Nandina domestica Pygmaea

Short Description

Popular shrub with coppery orange red foliage color in winter. Very hardy plant. 1m.

Features

Nandina is a close botanical relative of Barberry (syn:Berberis) which gives some indication of how tough a plant it is. (Berberis is a common hedge used on farms, mainly in the North Island, for livestock control.) Just like Berberis, if the bark is scraped or cut off, the underneath wood has a yellowish appearance.

The visual feature of Nandina is the coppery and orange/reds that the foliage turns in winter or extreme heat in summer. Generally, the climate has to be cold or hot for the colors to be the best. Hence Nandina is popular for winter color.

Cultivation Advice

Plant and forget. One good watering after planting and it should never need irrigation again. If planted in shade it will normally grow OK but the protected environment will stop the great colors appearing in winter - the leaves will stay green.

As a rule, allow an area with a diameter of 1 metre per plant. A common mistake is planting groups of Nandina too close to each other.

Avoid perpetual wet areas, and perpetual shady areas.