Deciduous Shrub
Bloomtime: May - June
Bloom color: Pink, White
Fruit: Red/Brown
Sun: Sun, Partial Shade, Shade
Height: 3’–10’
Moisture: Dry, Medium, Moist
Soil: Clay, loam
Resistant to: Deer & drought
Attracts: Bees, birds
Pollinator benefit: Special Value to Honey and Native Bees (Xerces Society)
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Common Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) Grows 5-9’ tall (less frequently to 10’). Noted for its exfoliating bark (on mature branches) which peels in strips to reveal several layers of reddish to light brown inner bark (hence the common name of ninebark). Bark provides winter interest, but is usually hidden by the foliage during the growing season. Features small pink or white, five-petaled flowers appearing in dense, flat, rounded, 1-2” diameter, spirea-like clusters (corymbs) in late spring. Flowers give way to drooping clusters of reddish fruit (inflated seed capsules). Ovate to rounded, usually 3-5 lobed leaves (to 4” long) are dull green in summer changing to an undistinguished yellow in fall.
Common Ninebark is fast-growing, insect and disease resistant, and drought-tolerant.
Info from wildflower.org and www.missouribotanicalgarden.org