Berberis thunbergii ‘Concorde’ (Concorde Barberry)

Height: 50 cm (18 inches)
Spread: 50 cm (18 inches)
Bloom: yellow flowers early spring, very small
Exposure: Full sun to part shade
Foliage: small deep purple burgundy, reddish burgundy in fall

Pluses: foliage colour, long season as foliage remains until late fall

Barberries are a wonderful foliage plant that can provide great contrast in the garden. They tolerate full sun to part shade although foliage colour is always more intense in full sun. Barberries do well alone as a focal point and also make great sheared hedges. All of the barberries have sharp thorns so be careful when moving, pruning or weeding around them. Pruning can be done almost any time. Although they do flower in the early spring the flowers are not very showy, I grow them mainly for their foliage. Barberries are also drought tolerate and pest resistant.

Concorde has a rounded shape with deep burgundy purple foliage that turns slightly reddish in the fall. A clipping in early spring after blooming, similar to that you would do to a boxwood, keeps Concorde growth dense and rounded.

Concorde is a small variety barberry standing only about 18 inches tall. I like to think of it as a purple, deciduous boxwood and these two shrubs look nice together. The leaf shape is very similar in look to a boxwood but with deep burgundy purple foliage. Concorde can be clipped close into a mounded shape or if planted tightly it makes a great short decorative hedge. It would look great as a living wall around a rose garden or other semi-formal areas. The foliage contrasts nicely with purple, pink or red flowers as well as yellow or lime green foliage. It is also very intense planted next to dark green foliage plants.

Garden Location: Planted along the edges of the shrub borders of the Front Walkway Garden and Pool Garden. Used to repeat purple foliage colour elsewhere in both gardens.