Poor old berberis is the most despised of garden plants – routinely exiled to the outer reaches of supermarket car-parks and the central reservation of motorways, spiny and unloved, valued only as a ...

Walnut Creek’s Ruth Bancroft is a national authority on drought-resistant gardening. Twice a month, she and her staff share their knowledge with readers. Q In the column about California natives that ...

Berberis were among the first plants to reach our shores from the Americas, while nearly all the famous plant hunters have brought back a berberis for our gardens. The Victorians were fans, and ...

What: Berberis julianae, commonly known as wintergreen barberry, is one of the best formidable hedge plants you can find. The leathery, dark green foliage hides the sharp, thorny stems that knit ...

WILD shrubs — a shrub is usually, not always, taller than what are generally called ‘wild flowers’ but much smaller than trees — tend to be largely overlooked and unappreciated, yet they form a major ...

India (Garhwal Himalayas): fruit eaten raw.

This evergreen shrub is a compact cultivar with more fragrant, bright yellow flowers than the species. It was chosen as an improved cultivar in Ireland in 1966. It brings excellent winter interest to ...

Here's a change of pace: wintergreen barberry, Berberis julianae, which has the same thorny stems -- making it a good barrier plant -- but, instead of losing all its leaves for winter, it keeps them.