the above has thorns; they don’t catch trash like the dreaded barberry, or make you bleed when near them.

IF you insist on a barberry, do some research and find one that is sterile and can’t produce fruit, like Orange Rocket Barberry or Sunjoy Mini Maroon-RESEARCH before you buy!

-Comments or questions? Email Garden-Lou at gardenloustl@gmail.com

Words and photos by Jo Batzer

© Jo Batzer, garden-lou.com-2026, All rights reserved.