A9 Bark Bush

9 Bark Bush

Trying to decide which brush to buy? Which tree to trim? Which collars to get? These questions can be difficult to answer, especially when there are so many options. I’ve compiled a list of all the reviews—from bloggers, vets, and trainers over the last two years—and ranked them from least to most trustworthy.Common ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) is a versatile deciduous flowering shrub widely used in landscaping. It gets its name from the unique exfoliating bark, which peels back in thin layers as the branches mature. Ninebark is a somewhat coarse-textured shrub that features yellow, green, or reddish leaves that form an attractive cascading mound. It flowers in late spring with clusters of white or pink blooms, and it bears red fruit in late summer and autumn that often attracts birds.

Bark

Ninebark shrubs are native to North America. Ninebarks are deciduous shrubs and are botanically known as Physocarpus. The ninebark shrubs are very hardy plants and they do best in full sun or very light shade. Ninebarks are a four season shrub. They flower nicely in the spring, they have colorful foliage in the summer, they have nice vibrant fall color, and the exfoliating bark is attractive in a winter setting. Ninebark is medium sized shrub, 8 to 10 feet tall and about that wide, and they are multi-stemmed. Ninebark adapts to most soils and is easy to grow and care for. Soils that are little acidic is preferred. When established, ninebarks are drought tolerant and long lived.Like many species common to the eastern US, Ninebark's range only creeps into Minnesota's most eastern counties.

It is however only occasionally encountered in woodlands, more predominantly found in transition habitats characterized by rocky or sandy soils in full sun to part shade with sufficient moisture. It is easily recognized by the numerous rounded clusters of white flowers or long-stalked fruit, and the slender canes with peeling bark. While not recognized by all botanists, it is separated into two varieties in Minnesota: var. intermedius (a.k.a. Physocarpus intermedius) found in our central woodlands and southeastern bluff country, characterized by spreading stellate hairs on the fruits, and var. opulifolius found along the rocky cliffs and stream banks of the Arrowhead region which has smooth fruit. Var. opulifolius is also noted as having larger leaves than var. intermedius, and larger clusters with up to 50 flowers, where var. intermidius clusters have 15 to 20 flowers. Ninebark is a very durable landscape shrub with numerous cultivars selected on leaf color (gold or red), shrub size (dwarf) and flower cluster size. (Source: www.minnesotawildflowers.info)