Scientific Name: Physocarpus opulifolius
Common Name: common ninebark
Family Name: Rosaceae
Origin: Canada - eastern, Garden origin, U.S. - northeast
Hardiness Zone: Zone 3: (-40 to -34 °C)
Plant Type: Shrub - deciduous
Mature Size: 3 - 5m x 3 - 4m (height x width)
Habit: Open, Spreading, Twiggy, Upright
Form: Oval - vertical, Round, Vase
Texture: Medium
Landscape Uses: Accent plant, Cut flower or foliage, Group or mass planting, Mixed shrub border, Screening, Sheared hedge, Specimen plant, Spring interest, Summer interest, Tall background, Woodland margin
Exposure: Full sun only if soil kept moist, Part sun/part shade, Filtered shade
Soil or Media: Acidic, Humus rich, Well-drained
Leaves: Simple, Lobed, Alternate, Soft flexible, Pinnate venation, Glabrous, Ovate, Crenate, Double serrate, Pinnately lobed
Flowers: Corymb, White, Pink, May-Jun
Fruit: Aggregate fruit, Follicle, Red, Sep-Oct, (Persistent)
Key ID Features:
Multi-stemmed shrub usually kept to 3-4m tall; leaves yellowish to purple/chocolate depending on cultivar, 3-lobed, margins crenate to serrate; flowers white corymb, May-Jul; fruit persistent, bright red to dark red. Winter ID: exfoliating bark strips on mature branches, reddish-light brown inner bark.