Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)

15 years ago

In an earlier message satellitehead had posted pictures of Physocarpus opulifolius 'Coppertina'. This rather unknown native shrub has gotten more attention lately because of some very nice dark colored foliage cultivars like 'Coppertina'. Other cultivars include 'Diablo' (or 'Diabolo'), 'Summer Wine', 'Dart's Gold', and 'Centerglow' (and there are more). Some of the dark ones are supposed to have pinkish flowers. Ninebark can be a large shrub, so the cultivar 'Nana' might be preferred for smaller gardens (actually 'Summer Wine' is a hybrid with 'Nana' as one of the parents so it might be smaller).

I mentioned to satellitehead that I thought the cultivars need good sun to produce the deepest color (same is true for other plants with dark foliage). Here is a picture of my 'Coppertina' (which gets a lot of sun), and to illustrate the flowers, I am including a picture of my species plant which bloomed several weeks ago.

Physocarpus opulifolius 'Coppertina'

Physocarpus opulifolius (species)

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Comments (4)

satellitehead
15 years ago
thanks for the pictures, esh. your 'coppertina' is so dark it looks almost like my 'summer wine' :)

i absolutely love this shrub thus far, even if it doesn't manage to get a ton of color (all new growth is lime green w/copper fringes).

i'll snap a couple photos of mine off with a better camera today when i get to the house.
girlgroupgirl
15 years ago
I've been thinking of working more with an area in copper and bronze. There are some beautiful plants such as this "coppertina" and then there's the carmel heucheras and buff carexs... throw in some really striking copperish Louisiana irises...yummy for some part shade or a woodland edge.

GGG
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satellitehead
15 years ago
ooohhh, speaking of nice heucheras, i love the "Caramel" as well, was thinking about planting until i saw the "Peach Flambe" and "Lime Ricky" last year. i haven't managed to source anyone locally with either. they are magnificent, though. amazing colors!
satellitehead
15 years ago
sorry if this photo is quite large...

i snapped a shot of what our 'coppertina' looks like in an area where it only gets 1-2 hours of sun per day.

the new growth is lime green with copper tips, it slowly fades from lime green into copper over a few weeks' period (see tips of leaves in center), and the stems remain bronze year round.

you'd almost not know it, but the darker green ninebark behind it is 'summer wine'.

they were really distinctly colored all of last year at this location, so i'm curious if the colors will darken/become more distinctive over time in non-sunny habitats.

i'm going to stress both plants over the course of the next month or two to see if any color variance occurs as well.