Berberis ottawensis Auricoma - Barberry

Berberis x ottawensis 'Auricoma' is a deciduous and vigorous variety of Barberry that is thorny and highly colourful and will be appreciated for its accommodating nature in an informal or defensive hedge as well as its very dense habit and beautiful colours which change throughout the seasons. This beautiful bush with a rounded and dense habit evolves from springtime purple-mauve to reddish-purple in autumn. It catches the eye from the first warm days and until late in the season, without requiring much care. It thrives in full sun or partial shade, in completely ordinary soil.

The Berberis x ottawensis is a hybrid Barberry, resulting from cross-breeding in the 19th century between Berberis thunbergii, native to Japan, and Berberis vulgaris, native to Western Asia, Southern and Central Europe. The 'Auricoma' cultivar, like it, is a  deciduous bush of the berberidaceae family. It is characterized by a bushy, flexible, rather rounded, very dense habit, and deciduous foliage. Its branches, covered with a yellow-brown bark, bear single or three-forked spines, 1.5cm (0.6in) long.

It grows quite quickly, reaching an average height of 2m (6ft 7in) and a spread of 1.75m (5ft 8in) at maturity. The slightly arched branches bear, large, compound leaves, 4 to 5cm (1.6 to 2in) long, dark purple in bud and slightly powdery with mauve reflections. They darken and become somewhat greener in summer, then take on a very bright orange-to-red hue in autumn before falling. The flowering is not very abundant and takes place in April-May. It appears in the form of pendulous clusters of 10 or more small flowers, scattered here and there among the dark foliage, their respective colours creating a pleasant contrast. The bell-shaped flowers are 1cm (0.4in) long and are pale yellow streaked with purple, appearing on the previous year's shoots. They are nectar-rich flowers, appreciated by pollinating insects followed in September-October by small oblong-shaped fruits of a very bright red which measure from 6 to 8mm (0.2 to 0.3in) long and persist throughout part of the winter. Note that this variety can be sensitive to diseases such as powdery mildew.

The 'Auricoma' Barberry is ideal for medium-sized hedges, whether informal or trimmed. Its rather deterrent spines also allow it to be used at the forefront of a defensive hedge, associated with European Gorse (Ulex parviflorus), Japanese Quince, Holly, Rugosa roses, or another evergreen Barberry, Berberis linearifolia 'Orange King'. It can also be planted in shrub borders, with Forsythias and dwarf Abelia (Abelia 'Kaleidoscope', 'Petite Garden'), or with pink-flowering perennial roses ('La France', 'Pierre de Ronsard') whose flowering it will enhance. As this Barberry is somewhat susceptible to diseases, it is preferable not to plant it in a single species hedge, in which diseases easily spread from one individual to another and are difficult to control.